| Election Name: | 1974 California gubernatorial election |
| Country: | California |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1970 California gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1970 |
| Next Election: | 1978 California gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
| Election Date: | November 5, 1974 |
| Image1: | Jerry Brown, SoS '72 (croppedcloser).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Jerry Brown |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 3,131,648 |
| Percentage1: | 50.11% |
| Nominee2: | Houston Flournoy |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,952,954 |
| Percentage2: | 47.25% |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Ronald Reagan |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Jerry Brown |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The 1974 California gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. The primary elections occurred on June 4, 1974. Incumbent Governor and former actor Ronald Reagan retired after two terms. Democratic Secretary of State Jerry Brown, son of former Governor Pat Brown, defeated Republican Controller Houston I. Flournoy in the general election. This is the first election since 1958 to not feature a Republican candidate that went on to become a U.S. president. With Brown’s election, California had a Democratic Governor and two Democratic Senators (John V. Tunney and Alan Cranston) for the first time since the Civil War.This is the earliest California gubernatorial election to feature a major party candidate who is still alive or living today as of .
For the first time since 1958, the incumbent governor of California (in this case, Ronald Reagan) was not running for reelection, in either the primary or general election. This led to a pair of hotly contested primary elections. On the Republican side, Lieutenant Governor Edwin Reinecke ran against State Controller Houston I. Flournoy. The moderate Flournoy won a surprisingly easy victory over the more conservative Reinecke. On the Democratic side, there were numerous contenders for the nomination, including Secretary of State (and son of former Governor Pat Brown) Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker Bob Moretti, and the mayor of San Francisco, Joseph Alioto. Brown ultimately won the primary, easily outdistancing his nearest rival Alioto.
Brown had statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California, and maintained a lead in most of the early polls. Flournoy began to gain in the polls as the election approached, but Brown won, although by a much smaller margin than predicted. Coincidentally, when Brown ran for Secretary of State four years earlier, he defeated a man named James Flournoy – no relation to Houston – in a very close election.
| County | Edmund G. Brown Jr. Democratic | Houston I. Flournoy Republican | Edmon V. Kaiser American Independent | Elizabeth Keathley Peace & Freedom | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alameda | 200,165 | 60.15% | 123,656 | 37.16% | 3,588 | 1.08% | 5,341 | 1.61% | 76,509 | 22.99% | 332,750 | ||||||||||||
| Alpine | 185 | 44.90% | 212 | 51.46% | 5 | 1.21% | 10 | 2.43% | -27 | -6.55% | 412 | ||||||||||||
| Amador | 3,198 | 46.48% | 3,483 | 50.63% | 141 | 2.05% | 58 | 0.84% | -285 | -4.14% | 6,880 | ||||||||||||
| Butte | 17,007 | 41.47% | 22,499 | 54.86% | 859 | 2.09% | 643 | 1.57% | -5,492 | -13.39% | 41,008 | ||||||||||||
| Calaveras | 2,702 | 41.25% | 3,709 | 56.63% | 87 | 1.33% | 52 | 0.79% | -1,007 | -15.37% | 6,550 | ||||||||||||
| Colusa | 1,884 | 42.16% | 2,503 | 56.01% | 54 | 1.21% | 28 | 0.63% | -619 | -13.85% | 4,469 | ||||||||||||
| Contra Costa | 97,038 | 48.31% | 99,470 | 49.52% | 2,372 | 1.18% | 1,975 | 0.98% | -2,432 | -1.21% | 200,855 | ||||||||||||
| Del Norte | 2,149 | 51.60% | 1,921 | 46.12% | 54 | 1.30% | 41 | 0.98% | 228 | 5.47% | 4,165 | ||||||||||||
| El Dorado | 8,076 | 46.09% | 8,922 | 50.92% | 342 | 1.95% | 183 | 1.04% | -846 | -4.83% | 17,523 | ||||||||||||
| Fresno | 61,596 | 52.41% | 53,308 | 45.36% | 1,337 | 1.14% | 1,277 | 1.09% | 8,288 | 7.05% | 117,518 | ||||||||||||
| Glenn | 2,645 | 40.86% | 3,675 | 56.77% | 115 | 1.78% | 39 | 0.60% | -1,030 | -15.91% | 6,474 | ||||||||||||
| Humboldt | 22,805 | 58.66% | 14,958 | 38.48% | 319 | 0.82% | 792 | 2.04% | 7,847 | 20.19% | 38,875 | ||||||||||||
| Imperial | 9,033 | 49.04% | 9,011 | 48.92% | 203 | 1.10% | 171 | 0.93% | 22 | 0.12% | 18,418 | ||||||||||||
| Inyo | 2,417 | 41.54% | 3,238 | 55.65% | 106 | 1.82% | 58 | 1.00% | -821 | -14.11% | 5,819 | ||||||||||||
| Kern | 44,828 | 48.29% | 45,775 | 49.31% | 1,616 | 1.74% | 621 | 0.67% | -947 | -1.02% | 92,840 | ||||||||||||
| Kings | 7,444 | 52.11% | 6,540 | 45.78% | 163 | 1.14% | 138 | 0.97% | 904 | 6.33% | 14,285 | ||||||||||||
| Lake | 4,733 | 45.71% | 5,381 | 51.97% | 159 | 1.54% | 81 | 0.78% | -648 | -6.26% | 10,354 | ||||||||||||
| Lassen | 3,111 | 57.13% | 2,165 | 39.76% | 117 | 2.15% | 52 | 0.96% | 946 | 17.37% | 5,445 | ||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 1,059,533 | 52.84% | 898,808 | 44.82% | 24,601 | 1.23% | 22,223 | 1.11% | 160,725 | 8.02% | 2,005,165 | ||||||||||||
| Madera | 5,584 | 51.17% | 5,137 | 47.08% | 124 | 1.14% | 67 | 0.61% | 447 | 4.10% | 10,912 | ||||||||||||
| Marin | 36,384 | 45.84% | 40,619 | 51.18% | 905 | 1.14% | 1,456 | 1.83% | -4,235 | -5.34% | 79,364 | ||||||||||||
| Mariposa | 1,658 | 45.28% | 1,893 | 51.69% | 66 | 1.80% | 45 | 1.23% | -235 | -6.42% | 3,662 | ||||||||||||
| Mendocino | 9,158 | 50.31% | 8,373 | 46.00% | 312 | 1.71% | 360 | 1.98% | 785 | 4.31% | 18,203 | ||||||||||||
| Merced | 12,779 | 51.89% | 11,339 | 46.05% | 318 | 1.29% | 189 | 0.77% | 1,440 | 5.85% | 24,625 | ||||||||||||
| Modoc | 1,395 | 44.16% | 1,705 | 53.97% | 41 | 1.30% | 18 | 0.57% | -310 | -9.81% | 3,159 | ||||||||||||
| Mono | 817 | 39.45% | 1,161 | 56.06% | 55 | 2.66% | 38 | 1.83% | -344 | -16.61% | 2,071 | ||||||||||||
| Monterey | 28,832 | 46.09% | 32,218 | 51.50% | 748 | 1.20% | 764 | 1.22% | -3,386 | -5.41% | 62,562 | ||||||||||||
| Napa | 15,200 | 47.44% | 16,048 | 50.09% | 441 | 1.38% | 350 | 1.09% | -848 | -2.65% | 32,039 | ||||||||||||
| Nevada | 5,225 | 41.00% | 7,101 | 55.72% | 249 | 1.95% | 169 | 1.33% | -1,876 | -14.72% | 12,744 | ||||||||||||
| Orange | 212,638 | 40.60% | 297,870 | 56.87% | 8,198 | 1.57% | 5,090 | 0.97% | -85,232 | -16.27% | 523,796 | ||||||||||||
| Placer | 15,744 | 50.50% | 14,510 | 46.54% | 566 | 1.82% | 358 | 1.15% | 1,234 | 3.96% | 31,178 | ||||||||||||
| Plumas | 3,031 | 55.77% | 2,279 | 41.93% | 66 | 1.21% | 59 | 1.09% | 752 | 13.84% | 5,435 | ||||||||||||
| Riverside | 70,515 | 47.93% | 73,102 | 49.69% | 2,115 | 1.44% | 1,374 | 0.93% | -2,587 | -1.76% | 147,106 | ||||||||||||
| Sacramento | 117,711 | 51.62% | 104,595 | 45.86% | 2,812 | 1.23% | 2,934 | 1.29% | 13,116 | 5.75% | 228,052 | ||||||||||||
| San Benito | 2,722 | 45.05% | 3,199 | 52.95% | 60 | 0.99% | 61 | 1.01% | -477 | -7.89% | 6,042 | ||||||||||||
| San Bernardino | 87,133 | 49.85% | 82,611 | 47.27% | 3,624 | 2.07% | 1,413 | 0.81% | 4,522 | 2.59% | 174,782 | ||||||||||||
| San Diego | 196,930 | 42.82% | 249,444 | 54.24% | 7,999 | 1.74% | 5,501 | 1.20% | -52,514 | -11.42% | 459,874 | ||||||||||||
| San Francisco | 136,896 | 61.81% | 78,759 | 35.56% | 1,806 | 0.82% | 4,009 | 1.81% | 58,137 | 26.25% | 221,470 | ||||||||||||
| San Joaquin | 38,429 | 45.69% | 43,744 | 52.01% | 1,284 | 1.53% | 643 | 0.76% | -5,315 | -6.32% | 84,100 | ||||||||||||
| San Luis Obispo | 19,429 | 47.82% | 20,300 | 49.96% | 394 | 0.97% | 510 | 1.26% | -871 | -2.14% | 40,633 | ||||||||||||
| San Mateo | 91,808 | 49.62% | 88,235 | 47.69% | 2,622 | 1.42% | 2,361 | 1.28% | 3,573 | 1.93% | 185,026 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Barbara | 42,221 | 45.99% | 47,263 | 51.48% | 854 | 0.93% | 1,470 | 1.60% | -5,042 | -5.49% | 91,808 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 166,760 | 50.63% | 153,761 | 46.69% | 4,628 | 1.41% | 4,201 | 1.28% | 12,999 | 3.95% | 329,350 | ||||||||||||
| Santa Cruz | 28,600 | 48.67% | 27,750 | 47.23% | 822 | 1.40% | 1,587 | 2.70% | 850 | 1.45% | 58,789 | ||||||||||||
| Shasta | 15,764 | 55.51% | 11,716 | 41.25% | 637 | 2.24% | 284 | 1.00% | 4,048 | 14.25% | 28,401 | ||||||||||||
| Sierra | 629 | 52.99% | 513 | 43.22% | 26 | 2.19% | 19 | 1.60% | 116 | 9.77% | 1,187 | ||||||||||||
| Siskiyou | 6,515 | 53.93% | 5,229 | 43.28% | 201 | 1.66% | 136 | 1.13% | 1,286 | 10.64% | 12,081 | ||||||||||||
| Solano | 24,955 | 54.43% | 19,524 | 42.58% | 591 | 1.29% | 781 | 1.70% | 5,431 | 11.84% | 45,851 | ||||||||||||
| Sonoma | 40,756 | 48.48% | 40,339 | 47.98% | 1,077 | 1.28% | 1,898 | 2.26% | 417 | 0.50% | 84,070 | ||||||||||||
| Stanislaus | 27,931 | 47.97% | 29,186 | 50.13% | 673 | 1.16% | 430 | 0.74% | -1,255 | -2.16% | 58,220 | ||||||||||||
| Sutter | 5,141 | 39.32% | 7,642 | 58.45% | 182 | 1.39% | 110 | 0.84% | -2,501 | -19.13% | 13,075 | ||||||||||||
| Tehama | 5,618 | 49.73% | 5,373 | 47.56% | 219 | 1.94% | 87 | 0.77% | 245 | 2.17% | 11,297 | ||||||||||||
| Trinity | 1,762 | 51.24% | 1,519 | 44.17% | 104 | 3.02% | 54 | 1.57% | 243 | 7.07% | 3,439 | ||||||||||||
| Tulare | 20,589 | 44.93% | 24,103 | 52.60% | 692 | 1.51% | 440 | 0.96% | -3,514 | -7.67% | 45,824 | ||||||||||||
| Tuolumne | 4,165 | 40.16% | 5,952 | 57.39% | 162 | 1.56% | 93 | 0.90% | -1,787 | -17.23% | 10,372 | ||||||||||||
| Ventura | 56,189 | 47.20% | 60,122 | 50.50% | 1,554 | 1.31% | 1,184 | 0.99% | -3,933 | -3.30% | 119,049 | ||||||||||||
| Yolo | 18,249 | 54.00% | 14,734 | 43.60% | 230 | 0.68% | 579 | 1.71% | 3,515 | 10.40% | 33,792 | ||||||||||||
| Yuba | 5,237 | 51.04% | 4,752 | 46.32% | 173 | 1.69% | 98 | 0.96% | 485 | 4.73% | 10,260 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 3,131,648 | 50.12% | 2,952,954 | 47.26% | 83,869 | 1.34% | 75,004 | 1.20% | 178,694 | 2.86% | 6,248,070 | ||||||||||||