California gubernatorial election, 2010

California gubernatorial election, 2010

2006 ← November 2, 2010 → 2014

Nominee Jerry Brown Meg Whitman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,428,458 4,127,371 Percentage 53.8% 40.9%

County results

Governor before election Arnold Schwarzenegger Republican Elected Governor Jerry Brown Democratic

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The 2010 California gubernatorial election was held November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of California. The primary elections were held on June 8, 2010. Because constitutional office holders in California are prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms in the same office since 1990, incumbent Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was ineligible to run for re-election. Former Governor Jerry Brown, the winning candidate, took office on January 3, 2011.

Candidates

The following were certified by the California Secretary of State as candidates in the primary election for governor. Candidates who won their respective primaries and qualified for the general election are shown in bold.

American Independent

• Chelene Nightingale, business owner
• Markham Robinson, owner of a software firm
• Steven Wiedlin, Father, Chairity worker, Firefighter

Democratic

• Jerry Brown, incumbent California Attorney General and former Governor of California
• Richard Aguirre, businessman
• Lowell Darling, independent artist
• Vibert Greene, mechanical engineer and CEO
• Charles Pineda, parole board judge
• Peter Schurman, non-profit organization consultant who dropped out of the race
• Nadia Smalley (write-in candidate)
• Joe Symmon, president of a non-profit organization

Green

• Laura Wells, financial systems consultant
• S. Deacon Alexander, student

Libertarian

• Dale Ogden, business consultant and actuary
• Jordan Llamas, Doctor of Psychology and Political Science

Peace and Freedom

• Carlos Alvarez, retail worker
• Stewart Alexander, political consultant and former vice presidential candidate for Socialist Party USA
• Mohammad Arif, businessman

Republican

• Meg Whitman businesswoman, former CEO of eBay
• Bill Chambers, railroad switchman
• Douglas Hughes, retired business owner
• Ken Miller, former broadcast manager
• Steven Mozena (write-in candidate)
• Lawrence Naritelli, accountant and controller
• Robert Newman, psychologist and farmer
• Steve Poizner, businessman and then- California Insurance Commissioner
• David Tully-Smith, primary care physician

Candidates' stances on issues

Jobs:

Meg Whitman
1. Eliminate small business start-up tax ($800 fee for new business start-ups)
2. Eliminate factory tax
3. Increase R&D tax credit (increase from 15% to 20%)
4. Promote investments in agriculture
5. Eliminate the state tax on capital gains

Jerry Brown
1. Stimulate clean energy jobs (build 12,000MW of localized electricity generation; build 8,000MW of large-scale renewables; appoint a Clean Energy Czar)
2. Invest in infrastructure/construction jobs (federal dollars for projects; prioritize water needs; high-speed rail; strengthen the port system; prioritize use of existing funds for job creation; infill development
3. Create strike team to focus on job retention
4. Cut regulations (speed up regulatory processes and eliminate duplicative functions; develop CEQA guidelines; fully utilize administrative law; update outdated technology systems
5. Increase manufacturing jobs
6. Deliver targeted workforce training programs
7. Invest in education

Education:

Meg Whitman
1. Direct more money to classroom
2. Reward outstanding teachers
3. Eliminate cap on charter schools
4. Grade public schools A-F
5. Establish fast-track parent process for charter school conversions
6. Invest $1 billion in UC and CSU University systems
7. Utilize alternative paths to the classroom to attract high quality teachers

Jerry Brown
1. Higher education (create new state master plan; focus on community colleges and transfer credits)
2. Overhaul state testing program
3. Change school funding formulas and consolidate the 62 existing categorical programs
4. Teacher recruitment and training
5. Simplify the Education Code and return more decision-making to local school districts
6. A more balanced and creative school curriculum (science, history, and humanities; experiment with online, etc.)
7. Place special emphasis on teaching science, technology, engineering, and math
8. Increase proficiency in English
9. Improve high school graduation rates
10. Charter schools
11. Magnet or theme schools
12. Citizenship and character

Primary results

American Independent

California American Independent gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Chelene Nightingale		24,000	58.1%
Markham Robinson		17,327	41.9%
Total votes		41,327	100%
Voter turnout		10.4%

Democratic

California Democratic gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Jerry Brown		2,021,189	84.4%
Richard Aguirre		95,596	4.0%
Charles Pineda		94,669	4.0%
Vibert Greene		54,225	2.3%
Joe Symmon		54,122	2.3%
Lowell Darling		39,930	1.6%
Peter Schurman		35,450	1.4%
Nadia B. Smalley (write-in)		106	0.0%
Total votes		2,395,287	100%
Voter turnout		31.7%

Green

California Green gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Laura Wells		17,548	79.5%
Deacon Alexander		4,533	20.5%
Total votes		22,081	100%
Voter turnout		19.6%

Libertarian

California Libertarian gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Dale Ogden		17,477	100%
Voter turnout		20.2%

Peace and Freedom

California Peace and Freedom gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Carlos Alvarez		1,906	45.3%
Stewart Alexander		1,693	40.2%
Mohammad Arif		613	14.5%
Total votes		4,212	100%
Voter turnout		7.4%

Republican

California Republican gubernatorial primary, 2010
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
Meg Whitman		1,529,534	64.4%
Steve Poizner		632,940	26.7%
Lawrence Naritelli		54,202	2.3%
Robert Newman		38,462	1.7%
Ken Miller		36,609	1.5%
Bill Chambers		34,243	1.4%
Douglas Hughes		26,085	1.0%
David Tully-Smith		24,978	1.0%
Steven Paul Mozena (write-in)		26	0.0%
Total votes		2,377,079	100%
Voter turnout		45.5%

Polling

Democratic primary

Poll source	Dates administered	Dianne Feinstein*	Jerry Brown	Antonio Villaraigosa*	Gavin Newsom*	John Garamendi*	Jack O'Connell*	Steve Westly*	Bill Lockyer*
Capitol Weekly/Probolsky	January 22–25, 2009	36%	14%	9%	9%	4%	3%	1%	––
Lake Research Partners	February 17–19, 2009	––	27%	20%	14%	8%	1%	3%	––
The Field Poll	February 20–March 1, 2009	38%	16%	16%	10%	4%	1%	2%	1%
		––	26%	22%	16%	8%	2%	2%	2%
Tulchin Poll	April 23, 2009	––	31%	12%	16%	11%	6%	––	––
Capital Weekly	May 25, 2009	––	24%	15%	16%	7%	5%	3%	––
J. Moore	June 20, 2009	––	47%	––	26%	––	––	––	––
Research 2000	June 10–16, 2009	––	29%	––	20%	––	––	––	––
		40%	27%	––	16%	––	––	––	––
The Field Poll	September 18–October 5, 2009	––	47%	––	27%	––	––	––	––

* Declined to seek nomination

Republican primary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Tom Campbell*	Meg Whitman	Steve Poizner	Peter Foy*
Capitol Weekly/Probolsky	January 22–5, 2009	15%	14%	4%	1%
The Field Poll	February 20–March 1, 2009	18%	21%	7%	—
Capitol Weekly/Probolsky	May 25, 2009	13%	10%	8%	1%
Research 2000	August 9, 2009	19%	24%	9%	—
The Field Poll	September 18–October 5, 2009	20%	22%	9%	—
USC/Los Angeles Times	October 27–November 3, 2009	27%	35%	10%	—
Public Policy Institute of California	December 16, 2009	12%	32%	8%	—
The Field Poll	January 5–17, 2010	—	45%	17%	—
		22%	36%	9%	—
Public Policy Institute of California	January 27, 2010	—	41%	11%	—
Research 2000	March 10, 2010	—	52%	19%	—
The Field Poll	March 17, 2010	—	63%	14%	—
Public Policy Institute of California	March 24, 2010	—	61%	11%	—
USC/Los Angeles Times	March 23–30, 2010	—	60%	20%	—
Survey USA	April 19–21, 2010	—	49%	27%	—
Survey USA	May 6–9, 2010	—	39%	37%	—
Research 2000	May 17–19, 2010	—	46%	36%	—
Public Policy Institute of California	May 19, 2010	—	38%	29%	—
Public Policy Polling	May 21–23, 2010	—	51%	26%	—
USC/Los Angeles Times	May 19–26, 2010	—	53%	29%	—
Survey USA	June 3–6, 2010	—	59%	30%	—

* Declined to seek nomination

General election

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jerry Brown (D)	Meg Whitman (R)	Other	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports	January 14, 2009	500	±4.5%	40%	38%	––	––
Research 2000	August 9, 2009	600	±4.0%	42%	36%	––	––
Rasmussen Reports	September 24, 2009	500	±4.5%	44%	35%	3%	18%
The Field Poll	Sept. 15–Oct. 5, 2009	1,005	±3.2%	50%	29%	––	21%
Rasmussen Reports	November 17, 2009	500	±4.5%	41%	41%	3%	14%
Public Policy Institute of California	December 16, 2009	2,004	±2.0%	43%	37%	––	20%
The Field Poll	January 5–17, 2010	958	±3.3%	46%	36%	––	18%
Rasmussen Reports	January 19, 2010	500	±4.5%	43%	39%	7%	11%
Public Policy Institute of California	January 27, 2010	2,001	±2.0%	41%	36%	––	23%
Rasmussen Reports	February 15, 2010	500	±4.5%	43%	43%	6%	8%
Research 2000	March 10, 2010	600	±4.0%	45%	41%	––	14%
Rasmussen Reports	March 15, 2010	500	±4.5%	40%	40%	6%	14%
The Field Poll	March 17, 2010	748	±3.7%	43%	46%	––	11%
Public Policy Institute of California	March 24, 2010	2,002	±2.0%	39%	44%	––	17%
USC/Los Angeles Times	March 23–30, 2010	––	––	41%	44%	––	––
Rasmussen Reports	April 19, 2010	500	±4.5%	44%	38%	9%	9%
Public Policy Institute of California	May 9–16, 2010	2,003	±2.0%	42%	37%	––	21%
Research 2000	May 17–19, 2010	600	±4.0%	46%	42%	––	18%
Public Policy Polling	May 21–23, 2010	921	±3.2%	48%	36%	––	16%
Rasmussen Reports	May 24, 2010	500	±4.5%	45%	41%	8%	7%
USC/Los Angeles Times	May 19–26, 2010	––	––	44%	38%	––	––
Rasmussen Reports	June 9, 2010	500	±4.5%	45%	44%	4%	7%
Reuters	June 30, 2010	600	±4.5%	45%	39%	3%	14%
The Field Poll	June 22-July 5, 2010	1,005	±3.2%	44%	43%	––	13%
Survey USA	July 8–11, 2010	614	±4.0%	39%	46%	7%	8%
Rasmussen Reports	July 12, 2010	500	±4.5%	46%	47%	4%	3%
Public Policy Polling	July 23–25, 2010	614	±3.95%	46%	40%	––	14%
Rasmussen Reports	August 3, 2010	750	±4.0%	43%	41%	6%	10%
Survey USA	August 9–11, 2010	602	± 4.1%	43%	44%	—	13%
Rasmussen Reports	August 24, 2010	750	±4.0%	40%	48%	6%	6%
Survey USA	August 31-September 1, 2010	569	±4.2%	40%	47%	9%	4%
Rasmussen Reports	September 6, 2010	750	±4.0%	45%	48%	3%	4%
CNN	September 2–7, 2010	866	± 3.5%	46%	48%	—	—
FOX News	September 11, 2010	1,000	± 3%	43%	49%	4%	4%
Public Policy Polling	September 14–16, 2010	630	±3.9%	47%	42%	––	12%
Field Poll	September 14–21, 2010	599	±4.1%	41%	41%	––	18%
Fox News/Pulse Opinion Research	September 18, 2010	1,000	±3.0%	45%	45%	4%	6%
Rasmussen Reports	September 20, 2010	750	±4.0%	47%	46%	4%	3%
Survey USA	September 19–21, 2010	610	±4.0%	46%	43%	8%	3%
The Los Angeles Times/USC	September 15–22, 2010	1,500	±3.3%	49%	44%	--	--
PPIC	September 19–26, 2010	1,104	±3%	37%	38%	7%	18%
CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation	September 24–28, 2010	786	±3.5%	52%	43%	5%	3%
Rasmussen Reports	October 3, 2010	750	±4.0%	49%	44%	4%	4%
Reuters/Ipsos	October 4, 2010	600	±4%	50%	43%	—	—
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 6, 2010	501	±4.5%	53%	41%	6%	—
Rasmussen Reports	October 13, 2010	750	±4.0%	50%	44%	2%	4%
Los Angeles Times/USC	October 13–20, 2010	1,501	±2.5%	52%	39%	3%	6%
Reuters (report)	October 12–14, 2010	601	± 4.0%	48%	44%	3%	6%
FOX News/POR-Rasmussen	October 16, 2010	1,000	±3%	48%	43%	4%	4%
PPIC	October 10–17, 2010	1,067	±3.1%	44%	36%	4%	16%
SurveyUSA	October 15–18, 2010	621	±4%	47%	40%	8%	5%
Rasmussen Reports	October 21, 2010	750	±4%	48%	42%	4%	6%
FOX News/POR-Rasmussen	October 23, 2010	1,000	±3%	50%	41%	6%	3%
Suffolk University	October 21–24, 2010	600	±4%	50%	42%	5%	3%
CNN/Time	October 20–26, 2010	888	±3.5%	51%	44%	2%	2%
Rasmussen Reports	October 27, 2010	750	±4%	49%	45%	2%	3%
Angus Reid Public Opinion	October 28–29, 2010	486	±4.5%	49%	44%	7%	—
Survey USA	October 26–31, 2010	587	± 4%	48%	37%	6%	9%
Public Policy Polling Reports)	October 29–31, 2010	882	± 3.3%	51%	46%	—	3%

Campaigning

Both Whitman and Brown were criticized for negative campaigning during the election. During their final debate at the 2010 Women's Conference a week before the election, moderator Matt Lauer asked both candidates to pull attack ads for the rest of the election, which elicited loud cheers from the audience. Brown agreed and picked one ad each of his and Whitman's that he thought, if Whitman would agree, should be the only ones run, but Whitman, who had been loudly cheered earlier as the prospective first woman governor of the state, was booed when she stated that she would keep "the ads that talk about where Gov. Brown stands on the issues."

The Los Angeles Times reported that nearly $250 million was spent on the Governor's race. At least two spending records were broken during the campaign. Whitman broke personal spending records by spending $140 million of her own money on the campaign, and independent expenditures exceeded $31.7 million, with almost $25 million of that spent in support of Brown.

In an interview with CNN, the reporter opined that Whitman was hurt most during the campaign by a matter involving Nicky Diaz, her former Mexican maid, whom Whitman fired after Diaz asked for help as she was an illegal immigrant.

General election results

California gubernatorial election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Jerry Brown	5,428,458	53.8%
	Republican	Meg Whitman	4,127,371	40.9%
	American Independent	Chelene Nightingale	166,308	1.7%
	Libertarian	Dale Ogden	150,898	1.5%
	Green	Laura Wells	129,231	1.2%
	Peace and Freedom	Carlos Alvarez	92,856	0.9%
	Independent	Cassandra A. Lieurance (write-in)	285	0.0%
	Independent	Lea Sherman (write-in)	43	0.0%
	Independent	Rakesh Kumar Christian (write-in)	13	0.0%
	Independent	Nadia B. Smalley (write-in)	8	0.0%
	Independent	Hugh Bagley (write-in)	4	0.0%
	Independent	Rowan Millar (write-in)	4	0.0%
	Independent	Jacob Vangelisti (write-in)	4	0.0%
	Independent	Anselmo A. Chavez (write-in)	2	0.0%
Totals			10,003,769	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• United States gubernatorial elections, 2010

External links

• [1]
• California Secretary of State - Elections
• California State Offices at Project Vote Smart
• California Governor 2010 from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions for 2010 California Governor from Follow the Money
• 2010 California Gubernatorial General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: California Governor from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 California Governor - Whitman vs. Brown from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 California Governor's Race from CQ Politics
• Race Profile in The New York Times
• 2010 Governor's Race in the Los Angeles Times, endorsement for Brown (October 3)
• California Governor Race 2010 in The Sacramento Bee, endorsement for Brown (October 3)
• California Elections 2010 in the San Francisco Chronicle, endorsement for Brown (October 3)
• 2010 California Governor's Race in the San Jose Mercury News, endorsement for Brown (October 10)

Debates

• California Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debate on C-SPAN, May 2, 2010
• California Gubernatorial Debate, C-SPAN, September 28, 2010

Official campaign sites

• Carlos Alvarez
• Jerry Brown
• Chelene Nightingale
• Dale Ogden
• Laura Wells
• Meg Whitman

Primary candidates:

• Richard Aguirre
• S. Deacon Alexander
• Stewart Alexander
• Mohammad Arif
• Jerry Brown
• Bill Chambers
• Lowell Darling
• Vibert Greene
• Douglas Hughes
• Ken Miller
• Steven Mozena
• Lawrence Naritelli
• Robert Newman
• Chelene Nightingale
• Charles Pineda
• Steve Poizner
• Peter Schurman
• Joe Symmon
• David Tully-Smith
• Laura Wells