California gubernatorial election, 1982

California gubernatorial election, 1982

1978 ← November 2, 1982 → 1986

Nominee George Deukmejian Tom Bradley Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,881,014 3,787,669 Percentage 49.28% 48.09%

Election results by county

Governor before election Jerry Brown Democratic Elected Governor George Deukmejian Republican

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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.

Primary Election Summary

In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley easily defeated State Assemblyman John Garamendi. 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.

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, as election night wore on, the issue was still in doubt. A large late surge of absentee ballots (many from conservative Orange County and Deukmejian's home area of Long Beach) tipped 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.

1982 gubernatorial election, California
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	George Deukmejian	3,881,014	49.28%
	Democratic	Tom Bradley	3,787,669	48.09%
	Libertarian	Dan P. Dougherty	81,076	1.03%
	Peace and Freedom	Elizabeth Martinez	70,327	0.89%
	American Independent	Jim Griffin	56,249	0.71%
Totals			7,876,515	100.00%
Voter turnout			50.45%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

County	Deukmejian	Votes	Bradley	Votes	Others	Votes
Modoc	68.83%	2,599	26.35%	995	4.82%	182
Glenn	67.49%	5,492	29.47%	2,398	3.05%	248
Inyo	63.87%	5,008	33.15%	2,599	2.98%	234
Sutter	63.33%	10,753	33.33%	5,660	3.34%	567
Colusa	62.95%	3,036	33.61%	1,621	3.44%	166
Calaveras	61.63%	6,277	34.37%	3,501	4.00%	407
Orange	61.44%	422,878	36.70%	252,572	1.87%	12,848
Amador	61.19%	6,251	35.66%	3,643	3.14%	321
San Joaquin	60.06%	65,583	36.63%	40,002	3.30%	3,607
Mono	59.58%	1,977	37.64%	1,249	2.77%	92
El Dorado	59.37%	20,591	37.48%	12,999	3.14%	1,090
Tehama	58.55%	9,628	37.30%	6,134	4.15%	683
Siskiyou	58.40%	9,457	37.11%	6,009	4.50%	728
Butte	58.13%	36,074	38.25%	23,734	3.62%	2,245
Shasta	57.61%	26,902	38.66%	18,053	3.73%	1,743
Tuolumne	56.84%	8,716	39.82%	6,107	3.34%	512
Nevada	56.80%	14,753	39.51%	10,262	3.69%	959
Tulare	56.69%	38,901	41.29%	28,330	2.02%	1,386
Lassen	56.64%	4,472	38.03%	3,003	5.33%	421
Mariposa	56.39%	3,255	40.26%	2,324	3.34%	193
Stanislaus	55.94%	43,639	41.38%	32,276	2.68%	2,093
Placer	55.47%	28,082	41.15%	20,832	3.38%	1,710
Kern	55.30%	70,095	42.44%	53,799	2.26%	2,859
Ventura	55.22%	99,130	42.39%	76,094	2.40%	4,300
Kings	54.64%	9,938	42.43%	7,718	2.93%	533
Madera	54.57%	10,334	41.66%	7,889	3.77%	714
Napa	54.20%	21,812	42.34%	17,042	3.46%	1,393
Trinity	53.95%	3,100	40.92%	2,351	5.13%	295
Yuba	53.77%	6,959	41.73%	5,400	4.50%	582
Plumas	53.53%	4,237	42.39%	3,355	4.08%	323
San Bernardino	53.29%	144,096	44.08%	119,185	2.63%	7,117
Riverside	53.27%	119,680	44.68%	100,370	2.05%	4,597
Lake	53.24%	8,867	42.89%	7,143	3.87%	644
San Luis Obispo	52.94%	33,457	44.96%	28,417	2.10%	1,327
San Diego	52.76%	330,037	44.62%	279,113	2.62%	16,366
Alpine	52.66%	218	44.69%	185	2.66%	11
Merced	52.62%	17,477	44.10%	14,649	3.28%	1,090
Fresno	52.59%	80,171	45.01%	68,623	2.40%	3,659
Sacramento	52.35%	171,176	44.70%	146,167	2.95%	9,639
Imperial	51.40%	10,272	45.70%	9,133	2.91%	581
Del Norte	51.32%	3,355	44.88%	2,934	3.81%	249
Solano	50.31%	36,968	46.26%	33,997	3.43%	2,522
Contra Costa	49.83%	126,460	47.17%	119,712	3.00%	7,616
Santa Barbara	48.33%	55,682	49.62%	57,164	2.05%	2,357
Sierra	48.33%	914	47.96%	907	3.70%	70
Monterey	47.78%	37,493	48.81%	38,301	3.42%	2,681
Mendocino	46.82%	12,398	48.29%	12,786	4.89%	1,294
San Benito	46.67%	3,608	48.92%	3,782	4.41%	341
San Mateo	46.36%	99,527	50.48%	108,374	3.15%	6,768
Los Angeles	45.67%	1,024,946	52.27%	1,173,149	2.06%	46,141
Humboldt	45.38%	21,609	50.38%	23,991	4.25%	2,023
Sonoma	45.10%	55,968	51.20%	63,542	3.70%	4,597
Santa Clara	43.96%	180,232	52.87%	216,781	3.17%	13,004
Yolo	42.99%	19,227	54.00%	24,150	3.01%	1,345
Marin	42.83%	42,260	53.24%	52,534	3.93%	3,874
Santa Cruz	38.09%	29,545	57.09%	44,282	4.82%	3,738
Alameda	37.62%	145,964	58.91%	228,578	3.47%	13,480
San Francisco	30.43%	69,478	66.47%	151,769	3.10%	7,087

References

• http://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1982-11-02
• 1982 Gubernatorial primary elections