| Election Name: | 1926 California gubernatorial election |
| Country: | California |
| Flag Image: | Flag of California (1924–1953).pngborder |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1922 California gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1922 |
| Next Election: | 1930 California gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1930 |
| Election Date: | November 2, 1926 |
| Nominee1: | C. C. Young |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 814,815 |
| Percentage1: | 71.22% |
| Nominee2: | Justus S. Wardell |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 282,451 |
| Percentage2: | 24.69% |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Friend Richardson |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | C. C. Young |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1926 California gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1926. After ousting incumbent governor Friend William Richardson in the Republican primary, lieutenant governor C. C. Young defeated Justus S. Wardell in a landslide, sweeping every county in the state, the first time this had occurred in a gubernatorial election in California. Writer and activist Upton Sinclair ran on the Socialist ticket, the first of three consecutive gubernatorial elections in which he appeared on the ballot.
Lieutenant Governor C. C. Young challenged incumbent governor Friend William Richardson for the Republican nomination. Young was aligned with former governor and sitting United States Senator Hiram Johnson and the latter's Progressive wing of the Republican party in California. Young narrowly defeated Richardson in the Republican primary. Richardson won the Prohibition Party primary but state law prevented him from running on the Prohibition ticket due to his losing his own party's primary.
| County | C. C. Young Republican | Justus S. Wardell Democratic | Upton Sinclair Socialist | Scattering Write-in | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alameda | 85,412 | 69.26% | 32,686 | 26.51% | 5,221 | 4.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 52,726 | 42.76% | 123,319 | ||||||||||||
| Alpine | 52 | 85.25% | 9 | 14.75% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 43 | 70.49% | 61 | ||||||||||||
| Amador | 991 | 54.81% | 771 | 42.64% | 45 | 2.49% | 1 | 0.06% | 220 | 12.17% | 1,808 | ||||||||||||
| Butte | 7,129 | 68.02% | 2,925 | 27.91% | 426 | 4.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 4,204 | 40.11% | 10,480 | ||||||||||||
| Calaveras | 1,528 | 73.11% | 471 | 22.54% | 91 | 4.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,057 | 50.57% | 2,090 | ||||||||||||
| Colusa | 1,681 | 54.74% | 1,336 | 43.50% | 54 | 1.76% | 0 | 0.00% | 345 | 11.23% | 3,071 | ||||||||||||
| Contra Costa | 11,257 | 67.56% | 4,668 | 28.02% | 736 | 4.42% | 0 | 0.00% | 6,589 | 39.55% | 16,661 | ||||||||||||
| Del Norte | 941 | 74.33% | 293 | 23.14% | 32 | 2.53% | 0 | 0.00% | 648 | 51.18% | 1,266 | ||||||||||||
| El Dorado | 1,660 | 53.22% | 1,355 | 43.44% | 104 | 3.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 305 | 9.78% | 3,119 | ||||||||||||
| Fresno | 24,469 | 72.43% | 8,181 | 24.22% | 1,132 | 3.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 16,288 | 48.22% | 33,782 | ||||||||||||
| Glenn | 2,326 | 66.63% | 1,057 | 30.28% | 96 | 2.75% | 12 | 0.34% | 1,269 | 36.35% | 3,491 | ||||||||||||
| Humboldt | 9,566 | 72.09% | 3,170 | 23.89% | 533 | 4.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 6,396 | 48.20% | 13,269 | ||||||||||||
| Imperial | 6,303 | 82.51% | 1,116 | 14.61% | 220 | 2.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 5,187 | 67.90% | 7,639 | ||||||||||||
| Inyo | 1,651 | 71.60% | 487 | 21.12% | 168 | 7.29% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,164 | 50.48% | 2,306 | ||||||||||||
| Kern | 9,724 | 52.42% | 8,026 | 43.26% | 776 | 4.18% | 25 | 0.13% | 1,698 | 9.15% | 18,551 | ||||||||||||
| Kings | 3,456 | 64.26% | 1,755 | 32.63% | 162 | 3.01% | 5 | 0.09% | 1,701 | 31.63% | 5,378 | ||||||||||||
| Lake | 1,572 | 61.60% | 864 | 33.86% | 112 | 4.39% | 4 | 0.16% | 708 | 27.74% | 2,552 | ||||||||||||
| Lassen | 2,198 | 73.81% | 687 | 23.07% | 93 | 3.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,511 | 50.74% | 2,978 | ||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 291,368 | 77.89% | 64,281 | 17.18% | 17,924 | 4.79% | 483 | 0.13% | 227,087 | 60.71% | 374,056 | ||||||||||||
| Madera | 2,876 | 69.49% | 1,083 | 26.17% | 180 | 4.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,793 | 43.32% | 4,139 | ||||||||||||
| Marin | 6,370 | 63.31% | 3,369 | 33.48% | 323 | 3.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,001 | 29.83% | 10,062 | ||||||||||||
| Mariposa | 587 | 61.66% | 326 | 34.24% | 39 | 4.10% | 0 | 0.00% | 261 | 27.42% | 952 | ||||||||||||
| Mendocino | 4,339 | 65.39% | 2,065 | 31.12% | 232 | 3.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,274 | 34.27% | 6,636 | ||||||||||||
| Merced | 4,952 | 69.60% | 1,876 | 26.37% | 287 | 4.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,076 | 43.23% | 7,115 | ||||||||||||
| Modoc | 1,022 | 64.56% | 517 | 32.66% | 44 | 2.78% | 0 | 0.00% | 505 | 31.90% | 1,583 | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 236 | 81.66% | 38 | 13.15% | 15 | 5.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 198 | 68.51% | 289 | ||||||||||||
| Monterey | 6,121 | 71.85% | 2,140 | 25.12% | 258 | 3.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,981 | 46.73% | 8,519 | ||||||||||||
| Napa | 4,105 | 54.40% | 3,279 | 43.45% | 156 | 2.07% | 6 | 0.08% | 826 | 10.95% | 7,546 | ||||||||||||
| Nevada | 2,515 | 67.08% | 1,044 | 27.85% | 190 | 5.07% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,471 | 39.24% | 3,749 | ||||||||||||
| Orange | 19,110 | 78.29% | 4,466 | 18.30% | 794 | 3.25% | 40 | 0.16% | 14,644 | 59.99% | 24,410 | ||||||||||||
| Placer | 4,263 | 71.42% | 1,501 | 25.15% | 198 | 3.32% | 7 | 0.12% | 2,762 | 46.27% | 5,969 | ||||||||||||
| Plumas | 1,297 | 75.10% | 334 | 19.34% | 96 | 5.56% | 0 | 0.00% | 963 | 55.76% | 1,727 | ||||||||||||
| Riverside | 10,306 | 79.61% | 2,235 | 17.27% | 404 | 3.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 8,071 | 62.35% | 12,945 | ||||||||||||
| Sacramento | 20,679 | 66.39% | 9,675 | 31.06% | 756 | 2.43% | 37 | 0.12% | 11,004 | 35.33% | 31,147 | ||||||||||||
| San Benito | 1,828 | 68.67% | 780 | 29.30% | 54 | 2.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,048 | 39.37% | 2,662 | ||||||||||||
| San Bernardino | 17,561 | 75.82% | 4,666 | 20.15% | 902 | 3.89% | 32 | 0.14% | 12,895 | 55.68% | 23,161 | ||||||||||||
| San Diego | 29,994 | 78.53% | 6,441 | 16.86% | 1,759 | 4.61% | 0 | 0.00% | 23,553 | 61.67% | 38,194 | ||||||||||||
| San Francisco | 73,012 | 58.27% | 47,757 | 38.11% | 4,532 | 3.62% | 0 | 0.00% | 25,255 | 20.16% | 125,301 | ||||||||||||
| San Joaquin | 16,586 | 70.22% | 6,349 | 26.88% | 670 | 2.84% | 15 | 0.06% | 10,237 | 43.34% | 23,620 | ||||||||||||
| San Luis Obispo | 5,432 | 67.37% | 2,221 | 27.55% | 410 | 5.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,211 | 39.82% | 8,063 | ||||||||||||
| San Mateo | 11,679 | 71.82% | 3,964 | 24.38% | 607 | 3.73% | 12 | 0.07% | 7,715 | 47.44% | 16,262 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 6,762 | 71.85% | 2,274 | 24.16% | 344 | 3.66% | 31 | 0.33% | 4,488 | 47.69% | 9,411 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 25,837 | 77.45% | 6,592 | 19.76% | 905 | 2.71% | 24 | 0.07% | 19,245 | 57.69% | 33,358 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Cruz | 6,986 | 69.40% | 2,658 | 26.40% | 396 | 3.93% | 27 | 0.27% | 4,328 | 42.99% | 10,067 | ||||||||||||
| Shasta | 2,811 | 64.25% | 1,373 | 31.38% | 189 | 4.32% | 2 | 0.05% | 1,438 | 32.87% | 4,375 | ||||||||||||
| Sierra | 668 | 72.14% | 217 | 23.43% | 38 | 4.10% | 3 | 0.32% | 451 | 48.70% | 926 | ||||||||||||
| Siskiyou | 4,394 | 69.04% | 1,708 | 26.84% | 262 | 4.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,686 | 42.21% | 6,364 | ||||||||||||
| Solano | 7,144 | 64.44% | 3,565 | 32.16% | 377 | 3.40% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,579 | 32.28% | 11,086 | ||||||||||||
| Sonoma | 11,639 | 58.71% | 7,577 | 38.22% | 590 | 2.98% | 18 | 0.09% | 4,062 | 20.49% | 19,824 | ||||||||||||
| Stanislaus | 9,133 | 69.08% | 3,489 | 26.39% | 547 | 4.14% | 52 | 0.39% | 5,644 | 42.69% | 13,221 | ||||||||||||
| Sutter | 2,678 | 69.92% | 1,067 | 27.86% | 85 | 2.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,611 | 42.06% | 3,830 | ||||||||||||
| Tehama | 2,974 | 64.43% | 1,406 | 30.46% | 236 | 5.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,568 | 33.97% | 4,616 | ||||||||||||
| Trinity | 749 | 70.39% | 253 | 23.78% | 62 | 5.83% | 0 | 0.00% | 496 | 46.62% | 1,064 | ||||||||||||
| Tulare | 10,754 | 65.28% | 5,101 | 30.96% | 589 | 3.58% | 30 | 0.18% | 5,653 | 34.31% | 16,474 | ||||||||||||
| Tuolumne | 1,818 | 67.31% | 732 | 27.10% | 151 | 5.59% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,086 | 40.21% | 2,701 | ||||||||||||
| Ventura | 6,125 | 80.07% | 1,336 | 17.46% | 185 | 2.42% | 4 | 0.05% | 4,789 | 62.60% | 7,650 | ||||||||||||
| Yolo | 3,509 | 64.90% | 1,797 | 33.23% | 97 | 1.79% | 4 | 0.07% | 1,712 | 31.66% | 5,407 | ||||||||||||
| Yuba | 2,680 | 70.34% | 1,042 | 27.35% | 88 | 2.31% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,638 | 42.99% | 3,810 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 814,815 | 71.22% | 282,451 | 24.69% | 45,972 | 4.02% | 874 | 0.08% | 532,364 | 46.53% | 1,144,112 | ||||||||||||