1922 California gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	1922 California gubernatorial election
Country:	California
Type:	presidential
Flag Image:	Flag of California (1911–1924).pngborder
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1918 California gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1918
Next Election:	1926 California gubernatorial election
Next Year:	1926
Election Date:	November 7, 1922
Image1:	Friend Richardson (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:	Friend William Richardson
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	576,445
Percentage1:	59.69%
Nominee2:	Thomas Lee Woolwine
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	347,530
Percentage2:	35.98%
Map Size:	250px
Governor
Before Election:	William Stephens
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Friend Richardson
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1922 California gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1922. California State Treasurer Friend Richardson defeated incumbent governor William Stephens in the Republican primary while Los Angeles County District Attorney Thomas L. Woolwine defeated Mattison B. Jones in the Democratic primary.^[1] Richardson would defeat Woolwine in the general election and would roll back many of the Progressive reforms made by Stephens and his predecessor, Hiram Johnson.^[2] Richardson's 59.69% vote share was the largest ever achieved by a gubernatorial candidate in California to that point, though that record would be broken in the next election.

Primaries

Republican primary

Incumbent Republican governor William Stephens, who had succeeded Hiram Johnson upon his resignation in 1917 and then was elected to a term of his own in 1918, sought a second term as governor. By that time, Republicans had grown more conservative than the years prior, pushing against Progressives like Stephens.^[3] California State Treasurer Friend Richardson, previously a Progressive in 1914, campaigned on a conservative platform and utilizing a fatigue on Progressive politics in the state. In the Republican primary, Stephens lost to Richardson by 25,000 votes.^[4]

Democratic primary

Los Angeles County District Attorney Thomas L. Woolwine and attorney Mattison B. Jones ran in the Democratic ticket.^[5] Woolwine defeated Jones in the primary.^[6]

Prohibition primary

Governor Stephens and Jones cross-filed in the Prohibition primary, but due to Stephens not winning the Republican primary, the Prohibition Party was unable to run a candidate in the race.

Socialist primary

General election results

Results by county

County	Friend William Richardson Republican		Thomas Lee Woolwine Democratic		Alexander Horr Socialist		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Alameda		60,130		61.38%		33,250		33.94%		4,584		4.68%		0		0.00%		26,880		27.44%		97,964
	Alpine		45		77.59%		12		20.69%		0		0.00%		1		1.72%		33		56.90%		58
	Amador		1,111		49.80%		1,082		48.50%		37		1.66%		1		0.04%		29		1.30%		2,231
	Butte		5,493		56.52%		3,922		40.36%		303		3.12%		0		0.00%		1,571		16.17%		9,718
	Calaveras		1,325		56.89%		908		38.99%		94		4.04%		2		0.09%		417		17.90%		2,329
	Colusa		1,723		53.29%		1,469		45.44%		41		1.27%		0		0.00%		254		7.86%		3,233
	Contra Costa		8,860		54.22%		6,620		40.51%		862		5.27%		0		0.00%		2,240		13.71%		16,342
	Del Norte		653		65.63%		291		29.25%		51		5.13%		0		0.00%		362		36.38%		995
	El Dorado		1,308		46.01%		1,438		50.58%		97		3.41%		0		0.00%		-130		-4.57%		2,843
	Fresno		19,354		60.37%		11,164		34.82%		1,540		4.80%		0		0.00%		8,190		25.55%		32,058
	Glenn		2,659		66.88%		1,257		31.61%		59		1.48%		1		0.03%		1,402		35.26%		3,976
	Humboldt		7,984		73.91%		2,345		21.71%		474		4.39%		0		0.00%		5,639		52.20%		10,803
	Imperial		4,376		63.17%		2,328		33.61%		223		3.22%		0		0.00%		2,048		29.57%		6,927
	Inyo		1,678		66.27%		692		27.33%		160		6.32%		2		0.08%		986		38.94%		2,532
	Kern		9,706		53.90%		6,970		38.71%		1,325		7.36%		7		0.04%		2,736		15.19%		18,008
	Kings		3,550		58.65%		2,304		38.06%		199		3.29%		0		0.00%		1,246		20.58%		6,053
	Lake		951		57.29%		669		40.30%		40		2.41%		0		0.00%		282		16.99%		1,660
	Lassen		1,138		50.87%		1,026		45.86%		73		3.26%		0		0.00%		112		5.01%		2,237
	Los Angeles		169,563		66.06%		74,892		29.18%		12,072		4.70%		146		0.06%		94,671		36.88%		256,673
	Madera		2,031		53.62%		1,575		41.58%		181		4.78%		1		0.03%		456		12.04%		3,788
	Marin		5,211		56.49%		3,738		40.52%		276		2.99%		0		0.00%		1,473		15.97%		9,225
	Mariposa		456		45.92%		496		49.95%		41		4.13%		0		0.00%		-40		-4.03%		993
	Mendocino		3,531		57.59%		2,380		38.82%		220		3.59%		0		0.00%		1,151		18.77%		6,131
	Merced		3,550		57.89%		2,311		37.69%		268		4.37%		3		0.05%		1,239		20.21%		6,132
	Modoc		1,110		59.90%		696		37.56%		47		2.54%		0		0.00%		414		22.34%		1,853
	Mono		221		67.38%		86		26.22%		21		6.40%		0		0.00%		135		41.16%		328
	Monterey		4,145		57.90%		2,826		39.47%		188		2.63%		0		0.00%		1,319		18.42%		7,159
	Napa		3,541		49.64%		3,401		47.67%		182		2.55%		10		0.14%		140		1.96%		7,134
	Nevada		1,959		54.33%		1,478		40.99%		169		4.69%		0		0.00%		481		13.34%		3,606
	Orange		15,137		75.01%		4,351		21.56%		684		3.39%		8		0.04%		10,786		53.45%		20,180
	Placer		2,817		49.01%		2,702		47.01%		229		3.98%		0		0.00%		115		2.00%		5,748
	Plumas		580		46.14%		559		44.47%		118		9.39%		0		0.00%		21		1.67%		1,257
	Riverside		10,351		75.86%		2,921		21.41%		371		2.72%		2		0.01%		7,430		54.45%		13,645
	Sacramento		14,530		49.98%		13,474		46.35%		1,033		3.55%		35		0.12%		1,056		3.63%		29,072
	San Benito		1,782		58.99%		1,165		38.56%		74		2.45%		0		0.00%		617		20.42%		3,021
	San Bernardino		13,699		66.14%		5,566		26.87%		1,448		6.99%		0		0.00%		8,133		39.27%		20,713
	San Diego		22,792		69.29%		8,271		25.14%		1,823		5.54%		8		0.02%		14,521		44.14%		32,894
	San Francisco		56,302		42.58%		70,464		53.29%		5,336		4.04%		123		0.09%		-14,162		-10.71%		132,225
	San Joaquin		12,567		60.23%		7,539		36.13%		758		3.63%		0		0.00%		5,028		24.10%		20,864
	San Luis Obispo		4,344		62.60%		2,185		31.49%		400		5.76%		10		0.14%		2,159		31.11%		6,939
	San Mateo		6,227		50.20%		5,658		45.61%		508		4.10%		11		0.09%		569		4.59%		12,404
	Santa Barbara		6,754		68.06%		2,873		28.95%		295		2.97%		1		0.01%		3,881		39.11%		9,923
	Santa Clara		17,977		63.64%		9,484		33.57%		787		2.79%		0		0.00%		8,493		30.07%		28,248
	Santa Cruz		5,789		66.56%		2,591		29.79%		318		3.66%		0		0.00%		3,198		36.77%		8,698
	Shasta		2,659		51.77%		2,272		44.24%		205		3.99%		0		0.00%		387		7.54%		5,136
	Sierra		320		54.05%		251		42.40%		20		3.38%		1		0.17%		69		11.66%		592
	Siskiyou		2,922		50.84%		2,487		43.27%		338		5.88%		0		0.00%		435		7.57%		5,747
	Solano		5,168		47.51%		5,343		49.12%		366		3.36%		0		0.00%		-175		-1.61%		10,877
	Sonoma		9,004		55.45%		6,748		41.55%		487		3.00%		0		0.00%		2,256		13.89%		16,239
	Stanislaus		8,997		67.18%		3,831		28.61%		547		4.08%		17		0.13%		5,166		38.58%		13,392
	Sutter		1,728		59.88%		1,107		38.36%		51		1.77%		0		0.00%		621		21.52%		2,886
	Tehama		2,528		64.08%		1,264		32.04%		153		3.88%		0		0.00%		1,264		32.04%		3,945
	Trinity		597		56.80%		377		35.87%		77		7.33%		0		0.00%		220		20.93%		1,051
	Tulare		11,978		69.62%		4,640		26.97%		586		3.41%		0		0.00%		7,338		42.65%		17,204
	Tuolumne		1,709		51.06%		1,445		43.17%		191		5.71%		2		0.06%		264		7.89%		3,347
	Ventura		5,145		66.24%		2,377		30.60%		243		3.13%		2		0.03%		2,768		35.64%		7,767
	Yolo		2,964		54.59%		2,375		43.74%		91		1.68%		0		0.00%		589		10.85%		5,430
	Yuba		1,716		51.16%		1,584		47.23%		54		1.61%		0		0.00%		132		3.94%		3,354
Total	576,445	59.69%	347,530	35.98%	41,418	4.29%	394	0.04%	228,915	23.70%	965,787

Counties that flipped from Independent to Republican

• Marin
• Napa
• Sonoma

Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic

• San Francisco
• Solano

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• El Dorado
• Mariposa

External links

• Our Campaigns

Notes and References

1. Web site: JOHNSON AND RICHARDSON LEADING IN COUNT: CONTESTS FOR SENATOR AND FOR GOVERNOR ARE CLOSE Lineberger Decisively Defeats Randall for Congress; Young Ahead for Lieutenant-Governor; Lawlor Beats Wilbur; Traeger is Victor RACE IS CLOSE FOR SENATOR. August 30, 1922. Los Angeles Times. .
2. Web site: FINAL VOTE COUNT SHOWSLARGELEAD GIVEN RICHARDSON. The Sacramento Union. December 16, 1922.
3. Web site: ELECTION RESULTS. Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1922. .
4. Web site: RICHARDSON IS NOMINATED!: Stephens Loses Race by 15,000; Johnson is Safe RICHARDSON'S LEAD 15,000 Meet Our Next Governor. August 31, 1922. Los Angeles Times. .
5. Web site: ANGELENO WILL SEEK HIGH POST: Mattison B. Jones Named by Democrats as Candidate for Governorship. July 6, 1922. Los Angeles Times. .
6. District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine: Stormy Petrel of Politics. Winter 2005–2006. 87. 4. 377–396. University of California Press. 41172284 . Apostol . Jane . Southern California Quarterly . 10.2307/41172284 .