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1994 California gubernatorial election

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1994 California gubernatorial election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
 
Nominee Pete Wilson Kathleen Brown
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 4,781,766 3,519,799
Percentage 55.18% 40.62%

Wilson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

Pete Wilson
Republican

Elected Governor

Pete Wilson
Republican

The 1994 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, in the midst of that year's "Republican Revolution". Incumbent Republican Pete Wilson easily won re-election over his main challenger, Democratic State Treasurer Kathleen Brown, the daughter of Pat Brown and younger sister of Jerry Brown, both of whom had previously served as governor. Primaries were held on June 3, 1994.

Although Wilson initially trailed Brown in the polls as a result of the state's faltering economy, his signature opposition to affirmative action and state services for illegal immigrants (with the associated Proposition 187) eventually led to his win. Wilson won 25% of the African-American vote, a fairly strong performance for a Republican; however, he won only 25% of the Latino vote, a weak performance which was widely attributed to his support of Proposition 187. This election was the first California gubernatorial election since 1974 in which the winner of the gubernatorial election was of a different party from the incumbent president.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Republican primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pete Wilson (incumbent) 1,266,832 61.44%
Republican Ron Unz 707,431 34.31%
Republican Jim Hart 44,083 2.14%
Republican Louis Darrigo 43,448 2.11%
Republican Mike Eagles (write-in) 34 0.00%
Invalid or blank votes 92,580 4.30%
Total votes 2,061,828 100.00%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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  • Kathleen Brown, California Treasurer
  • Mark Calney, Los Angeles resident[1]
  • John Garamendi, California Insurance Commissioner and candidate for Governor in 1982
  • Tom Hayden, State Senator from Los Angeles
  • Charles Pineda Jr., Sacramento criminal justice administrator[1]
  • Jonathan Trip, Burbank business consultant[1]

Results

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Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kathleen Brown 1,110,372 48.38%
Democratic John Garamendi 755,876 32.93%
Democratic Tom Hayden 318,777 13.89%
Democratic Charles Pineda Jr. 57,314 2.50%
Democratic Jonathan Trip 31,716 1.38%
Democratic Mark Calney 21,121 0.92%
Invalid or blank votes 139,710 5.74%
Total votes 2,295,176 100.00%

Minor party primaries

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American Independent Party

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American Independent primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent Jerome McCready 18,984 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 19,710 50.94%
Total votes 18,984 100.00%

Green Party

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Green primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Green None of the Above 8,185 46.18%
Green John T. Selawsky 3,688 20.81%
Green James Ogle 2,930 16.53%
Green John Lewallen 2,923 16.49%
Invalid or blank votes 4,527 20.34%
Total votes 17,726 100.00%

Libertarian Party

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Libertarian primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Richard Rider 13,757 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 3,208 18.91%
Total votes 13,757 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

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Peace and Freedom primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Peace and Freedom Gloria Estela La Riva 4,633 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 2,805 37.71%
Total votes 4,633 100.00%

General election

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Candidates

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  • Kathleen Brown, California Treasurer (Democratic)
  • Gloria Estela LaRiva, San Francisco political organizer and printer[1] (Peace and Freedom)
  • Jerome McCready, Castroville businessman[1] (American Independent)
  • Richard Rider, San Diego stockbroker and financial planner[1] (Libertarian)
  • Pete Wilson, incumbent Governor and former U.S. Senator (Republican)

Polling

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Source Date Pete
Wilson
Kathleen
Brown
KNBC-TV November 4, 1994 48% 44%
KCAL-TV November 3, 1994 49% 39%
Field Poll November 1, 1994 50% 41%
San Francisco Examiner October 23, 1994 48% 43%
Los Angeles Times October 16, 1994 50% 42%
KCAL-TV October 7, 1994 48% 38%
Los Angeles Times September 16, 1994 46% 44%

Results

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1994 California gubernatorial election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Pete Wilson (incumbent) 4,781,766 55.18% +5.93%
Democratic Kathleen Brown 3,519,799 40.62% −5.17%
Libertarian Richard Rider 149,281 1.72% −0.17%
American Independent Jerome McCready 133,888[a] 1.55% −0.27%
Peace and Freedom Gloria Estela La Riva 80,440 0.93% −0.33%
Independent Aaron Boxerman (write-in) 130 0.00%
Independent Nick Miloslavich (write-in) 46 0.00%
Independent Thomas L. Sailers (write-in) 16 0.00%
Independent Tim Oster (write-in) 9 0.00%
Invalid or blank votes 235,261 2.64%
Majority 1,261,967 14.56%
Total votes 8,665,375 100.00%
Republican hold Swing +14.56%

Results by county

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County Pete Wilson
Republican
Kathleen Brown
Democratic
Richard Rider
Libertarian
Jerome McCready
AIP
Gloria
La Riva
PFP
All Others
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[3]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 147,238 36.61% 240,490 59.80% 5,810 1.44% 4,161 1.03% 4,460 1.11% 6[b] 0.00% -93,252 -23.19% 402,165
Alpine 389 56.54% 240 34.88% 11 1.60% 28 4.07% 20 2.91% 0 0.00% 149 21.66% 688
Amador 8,781 66.81% 3,776 28.73% 257 1.96% 261 1.99% 68 0.52% 0 0.00% 5,005 38.08% 13,143
Butte 42,998 62.88% 21,887 32.01% 1,389 2.03% 1,562 2.28% 546 0.80% 1[c] 0.00% 21,111 30.87% 68,383
Calaveras 10,438 66.08% 4,432 28.06% 415 2.63% 361 2.29% 149 0.94% 0 0.00% 6,006 38.02% 15,795
Colusa 3,691 72.70% 1,202 23.68% 72 1.42% 83 1.63% 29 0.57% 0 0.00% 2,489 49.03% 5,077
Contra Costa 154,482 51.47% 135,133 45.02% 4,483 1.49% 3,998 1.33% 2,039 0.68% 5[d] 0.00% 19,349 6.45% 300,140
Del Norte 4,626 61.83% 2,372 31.70% 148 1.98% 278 3.72% 58 0.78% 0 0.00% 2,254 30.13% 7,482
El Dorado 36,695 67.14% 15,289 27.97% 1,206 2.21% 1,124 2.06% 340 0.62% 0 0.00% 21,406 39.17% 54,654
Fresno 112,851 62.83% 60,958 33.94% 2,153 1.20% 2,146 1.19% 1,496 0.83% 14[e] 0.01% 51,893 28.89% 179,618
Glenn 5,916 73.54% 1,719 21.37% 142 1.77% 217 2.70% 51 0.63% 0 0.00% 4,197 52.17% 8,045
Humboldt 23,586 49.34% 21,162 44.27% 1,164 2.43% 1,088 2.28% 805 1.68% 2[f] 0.00% 2,424 5.07% 47,807
Imperial 13,208 54.97% 9,525 39.64% 286 1.19% 341 1.42% 667 2.78% 0 0.00% 3,683 15.33% 24,027
Inyo 5,054 69.51% 1,878 25.83% 132 1.82% 149 2.05% 58 0.80% 0 0.00% 3,176 43.68% 7,271
Kern 105,733 69.49% 39,137 25.72% 2,711 1.78% 3,191 2.10% 1,389 0.91% 1[g] 0.00% 66,596 43.77% 152,162
Kings 14,750 65.02% 7,097 31.28% 287 1.27% 350 1.54% 202 0.89% 0 0.00% 7,653 33.73% 22,686
Lake 11,416 57.88% 7,279 36.90% 423 2.14% 450 2.28% 156 0.79% 0 0.00% 4,137 20.97% 19,724
Lassen 4,827 58.63% 2,671 32.44% 277 3.36% 383 4.65% 75 0.91% 0 0.00% 2,156 26.19% 8,233
Los Angeles 1,043,835 50.43% 953,301 46.06% 28,368 1.37% 23,469 1.13% 20,910 1.01% 6[h] 0.00% 90,534 4.37% 2,069,889
Madera 18,623 69.24% 7,223 26.85% 311 1.16% 563 2.09% 177 0.66% 0 0.00% 11,400 42.38% 26,897
Marin 45,983 43.35% 56,665 53.43% 1,679 1.58% 958 0.90% 777 0.73% 1[i] 0.00% -10,682 -10.07% 106,063
Mariposa 4,699 65.18% 2,178 30.21% 121 1.68% 172 2.39% 39 0.54% 0 0.00% 2,521 34.97% 7,209
Mendocino 14,645 48.37% 13,716 45.30% 767 2.53% 590 1.95% 561 1.85% 0 0.00% 929 3.07% 30,279
Merced 24,873 62.90% 13,197 33.37% 444 1.12% 763 1.93% 267 0.68% 0 0.00% 11,676 29.53% 39,544
Modoc 1,972 51.47% 1,257 32.81% 217 5.66% 337 8.80% 48 1.25% 0 0.00% 715 18.66% 3,831
Mono 2,263 64.88% 1,051 30.13% 88 2.52% 60 1.72% 26 0.75% 0 0.00% 1,212 34.75% 3,488
Monterey 49,565 53.89% 38,597 41.96% 1,228 1.34% 1,843 2.00% 738 0.80% 8[j] 0.01% 10,968 11.92% 91,979
Napa 23,429 54.69% 17,454 40.74% 764 1.78% 835 1.95% 357 0.83% 0 0.00% 5,975 13.95% 42,839
Nevada 25,159 65.97% 11,283 29.59% 805 2.11% 658 1.73% 230 0.30% 0 0.00% 13,876 36.39% 38,135
Orange 516,811 67.72% 211,132 27.67% 16,351 2.14% 13,566 1.78% 5,274 0.69% 5[k] 0.00% 305,679 40.06% 763,139
Placer 51,213 67.02% 21,915 28.68% 1,570 2.05% 1,299 1.70% 413 0.54% 0 0.00% 29,298 38.34% 76,410
Plumas 5,492 63.87% 2,630 30.58% 210 2.44% 210 2.44% 57 0.66% 0 0.00% 2,862 33.28% 8,599
Riverside 221,027 64.17% 107,207 31.13% 6,085 1.77% 7,182 2.09% 2,858 0.83% 58[l] 0.02% 113,820 33.05% 344,417
Sacramento 196,229 54.79% 146,423 40.88% 6,507 1.82% 5,881 1.64% 3,111 0.87% 5[m] 0.00% 49,806 13.91% 358,156
San Benito 6,398 54.17% 4,852 41.08% 249 2.11% 212 1.79% 100 0.85% 0 0.00% 1,546 13.09% 11,811
San Bernardino 217,085 62.30% 112,636 32.32% 7,148 2.05% 7,916 2.27% 3,691 1.06% 0 0.00% 104,449 29.97% 348,476
San Diego 477,439 63.35% 240,937 31.97% 16,388 2.17% 12,395 1.64% 6,493 0.86% 8[n] 0.00% 236,502 31.38% 753,660
San Francisco 66,494 27.81% 165,279 69.12% 2,561 1.07% 1,073 0.45% 3,704 1.55% 2[o] 0.00% -98,785 -41.31% 239,113
San Joaquin 78,682 61.35% 44,787 34.92% 1,669 1.30% 2,119 1.65% 984 0.77% 2[p] 0.00% 33,895 26.43% 128,243
San Luis Obispo 52,270 60.07% 30,686 35.27% 1,681 1.93% 1,688 1.94% 672 0.77% 12[q] 0.01% 21,584 24.81% 87,009
San Mateo 102,989 47.63% 106,391 49.21% 3,080 1.42% 2,244 1.04% 1,498 0.69% 14[r] 0.01% -3,402 -1.57% 216,216
Santa Barbara 75,051 56.68% 52,420 39.59% 1,817 1.37% 2,075 1.57% 1,048 0.79% 1[s] 0.00% 22,631 17.09% 132,412
Santa Clara 212,075 47.50% 211,904 47.46% 10,143 2.27% 7,393 1.66% 4,922 1.10% 32[t] 0.01% 171 0.04% 446,469
Santa Cruz 37,927 41.09% 49,272 53.39% 2,159 2.34% 1,490 1.61% 1,439 1.56% 7 0.01% -11,345 -12.29% 92,294
Shasta 37,577 68.45% 13,633 24.84% 1,195 2.18% 2,034 3.71% 455 0.83% 0 0.00% 23,944 43.62% 54,894
Sierra 1,018 61.77% 528 32.04% 41 2.49% 51 3.09% 10 0.61% 0 0.00% 490 29.73% 1,648
Siskiyou 11,075 60.17% 6,053 32.88% 474 2.58% 643 3.49% 161 0.87% 1[u] 0.01% 5,022 27.28% 18,407
Solano 51,265 51.89% 43,170 43.70% 1,753 1.77% 1,765 1.79% 836 0.85% 1[v] 0.00% 8,095 8.19% 98,790
Sonoma 73,234 45.65% 79,720 49.69% 3,270 2.04% 2,540 1.58% 1,663 1.04% 1[w] 0.00% -6,486 -4.04% 160,428
Stanislaus 60,992 60.68% 35,080 34.90% 1,569 1.56% 2,146 2.14% 722 0.72% 1[x] 0.00% 25,912 25.78% 100,510
Sutter 15,997 72.11% 5,293 23.86% 320 1.44% 458 2.06% 115 0.52% 0 0.00% 10,704 48.25% 22,183
Tehama 12,836 68.77% 4,626 24.78% 440 2.36% 631 3.38% 133 0.71% 0 0.00% 8,210 43.98% 18,666
Trinity 3,078 56.88% 1,783 32.95% 181 3.35% 285 5.27% 83 1.53% 1[y] 0.02% 1,295 23.93% 5,411
Tulare 54,267 69.02% 21,634 27.52% 856 1.09% 1,241 1.58% 628 0.80% 0 0.00% 32,633 41.50% 78,626
Tuolumne 12,706 64.41% 6,117 31.01% 369 1.87% 421 2.13% 113 0.57% 0 0.00% 6,589 33.40% 19,726
Ventura 136,417 62.36% 73,163 33.44% 3,894 1.78% 3,366 1.54% 1,927 0.88% 1[z] 0.00% 63,254 28.91% 218,768
Yolo 23,019 46.58% 24,357 49.28% 846 1.71% 713 1.44% 481 0.97% 5[aa] 0.01% -1,338 -2.71% 49,421
Yuba 9,378 65.95% 4,002 28.14% 297 2.09% 432 3.04% 111 0.78% 0 0.00% 5,376 37.81% 14,220
Total 4,781,766 55.18% 3,519,799 40.62% 149,281 1.72% 133,888 1.55% 80,440 0.93% 201 0.00% 1,261,967 14.56% 8,665,375

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Notes

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  1. ^ Includes 18 write-in votes for "Jerome N. McCready"
  2. ^ 5 for Miloslavich, 1 for Sailers
  3. ^ 1 for Miloslavich
  4. ^ 1 for Boxerman, 4 for Miloslavich
  5. ^ 4 for Boxerman, 3 for Miloslavich, 3 for Sailers, 4 for Oster
  6. ^ 2 for Boxerman
  7. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  8. ^ 5 for Boxerman, 1 for Oster
  9. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  10. ^ 1 for Boxerman, 6 for Miloslavich, 1 for Oster
  11. ^ 5 for Boxerman
  12. ^ 57 for Boxerman, 1 for Miloslavich
  13. ^ 2 for Boxerman, 3 for Oster
  14. ^ 8 for Boxerman
  15. ^ 2 for Boxerman
  16. ^ 2 for Boxerman
  17. ^ 12 for Boxerman
  18. ^ 1 for Boxerman, 2 for Miloslavich, 11 for Sailers
  19. ^ 1 for Miloslavich
  20. ^ 15, Boxerman, 16 for Miloslavich, 1 for Sailers
  21. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  22. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  23. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  24. ^ 1 for Miloslavich
  25. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  26. ^ 1 for Boxerman
  27. ^ 5 for Boxerman

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Defying the Odds?". The Los Angeles Times. April 4, 1994. p. 74. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote June 7, 1994 Primary Election. Sacramento, California. pp. 1–9. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote November 8, 1994, General Election. Sacramento, California. pp. 1–6. Retrieved July 22, 2024.