The 1974 California gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent governor Ronald Reagan retired after two terms. Jerry Brown, the Secretary of State and son of former governor Pat Brown, defeated Houston Flournoy.

Primary elections were held on June 4. Flournoy won the Republican primary over lieutenant governor Ed Reinecke. Brown won a plurality of the Democratic vote over a field of candidates including San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto and assembly speaker Bob Moretti.

This is the first election since 1958 not to feature an incumbent governor or to feature presidents Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan as the Republican nominee. With Brown's election, California had a Democratic Governor and two Democratic Senators (John V. Tunney and Alan Cranston) for the first time since the Civil War. This is the earliest California gubernatorial election to feature a major party candidate who is still alive as of .

Republican primary

Candidates

Houston Flournoy, California State Controller Glenn Mitchel William Nelson Ed Reinecke, Lieutenant Governor of California J. F. Stay James Ware

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

John Hancock Abbott Joseph Alioto, mayor of San Francisco Alex A. Aloia Eileen Anderson Joseph Francis Brouillette Jerry Brown, Secretary of State of California and son of former governor Pat Brown Herbert Hafif, Claremont personal injury attorney and restauranteur Bob Moretti, assemblyman from Van Nuys and speaker of the California State Assembly Chris Musun Russ Priebe Josephum S. Ramos Conie R. Robertson William M. Roth, former United States Trade Representative and regent of the University of California George Henry Wagner Jerome Waldie, U.S. representative from Antioch Baxter Ward, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and candidate for mayor of Los Angeles in 1969 Jim Wedworth

Results

Other primaries

American Independent Party

Peace and Freedom Party

General election results

Candidates

Jerry Brown, Secretary of State of California and son of former governor Pat Brown (Democratic) Houston Flournoy, California State Controller (Republican) Edmon V. Kaiser (American Independent) Elizabeth Keathley (Peace and Freedom)

Campaign Brown had statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California, and maintained a lead in most of the early polls. Flournoy began to gain in the polls as the election approached, but Brown won, although by a much smaller margin than predicted. Coincidentally, when Brown ran for Secretary of State four years earlier, he defeated James Flournoy – no relation to Houston – in a very close election.

Results

Results by county County Edmund G. Brown Jr.Democratic Houston I. FlournoyRepublican Edmon V. KaiserAmerican Independent Elizabeth KeathleyPeace & Freedom Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # %Alameda200,16560.15%123,65637.16%3,5881.08%5,3411.61%76,50922.99%332,750Alpine18544.90%21251.46%51.21%102.43%-27-6.55%412Amador3,19846.48%3,48350.63%1412.05%580.84%-285-4.14%6,880Butte17,00741.47%22,49954.86%8592.09%6431.57%-5,492-13.39%41,008Calaveras2,70241.25%3,70956.63%871.33%520.79%-1,007-15.37%6,550Colusa1,88442.16%2,50356.01%541.21%280.63%-619-13.85%4,469Contra Costa97,03848.31%99,47049.52%2,3721.18%1,9750.98%-2,432-1.21%200,855Del Norte2,14951.60%1,92146.12%541.30%410.98%2285.47%4,165El Dorado8,07646.09%8,92250.92%3421.95%1831.04%-846-4.83%17,523Fresno61,59652.41%53,30845.36%1,3371.14%1,2771.09%8,2887.05%117,518Glenn2,64540.86%3,67556.77%1151.78%390.60%-1,030-15.91%6,474Humboldt22,80558.66%14,95838.48%3190.82%7922.04%7,84720.19%38,875Imperial9,03349.04%9,01148.92%2031.10%1710.93%220.12%18,418Inyo2,41741.54%3,23855.65%1061.82%581.00%-821-14.11%5,819Kern44,82848.29%45,77549.31%1,6161.74%6210.67%-947-1.02%92,840Kings7,44452.11%6,54045.78%1631.14%1380.97%9046.33%14,285Lake4,73345.71%5,38151.97%1591.54%810.78%-648-6.26%10,354Lassen3,11157.13%2,16539.76%1172.15%520.96%94617.37%5,445Los Angeles1,059,53352.84%898,80844.82%24,6011.23%22,2231.11%160,7258.02%2,005,165Madera5,58451.17%5,13747.08%1241.14%670.61%4474.10%10,912Marin36,38445.84%40,61951.18%9051.14%1,4561.83%-4,235-5.34%79,364Mariposa1,65845.28%1,89351.69%661.80%451.23%-235-6.42%3,662Mendocino9,15850.31%8,37346.00%3121.71%3601.98%7854.31%18,203Merced12,77951.89%11,33946.05%3181.29%1890.77%1,4405.85%24,625Modoc1,39544.16%1,70553.97%411.30%180.57%-310-9.81%3,159Mono81739.45%1,16156.06%552.66%381.83%-344-16.61%2,071Monterey28,83246.09%32,21851.50%7481.20%7641.22%-3,386-5.41%62,562Napa15,20047.44%16,04850.09%4411.38%3501.09%-848-2.65%32,039Nevada5,22541.00%7,10155.72%2491.95%1691.33%-1,876-14.72%12,744Orange212,63840.60%297,87056.87%8,1981.57%5,0900.97%-85,232-16.27%523,796Placer15,74450.50%14,51046.54%5661.82%3581.15%1,2343.96%31,178Plumas3,03155.77%2,27941.93%661.21%591.09%75213.84%5,435Riverside70,51547.93%73,10249.69%2,1151.44%1,3740.93%-2,587-1.76%147,106Sacramento117,71151.62%104,59545.86%2,8121.23%2,9341.29%13,1165.75%228,052San Benito2,72245.05%3,19952.95%600.99%611.01%-477-7.89%6,042San Bernardino87,13349.85%82,61147.27%3,6242.07%1,4130.81%4,5222.59%174,782San Diego196,93042.82%249,44454.24%7,9991.74%5,5011.20%-52,514-11.42%459,874San Francisco136,89661.81%78,75935.56%1,8060.82%4,0091.81%58,13726.25%221,470San Joaquin38,42945.69%43,74452.01%1,2841.53%6430.76%-5,315-6.32%84,100San Luis Obispo19,42947.82%20,30049.96%3940.97%5101.26%-871-2.14%40,633San Mateo91,80849.62%88,23547.69%2,6221.42%2,3611.28%3,5731.93%185,026Santa Barbara42,22145.99%47,26351.48%8540.93%1,4701.60%-5,042-5.49%91,808Santa Clara166,76050.63%153,76146.69%4,6281.41%4,2011.28%12,9993.95%329,350Santa Cruz28,60048.67%27,75047.23%8221.40%1,5872.70%8501.45%58,789Shasta15,76455.51%11,71641.25%6372.24%2841.00%4,04814.25%28,401Sierra62952.99%51343.22%262.19%191.60%1169.77%1,187Siskiyou6,51553.93%5,22943.28%2011.66%1361.13%1,28610.64%12,081Solano24,95554.43%19,52442.58%5911.29%7811.70%5,43111.84%45,851Sonoma40,75648.48%40,33947.98%1,0771.28%1,8982.26%4170.50%84,070Stanislaus27,93147.97%29,18650.13%6731.16%4300.74%-1,255-2.16%58,220Sutter5,14139.32%7,64258.45%1821.39%1100.84%-2,501-19.13%13,075Tehama5,61849.73%5,37347.56%2191.94%870.77%2452.17%11,297Trinity1,76251.24%1,51944.17%1043.02%541.57%2437.07%3,439Tulare20,58944.93%24,10352.60%6921.51%4400.96%-3,514-7.67%45,824Tuolumne4,16540.16%5,95257.39%1621.56%930.90%-1,787-17.23%10,372Ventura56,18947.20%60,12250.50%1,5541.31%1,1840.99%-3,933-3.30%119,049Yolo18,24954.00%14,73443.60%2300.68%5791.71%3,51510.40%33,792Yuba5,23751.04%4,75246.32%1731.69%980.96%4854.73%10,260Total3,131,64850.12%2,952,95447.26%83,8691.34%75,0041.20%178,6942.86%6,248,070

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Del Norte Humboldt Imperial Los Angeles Mendocino Merced Placer San Bernardino San Mateo Santa Clara Santa Cruz Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Tehama Trinity Yuba

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Stanislaus

Notes

References