The 1982 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1982. The Republican nominee, Attorney General George Deukmejian, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Incumbent Governor Jerry Brown did not seek reelection to a third consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 2010 and 2014.

This election was notable for Deukmejian's upset victory against Bradley, who had led the polls during the campaign. The incorrect polling therefore led to the theory called the "Bradley effect".

Primary election In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley easily defeated State Senator John Garamendi and Mario G. Obledo. On the Republican side, it was a two-man race between Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb and Attorney General George Deukmejian. Deukmejian won the primary with nearly 55% of the vote.

Republican Party

Democratic Party

American Independent Party

Libertarian Party

Peace and Freedom Party

General election Early indications were that it would be a close race but as the campaign went on, Bradley slowly increased his lead in the polls. Despite this, the outcome was still in doubt as election night wore on. A large late surge of absentee ballots (many from conservative Orange County and Deukmejian's home area of Long Beach) helped tip the balance in his favor. The incorrect polling numbers led to the theory — later dubbed "the Bradley effect" — that a statistically significant number of voters had given inaccurate responses when questioned by pollsters.

Results by county County George DeukmejianRepublican Tom BradleyDemocratic Dan P. DoughertyLibertarian Elizabeth MartinezPeace & Freedom Jim GriffinAmerican Independent Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda145,96437.62%225,57858.91%4,4771.15%5,8451.51%3,1580.81%-82,614-21.29%388,022Alpine21852.66%18544.69%10.24%30.72%71.69%337.97%414Amador6,25161.19%3,64335.66%880.86%870.85%1461.43%2,60825.53%10,215Butte36,07458.13%23,73438.25%7931.28%8131.31%6391.03%12,34019.89%62,053Calaveras6,27761.63%3,50134.37%1571.54%1261.24%1241.22%2,77627.26%10,185Colusa3,03662.95%1,62133.61%531.10%681.41%450.93%1,41529.34%4,823Contra Costa126,46049.83%119,71247.17%3,1671.25%2,2490.89%2,2000.87%6,7482.66%253,788Del Norte3,35551.32%2,93444.88%721.10%1071.64%701.07%4216.44%6,538El Dorado20,59159.37%12,99937.48%4231.22%2840.82%3831.10%7,59221.89%34,680Fresno80,17152.59%68,62345.01%1,4680.96%1,2130.80%9780.64%11,5487.57%152,453Glenn5,49267.49%2,39829.47%790.97%430.53%1261.55%3,09438.02%8,138Humboldt21,60945.38%23,99150.38%6221.31%7481.57%6531.37%-2,382-5.00%47,623Imperial10,27251.40%9,13345.70%1400.70%2041.02%2371.19%1,1395.70%19,986Inyo5,00863.87%2.59933.15%881.12%650.83%811.03%2,40930.72%7,841Kern70,09555.30%53,79942.44%9350.74%8590.68%1,0650.84%16,29612.86%126,753Kings9,93854.64%7,71842.43%1400.77%1760.97%2171.19%2,22012.21%18,189Lake8,86753.24%7,14342.89%2331.40%1841.10%2271.36%1,72410.35%16,654Lassen4,47256.64%3,00338.03%1331.68%720.91%2162.74%1,46918.60%7,896Los Angeles1,024,94645.67%1,173,14952.27%16,7940.75%18,1630.81%11,1840.50%-148,203-6.60%2,244,236Madera10,33454.57%7,88941.66%3121.65%1520.80%2501.32%2,44512.91%18,937Marin42,26042.83%52,53453.24%2,3712.40%1,0661.08%4370.44%-10,274-10.41%98,668Mariposa3,25556.39%2,32440.26%641.11%601.04%691.20%93116.13%5,772Mendocino12.39846.82%12,78648.29%4221.59%5191.96%3531.33%-388-1.47%26,478Merced17,47752.62%14,64944.10%4671.41%2610.79%3621.09%2,8288.51%33,216Modoc2,59968.83%99526.35%641.69%340.90%842.22%1,60442.48%3,776Mono1,97759.58%1,24937.64%260.78%341.02%320.96%72821.94%3,318Monterey37,49347.78%38,30148.81%9581.22%1,0671.36%6560.84%-808-1.03%78,475Napa21,81254.20%17,04242.34%4941.23%4541.13%4451.11%4,77011.85%40,247Nevada14,75356.80%10,26239.51%4991.92%2340.90%2260.87%4,49117.29%25,974Orange422,87861.44%252,57236.70%5,9650.87%3,3460.49%3,5370.51%170,30624.74%688,298Placer28,08255.47%20,83241.15%7371.46%4250.84%5481.08%7,25014.32%50,624Plumas4,23753.53%3,35542.39%1612.03%610.77%1011.28%88211.14%7,915Riverside119,68053.27%100,37044.68%1,5240.68%1,5380.68%1,5350.68%19,3108.60%224,647Sacramento171,17652.35%146,16744.70%4,1141.26%2,8200.86%2,7050.83%25,0097.65%326,982San Benito3,60846.67%3,78248.92%1672.16%750.97%991.28%-174-2.25%7,731San Bernardino144,09653.29%119,18544.08%2,3930.88%1,9970.74%2,7271.01%24,9119.21%270,398San Diego330,03752.76%279,11344.62%6,6421.06%5,0430.81%4,6810.75%50,9248.14%625,516San Francisco69,47830.43%151,76966.47%2,8291.24%3,2181.41%1,0400.46%-82,291-36.04%228,334San Joaquin65,58360.06%40,00236.63%1,3481.23%9940.91%1.2651.16%25,58123.43%109,192San Luis Obispo33,45752.94%28,41744.96%5560.88%3830.61%3880.61%5,0407.97%63,201San Mateo99,52746.36%108,37450.48%2,9771.39%1,9480.91%1,8430.86%-8,847-4.12%214,669Santa Barbara55,68248.33%57,16449.62%9880.86%8010.70%5680.49%-1,482-1.29%115,203Santa Clara180,23243.96%216,78152.87%5,9831.46%3,8580.94%3,1630.77%-36,549-8.91%410,017Santa Cruz29,54538.09%44,28257.09%1,2211.57%1,9402.50%5770.74%-14,737-19.00%77,565Shasta26,90257.61%18,05338.66%7071.51%3940.84%6421.37%8,84918.95%46,698Sierra91448.33%90747.96%241.27%201.06%261.37%70.37%1,891Siskiyou9,45758.40%6,00937.11%2591.60%1881.16%2811.74%3,44821.29%16,194Solano36,96850.31%33,99746.26%9791.33%7060.96%8371.14%2,9714.04%73,487Sonoma55,96845.10%63,54251.20%1,7351.40%1,7471.41%1,1150.90%-7,574-6.10%124,107Stanislaus43,63955.94%32,27641.38%6870.88%6480.83%7580.97%11,36314.57%78,008Sutter10,75363.33%5,66033.33%1841.08%2351.38%1480.87%5,09329.99%16,980Tehama9,62858.55%6,13437.30%2501.52%1450.88%2881.75%3,49421.25%16,445Trinity3,10053.95%2,35140.92%1121.95%661.15%1172.04%74913.04%5,746Tulare38,90156.69%28,33041.29%4150.60%5010.73%4700.68%10,57115.41%68,617Tuolumne8,71656.84%6,10739.82%1601.04%1480.97%2041.33%2,60917.01%15,335Ventura99,13055.22%76,09442.39%1,7820.99%1,2900.72%1,2280.68%23,03612.83%179,524Yolo19,22742.99%24,15054.00%4851.08%4451.00%4150.93%-4,923-11.01%44,722Yuba6,95953.77%5,40041.73%1521.17%1571.21%2732.11%1,55912.05%12,941Total3,881,01449.27%3,787,66948.09%81,0761.03%70,3270.89%56,2490.71%93,3451.19%7,876,698

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Contra Costa El Dorado Fresno Kern Kings Lake Lassen Madera Marin Mariposa Merced Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento San Bernardino San Diego San Joaquin San Luis Obispo Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Stanislaus Tehama Trinity Tuolumne Ventura Yuba

Notes

References