1958 California gubernatorial election
November 4, 1958
 
Nominee Pat Brown William Knowland
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 3,140,076 2,110,911
Percentage 59.75% 40.16%
County results
Brown:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Knowland:      50–60%
Governor before election

Goodwin Knight
Republican

 Elected Governor

Pat Brown
Democratic

The 1958 California gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 4, Democratic candidate Pat Brown won the first of his two terms as governor of California against Republican senator William Knowland.

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 3, 1958.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results[1][2][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Brown 1,890,622 82.62
Republican William Knowland 313,385 13.69
Democratic Donald Donaldson 84,449 3.69
Total votes 2,288,456 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[1][2][4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William Knowland 1,290,106 77.49
Democratic Pat Brown 374,879 22.52
Total votes 1,664,985 100.00

General election results

California was considered a Republican stronghold in the post-World War II era, electing Republican governors Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight, as well as senators Richard Nixon, Knowland, and Thomas Kuchel. Knowland was a prestigious two-term Senator who had served as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader. His seat was considered safe going into the 1958 midterm elections, but he stunned everyone when he announced his intention to run for governor instead of re-election to the Senate. This was especially surprising because California had a relatively popular Republican governor in Goodwin Knight who was also expected to be re-elected. Knowland coerced Knight into a "backroom deal" in which Knowland and Knight would "trade places", with Knight running for Knowland's Senate seat. Knight really had no desire to be Senator and in later years lamented how Knowland "strongarmed" him into the switch. Knowland thought being governor would enhance his chances of challenging another Californian, Richard Nixon, for the 1960 Republican presidential nomination. For their part, the Democrats nominated popular state Attorney General Pat Brown, who was the only Democrat that held a statewide office in a Republican leaning state. As it turned out, the Knowland-Knight switch was not popular with California voters. Brown steadily gained in the polls and defeated Knowland for governor, and Knight lost to Congressman Clair Engle in the Senate race.

1958 gubernatorial election, California[5][6][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Brown 3,140,076 59.75
Republican William Knowland 2,110,911 40.16
Write-in William Potter Gale 2,301 0.04
Write-in L. A. Delaney 505 0.01
Write-in Herbert Steiner 239 0.00
Scattering 1,745 0.03
Total votes 5,255,777 100.00
Turnout  
Democratic gain from Republican

Results by county

Brown is the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee to have won Glenn, Inyo, Sutter, and Tulare Counties. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate would not win Butte and Riverside Counties again until 1978.

County Brown Votes Knowland Votes Gale Votes
Plumas 74.16% 3,714 25.50% 1,277 0.34% 17
Santa Clara 72.86% 198,732 27.09% 73,874 0.05% 142
Shasta 71.24% 14,024 28.68% 5,645 0.08% 16
Sacramento 70.95% 107,679 29.01% 44,027 0.03% 52
San Francisco 70.79% 219,413 29.17% 90,430 0.04% 126
Yolo 70.27% 13,014 29.62% 5,485 0.11% 20
Solano 69.79% 27,429 30.14% 11,847 0.07% 27
Lassen 69.68% 3,553 30.30% 1,545 0.02% 1
Trinity 69.37% 2,315 30.39% 1,014 0.24% 8
Madera 68.95% 8,133 31.05% 3,663 0.00% 0
Placer 68.75% 13,422 31.21% 6,093 0.05% 9
Kings 68.33% 9,227 31.58% 4,264 0.09% 12
Merced 67.79% 15,430 32.19% 7,328 0.02% 4
Siskiyou 67.39% 8,747 32.53% 4,223 0.08% 10
Fresno 66.84% 72,692 32.87% 35,747 0.30% 322
Tuolumne 66.66% 4,771 33.17% 2,374 0.17% 12
El Dorado 66.43% 5,720 33.55% 2,889 0.01% 1
Contra Costa 65.14% 95,128 34.79% 50,812 0.07% 104
Sierra 64.89% 826 35.11% 447 0.00% 0
Alameda 64.84% 228,105 35.07% 123,372 0.09% 326
Amador 64.23% 2,665 35.74% 1,483 0.02% 1
Colusa 64.04% 2,924 35.96% 1,642 0.00% 0
Mendocino 63.71% 10,759 36.22% 6,116 0.08% 13
Tehama 63.50% 5,860 36.50% 3,368 0.00% 0
Kern 62.87% 52,587 36.93% 30,889 0.19% 162
Modoc 62.77% 2,010 37.23% 1,192 0.00% 0
San Joaquin 62.58% 48,284 37.34% 28,807 0.08% 65
Stanislaus 62.50% 31,984 37.46% 19,168 0.04% 23
Humboldt 62.12% 21,013 37.84% 12,799 0.04% 14
Del Norte 62.05% 3,368 37.95% 2,060 0.00% 0
San Mateo 61.76% 97,475 38.15% 60,215 0.09% 138
Ventura 61.63% 32,789 38.28% 20,368 0.08% 44
Glenn 61.46% 4,190 38.51% 2,625 0.03% 2
Napa 60.95% 14,544 39.01% 9,309 0.04% 9
Yuba 60.43% 4,992 39.51% 3,264 0.06% 5
San Benito 59.53% 3,213 40.43% 2,182 0.04% 2
Calaveras 58.99% 3,067 40.16% 2,088 0.85% 44
San Bernardino 58.33% 86,882 41.55% 61,891 0.12% 172
Nevada 58.20% 5,035 41.63% 3,601 0.17% 15
Tulare 58.19% 25,668 41.73% 18,407 0.08% 35
Mariposa 58.01% 1,437 41.99% 1,040 0.00% 0
Los Angeles 57.91% 1,254,226 41.99% 909,429 0.10% 2,116
Sonoma 57.04% 30,841 42.94% 23,216 0.03% 14
San Luis Obispo 56.78% 15,315 43.17% 11,646 0.05% 13
Monterey 56.12% 26,676 43.87% 20,853 0.02% 8
Marin 55.98% 29,096 43.93% 22,832 0.09% 47
Lake 55.72% 3,411 44.28% 2,711 0.00% 0
Butte 55.23% 16,886 44.74% 13,677 0.03% 10
Inyo 53.92% 2,780 46.04% 2,374 0.04% 2
Riverside 52.65% 46,611 47.24% 41,824 0.11% 94
Imperial 51.93% 8,580 48.07% 7,943 0.00% 0
San Diego 51.71% 150,925 48.22% 140,734 0.07% 213
Santa Cruz 51.58% 17,635 48.34% 16,528 0.07% 25
Sutter 50.10% 5,032 49.87% 5,009 0.03% 3
Santa Barbara 49.43% 23,340 50.50% 23,849 0.07% 33
Orange 46.30% 85,364 53.55% 98,729 0.14% 259
Mono 44.41% 461 55.59% 577 0.00% 0
Alpine 43.50% 77 56.50% 100 0.00% 0

See also

References

  1. 1 2 CA Primary 1958, p. 3.
  2. 1 2 Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 101.
  3. ↑ "CA US Governor, 1958 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  4. ↑ "CA Governor, 1958 - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  5. ↑ CA General 1958, p. 3.
  6. ↑ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 43.
  7. ↑ "CA Governor, 1958". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 12, 2023.

Further reading

  • Anderson, Totton J. “The 1958 Election in California.” Western Political Quarterly 12#1 (1959), pp. 276–300. online
  • Anderson, Totton J. "Extremism in California Politics: The Brown-Knowland and Brown-Nixon Campaigns Compared." Political Research Quarterly 16.2 (1963): 371+.
  • Bell, Jonathan. "Social Democracy and the Rise of the Democratic Party in California, 1950–1964." Historical Journal 49.2 (2006): 497-524. online
  • Pawel, Miriam. (2018). The Browns of California : the family dynasty that transformed a state and shaped a nation. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Rapoport, R. California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown. Berkeley: Nolo Press (1982) ISBN 0-917316-48-7.
  • Rarick, Ethan (2006), California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 9780520939844 summary
  • Rarick, Ethan. "The Brown Dynasty." in Modern American Political Dynasties: A Study of Power, Family, and Political Influence ed by Kathleen Gronnerud and Scott J. Spitzer. (2018): 211-30.
  • Rice, Richard B. (2012). The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-338556-3.
  • Rogin, Michael Paul, John L. Shover. Political Change in California: Critical Elections and Social Movements, 1890-1966 (Greenwood, 1970).
  • Schuparra, Kurt. Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966 (M.E. Sharpe, 1998).

Statistics

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