1962 California gubernatorial election
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 Election results by county Brown: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% Nixon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 1962 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. The Democratic incumbent, Pat Brown, ran for re-election against former Vice President and 1960 Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon. In his concession speech, Nixon accused the media of favoring his opponent Brown, stating that it was his "last press conference" and "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more."[1] Six years later, Nixon was elected President of the United States.
Election background
Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr. was a relatively popular Democratic governor in California who was first elected in 1958.[2] At the time, California was generally considered a Republican stronghold, with Republican governors and senators from the end of World War II until the election of Democrat Clair Engle to the Senate in 1958, and Brown's election as governor the same year. The state voted for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and Nixon carried the state over John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election.
In 1962, with popular incumbent Senator Thomas Kuchel guaranteed[by whom?] to win re-election, the Republican Party felt it could also gain the governorship and win the state back from the Democrats. They turned to former Vice President Richard Nixon, the biggest name at the time in the California Republican Party. Having been elected Senator in 1950 and carrying the state against Kennedy in 1960, they also felt a convincing win could be a springboard for Nixon to challenge Kennedy again in 1964, since he narrowly lost to him in 1960.[3] However, the conservative Joe Shell challenged Nixon in the primary, and received support from the John Birch Society. Although Nixon beat Shell in the primary, 1,285,151 votes (65.4 percent) to Shell's 656,542 (33.4 percent), the contest was bitter, and Nixon did not reach out to conservative Shell supporters, which weakened him in the general election.[4]
In a bitter and expensive campaign, Brown and Nixon campaigned with great zeal and effort. Nixon had a lead in the polls early on, but Brown lessened the margin as time went on. Still, come election day, Nixon was favored to win a relatively close election. Brown not only won, but he won by a surprising 5%. A stunned and frustrated Nixon announced he was retiring from politics, a promise he would later rescind after running for president again in 1968.
General election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Pat Brown (incumbent) | 3,037,109 | 51.94 | |
| Republican | Richard Nixon | 2,740,351 | 46.87 | |
| Prohibition | Robert L. Wyckoff | 69,700 | 1.19 | |
| Invalid or blank votes | 82,442 | 1.39 | ||
| Total votes | 5,929,602 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | 57.50 | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
Results by county
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Pre-vice presidency 36th Vice President of the United States Post-vice presidency 37th President of the United States
Judicial appointments Policies First term Second term Post-presidency Presidential campaigns Vice presidential campaigns
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Brown is the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee to have won Colusa and Modoc Counties.
| County | Brown | Votes | Nixon | Votes | Wyckoff | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumas | 66.44% | 3,397 | 31.76% | 1,624 | 1.80% | 92 |
| Trinity | 64.58% | 2,201 | 33.69% | 1,148 | 1.73% | 59 |
| Solano | 64.31% | 25,987 | 34.37% | 13,888 | 1.32% | 532 |
| Shasta | 63.97% | 14,753 | 34.07% | 7,858 | 1.96% | 453 |
| Lassen | 62.50% | 3,500 | 35.14% | 1,968 | 2.36% | 132 |
| San Francisco | 62.19% | 180,298 | 36.96% | 107,165 | 0.85% | 2,455 |
| Sacramento | 60.69% | 115,462 | 37.74% | 71,788 | 1.57% | 2,988 |
| Yolo | 60.67% | 13,334 | 37.82% | 8,311 | 1.51% | 332 |
| Madera | 60.46% | 7,728 | 38.36% | 4,903 | 1.19% | 152 |
| Placer | 59.98% | 13,592 | 38.29% | 8,677 | 1.72% | 390 |
| Siskiyou | 59.98% | 7,718 | 38.41% | 4,942 | 1.62% | 208 |
| Kings | 59.03% | 9,141 | 39.48% | 6,113 | 1.49% | 231 |
| Amador | 58.16% | 2,811 | 40.16% | 1,941 | 1.68% | 81 |
| Alameda | 57.98% | 206,861 | 40.88% | 145,851 | 1.13% | 4,038 |
| Sierra | 57.98% | 676 | 39.54% | 461 | 2.49% | 29 |
| Fresno | 57.78% | 68,187 | 40.85% | 48,211 | 1.37% | 1,615 |
| Merced | 57.62% | 14,105 | 41.14% | 10,071 | 1.23% | 302 |
| El Dorado | 56.25% | 6,572 | 41.44% | 4,842 | 2.30% | 269 |
| Contra Costa | 55.49% | 91,150 | 43.34% | 71,192 | 1.18% | 1,935 |
| Yuba | 53.77% | 5,028 | 44.74% | 4,184 | 1.49% | 139 |
| Stanislaus | 53.64% | 30,431 | 44.80% | 25,417 | 1.57% | 888 |
| Napa | 53.50% | 14,748 | 44.72% | 12,326 | 1.78% | 490 |
| Ventura | 53.46% | 37,777 | 45.15% | 31,899 | 1.39% | 982 |
| San Luis Obispo | 52.86% | 16,110 | 45.36% | 13,825 | 1.78% | 543 |
| Tuolumne | 52.48% | 3,631 | 46.06% | 3,187 | 1.46% | 101 |
| Humboldt | 52.19% | 17,739 | 46.22% | 15,708 | 1.59% | 540 |
| Kern | 52.10% | 48,737 | 46.33% | 43,342 | 1.57% | 1,471 |
| Colusa | 52.06% | 2,320 | 46.14% | 2,056 | 1.80% | 80 |
| Del Norte | 51.97% | 2,741 | 45.85% | 2,418 | 2.18% | 115 |
| San Mateo | 51.88% | 90,464 | 47.09% | 82,115 | 1.03% | 1,797 |
| Los Angeles | 51.83% | 1,191,724 | 46.98% | 1,080,113 | 1.19% | 27,445 |
| Modoc | 51.73% | 1,641 | 46.44% | 1,473 | 1.83% | 58 |
| San Bernardino | 51.68% | 88,437 | 46.78% | 80,054 | 1.54% | 2,634 |
| Mendocino | 51.50% | 8,704 | 46.96% | 7,936 | 1.54% | 261 |
| Tehama | 51.36% | 5,077 | 46.44% | 4,591 | 2.21% | 218 |
| Santa Clara | 51.20% | 121,149 | 47.63% | 112,700 | 1.18% | 2,783 |
| Nevada | 51.02% | 4,818 | 47.12% | 4,450 | 1.85% | 175 |
| San Joaquin | 49.40% | 43,276 | 49.25% | 43,147 | 1.34% | 1,178 |
| Sonoma | 49.19% | 29,373 | 49.65% | 29,647 | 1.17% | 696 |
| Tulare | 49.08% | 24,598 | 49.71% | 24,914 | 1.21% | 608 |
| Glenn | 48.70% | 3,299 | 49.50% | 3,353 | 1.80% | 122 |
| San Benito | 48.30% | 2,527 | 50.46% | 2,640 | 1.24% | 65 |
| Butte | 47.74% | 16,142 | 50.79% | 17,172 | 1.47% | 497 |
| Mariposa | 47.50% | 1,272 | 50.37% | 1,349 | 2.13% | 57 |
| Santa Barbara | 47.50% | 30,424 | 51.24% | 32,821 | 1.26% | 807 |
| Inyo | 47.00% | 2,526 | 50.99% | 2,740 | 2.01% | 108 |
| Riverside | 46.60% | 50,257 | 51.86% | 55,926 | 1.54% | 1,666 |
| Monterey | 46.52% | 24,801 | 52.52% | 28,000 | 0.96% | 512 |
| Calaveras | 46.37% | 2,379 | 51.75% | 2,655 | 1.87% | 96 |
| Marin | 45.38% | 27,664 | 53.67% | 32,720 | 0.95% | 582 |
| Santa Cruz | 44.93% | 17,354 | 53.28% | 20,580 | 1.79% | 690 |
| Lake | 44.42% | 3,315 | 54.15% | 4,041 | 1.43% | 107 |
| Imperial | 44.14% | 8,241 | 55.01% | 10,271 | 0.85% | 158 |
| San Diego | 42.40% | 153,389 | 55.83% | 201,969 | 1.77% | 6,416 |
| Sutter | 41.19% | 4,816 | 57.59% | 6,734 | 1.21% | 142 |
| Orange | 39.16% | 112,152 | 59.35% | 169,962 | 1.49% | 4,263 |
| Mono | 36.12% | 488 | 62.18% | 840 | 1.70% | 23 |
| Alpine | 34.72% | 67 | 63.21% | 122 | 2.07% | 4 |
References
- ^ Matthews, Christopher J (1997). Kennedy and Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America. Free Press. pp. 215–218. ISBN 978-0-684-83246-3.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Lawrence, David G (2009). California: The Politics of Diversity. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-495-57097-4.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Starr, Kevin (2009). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press. pp. 215–216. ISBN 978-0-19-515377-4.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Perlstein, Rick (2002). Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus.
Further reading
- Ambrose, Stephen E. Nixon Volume II: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972 (1989).
- Anderson, Totton J., and Eugene C. Lee. “The 1962 Election in California.” Western Political Quarterly, 16#2 (1963), pp. 396–420. online
- Anderson, Totton J. "Extremism in California Politics: The Brown-Knowland and Brown-Nixon Campaigns Compared." Political Research Quarterly 16.2 (1963): 371.
- 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
{{citation}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) 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).
