The 1906 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1906. James Gillett won the 1906 election and became the governor of California. This was the first election in which more votes were cast in Los Angeles County than in San Francisco, possibly as a result of the earthquake seven months earlier in San Francisco.
Republican nomination
At the time of the election, the governor of California was George Pardee. In his term, he became a strong proponent of conservation, and provided assistance to the residents of San Francisco when the city experienced a plague from 1900 to 1904, and an earthquake in 1906. This, along with his efficient use of the state's bureaucracy, made him a popular figure. Despite this, Pardee's chances for renomination were slim for several reasons. As with most incumbent governors of the era, there was not enough patronage for all of the groups that had supported him four years earlier, and as a result he could not rely on their support. Many in the Republican Party, as well as the lobbyists for the Southern Pacific Railroad company, also condemned Pardee for his opposition to the company at a time when it was influential in state politics. There were further theories that Republican voters were angry at his focus on issues in Northern California, supposedly neglecting Southern Californians. An alliance between Southern Pacific boss William F. Herrin and San Francisco Republican and Union Labor Party boss Abe Ruef ensured Pardee lost the nomination to James Gillett at the Republican convention in Santa Cruz.
Democratic nomination
The 1902 California gubernatorial election was a close race that saw Democratic candidate Franklin Knight Lane lose the popular vote by only several thousand votes; an impressive feat given the Republican Party's dominance in state politics. Despite this, Lane did not run for the party's nomination in 1906, instead becoming a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Candidates considering runs at the beginning of the race were Theodore A. Bell, Meredith P. Snyder, and James Phelan, the former mayor of San Francisco. Bell initially had wanted to run for his former seat in California's 2nd congressional district, instead of for governor. At the Democratic convention in Sacramento the names presented for governor were Phelan, Bell, Thomas O. Toland, and Daniel Cole, among others. Bell would eventually be nominated by the Democrats on September 12, 1906. At the convention the party adopted several wide-ranging policies including support for William Jennings Bryan, public ownership of utilities, support for antitrust legislation, maintaining the Chinese Exclusion Act, support for an 8-hour work day and women's suffrage.
Third party campaigns
The Independence Party began in 1906, largely led by William Randolph Hearst and his supporters. The party held its first state convention in Oakland on September 6, 1906. It was there that it nominated San Francisco District Attorney William Langdon for governor. The party's platform was similar to the Democratic platform, in that they called for the direct election of senators, increased irrigation for farmers, maintaining the Chinese Exclusion Act, food safety laws, and public ownership of utilities.
The Socialist Party was active in California and held its convention in Oakland. It was there that the party nominated Austin Lewis for governor, and F.J. Wheat of Los Angeles for lieutenant governor. Lewis was a lecturer, writer and attorney who had law offices in both San Francisco and Oakland. He was a critic of both Gillett and Langdon, going so far as to say that "If you vote for Gillett your ballot counts one for the Southern Pacific railroad machine; if you vote for Hearst's puppet candidate you vote for nothing."
Carl Browne, a former leader in the Workingmen's Party of California and Coxey's Army, attempted to form a political coalition between the Populist and Prohibition Parties with himself as their candidate for governor. When this did not work, he pledged his support to Langdon.
General election campaign
By October 1906, the candidates had secured the nominations of their parties and started campaigning to voters across the state. Early on Bell would engage in mudslinging, especially against Langdon, whose campaign many at the time saw as a splinter effort of the Democratic Party. On the campaign trail, Bell would criticize Gillett and Langdon. Bell stated that Langdon's campaign was "simply an adjunct of the campaign of James Gillett", and implied that Gillett was a pawn of the Southern Pacific Railroad due to his acceptance of rail passes and lack of action on bills that would hurt the company. Bell also criticized William Randolph Hearst for his efforts to get himself elected Governor of New York and his creation of the Independence League, as many at the time, including Bell, thought this third party would take away votes from the Democrats. On October 10, a prominent Republican banker, W.L. Porterfield, crossed party lines and endorsed Bell, going so far as to promise a subscription of one million dollars towards a new railroad that would connect San Pedro to an Eastern railroad. This showcased the dissatisfaction within the California Republican Party about the Southern Pacific's influence over it.
Governor Pardee endorsed James Gillett on September 28, 1906, allaying fears in the state's Republican Party that Pardee might refuse to endorse Gillett or run a third-party campaign. Gillett held a large campaign rally in Sacramento on October 5. Thousands rallied to support him as he and other Republican leaders gathered to speak about their platform and Gillett's record on issues such as labor. Gillett continued to travel around the state after his major rally, giving talks in Marysville, Grass Valley and Stockton to the working class people of California. In the weeks before the election multiple newspapers across the state were already calling the election for Gillett. Later in the campaign, Gillett was endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who stated in his endorsement, "In my opinion, the Republicans of California are fortunate in the nomination of Mr. Gillett...That if elected, his administration will be a credit to the State I have no doubt." On November 5, the San Francisco Call called the election for Gillett once again, along with other newspapers throughout the state.
General election results
Results by county County James N. GillettRepublican Theodore A. BellDemocratic William H. LangdonIndependence Austin LewisSocialist James H. BlanchardProhibition ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda11,02939.66%6,56123.59%7,73527.82%1,9226.91%5612.02%00.00%3,29411.84%27,808Alpine5276.47%1420.59%22.94%00.00%00.00%00.00%3855.88%68Amador88938.35%1,18150.95%2119.10%220.95%150.65%00.00%-292-12.60%2,318Butte2,05737.91%2,75350.74%2895.33%2464.53%801.47%10.02%-696-12.83%5,426Calaveras1,15944.66%92235.53%40215.49%973.74%120.46%30.12%2379.13%2,595Colusa37520.76%1,30372.15%643.54%462.55%181.00%00.00%-928-51.38%1,806Contra Costa2,15841.70%1,69332.71%1,00119.34%2865.53%350.68%20.04%4658.99%5,175Del Norte38349.36%30238.92%374.77%486.19%60.77%00.00%8110.44%776El Dorado83136.18%1,24554.20%994.31%1034.48%190.83%00.00%-414-18.02%2,297Fresno4,08241.55%4,64247.25%3763.83%4414.49%2812.86%20.02%-560-5.70%9,824Glenn37525.92%99268.56%594.08%80.55%130.90%00.00%-617-42.64%1,447Humboldt3,63356.30%2,42037.50%941.46%2423.75%640.99%00.00%1,21318.80%6,453Inyo28430.67%19020.52%38741.79%394.21%262.81%00.00%-103-11.12%926Kern1,48434.78%1,87844.01%50211.76%3688.62%350.82%00.00%-394-9.23%4,267Kings1,05646.89%96742.94%944.17%863.82%492.18%00.00%893.95%2,252Lake49234.12%74351.53%1218.39%654.51%211.46%00.00%-251-17.41%1,442Lassen39140.90%48450.63%525.44%262.72%30.31%00.00%-93-9.73%956Los Angeles20,93643.86%12,93727.10%8,36017.51%3,0476.38%2,4525.14%50.01%7,99916.76%47,737Madera62638.01%78147.42%1559.41%603.64%251.52%00.00%-155-9.41%1,647Marin1,76046.17%1,24732.71%70518.49%842.20%160.42%00.00%51313.46%3,812Mariposa32232.23%45445.45%17917.92%333.30%111.10%00.00%-132-13.21%999Mendocino2,11445.24%2,02843.40%3076.57%1853.96%380.81%10.02%861.84%4,673Merced79234.71%1,11648.90%26111.44%793.46%341.49%00.00%-324-14.20%2,282Modoc48640.91%65855.39%221.85%100.84%90.76%30.25%-172-14.48%1,188Mono19347.65%16941.73%266.42%174.20%00.00%00.00%245.93%405Monterey1,75540.43%1,56035.94%76817.69%972.23%1613.71%00.00%1954.49%4,341Napa1,30332.06%2,48061.02%1403.44%771.89%631.55%10.02%-1,177-28.96%4,064Nevada1,23934.12%1,98354.61%2557.02%1042.86%501.38%00.00%-744-20.49%3,631Orange2,56647.38%1,62930.08%54410.04%3185.87%3596.63%00.00%93717.30%5,416Placer1,25538.87%1,72953.55%1253.87%501.55%682.11%20.06%-474-14.68%3,229Plumas47344.37%49346.25%736.85%171.59%90.84%10.09%-20-1.88%1,066Riverside2,09348.74%1,15626.92%3939.15%3778.78%2736.36%20.05%93721.82%4,294Sacramento3,34530.54%7,07464.58%1471.34%3282.99%590.54%10.01%-3,729-34.04%10,954San Benito58238.80%63542.33%20013.33%332.20%503.33%00.00%-53-3.53%1,500San Bernardino3,16545.34%2,08029.80%93613.41%4206.02%3795.43%00.00%1,08515.54%6,980San Diego3,62146.42%2,52432.36%5046.46%97412.49%1742.23%30.04%1,09714.06%7,800San Francisco12,90334.56%11,65031.20%10,52328.19%2,1035.63%1560.42%00.00%1,2533.36%37,335San Joaquin3,16042.33%3,47446.53%5126.86%2042.73%1161.55%00.00%-314-4.21%7,466San Luis Obispo1,57439.32%1,68342.04%3929.79%2516.27%1012.52%20.05%-109-2.72%4,003San Mateo1,69050.57%86325.82%67920.32%912.72%180.54%10.03%82724.75%3,342Santa Barbara1,79441.49%1,32330.60%92021.28%2144.95%691.60%40.09%47110.89%4,324Santa Clara5,71445.98%3,80530.62%1,97815.92%4903.94%4373.52%40.03%1,90915.36%12,428Santa Cruz1,69637.17%1,76038.57%63513.92%2615.72%2094.58%20.04%-64-1.40%4,563Shasta1,42539.05%1,46840.23%3088.44%37210.19%762.08%00.00%-43-1.18%3,649Sierra45939.95%59251.52%585.05%383.31%20.17%00.00%-133-11.58%1,149Siskiyou1,40640.59%1,71849.60%2166.24%1083.12%160.46%00.00%-312-9.01%3,464Solano2,06136.63%2,91851.86%3696.56%2133.79%661.17%00.00%-857-15.23%5,627Sonoma3,68741.07%4,34648.41%6327.04%2002.23%1121.25%00.00%-659-7.34%8,977Stanislaus1,19739.12%1,35044.12%2538.27%622.03%1976.44%10.03%-153-5.00%3,060Sutter67943.06%80751.17%402.54%352.22%150.95%10.06%-128-8.12%1,577Tehama87735.36%1,28151.65%1174.72%1636.57%421.69%00.00%-404-16.29%2,480Trinity51747.09%40236.61%1009.11%777.01%20.18%00.00%11510.47%1,098Tulare1,51330.45%2,65453.41%3256.54%3777.59%991.99%10.02%-1,141-22.96%4,969Tuolumne73232.16%78034.27%61627.07%1044.57%431.89%10.04%-48-2.11%2,276Ventura1,44947.14%87528.46%54917.86%1524.94%491.59%00.00%57418.67%3,074Yolo1,30539.45%1,78253.87%591.78%1093.30%531.60%00.00%-477-14.42%3,308Yuba69335.50%1,09155.89%1025.23%572.92%90.46%00.00%-398-20.39%1,952Total125,88740.35%117,64537.71%45,00814.43%16,0365.14%7,3552.36%440.01%8,2422.64%311,975
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Kings Mendocino Monterey San Francisco Trinity
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Amador Butte Lassen Napa Nevada Placer Plumas Sierra Sonoma Sutter Yuba
Counties that flipped from Republican to Independence Inyo
Notes
References Our Campaigns