1966 California gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	1966 California gubernatorial election
Country:	California
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1962 California gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1962
Next Election:	1970 California gubernatorial election
Next Year:	1970
Election Date:	November 8, 1966
Nominee1:	Ronald Reagan
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	3,742,913
Percentage1:	57.55%
Nominee2:	Pat Brown
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	2,749,174
Percentage2:	42.27%
Map Size:	301px
Governor
Before Election:	Pat Brown
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Ronald Reagan
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1966 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966. Incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican nominee and future President Ronald Reagan. As of the 2022 gubernatorial election, this is the last time an incumbent governor of California lost re-election, though one subsequent incumbent governor was recalled.

Background

Incumbent governor Pat Brown had been twice elected with significant accomplishments, such as the construction of the state highway system.^[1]

Primaries

California's liberal Republicans including George Christopher leveled attacks on Ronald Reagan for his conservative positions.^[2] Reagan popularized the eleventh commandment created by California Republican Party chairman Gaylord Parkinson. In his 1990 autobiography An American Life, Reagan attributed the rule to Parkinson, explained its origin, and claimed to have followed it, writing, "The personal attacks against me during the primary finally became so heavy that the state Republican chairman, Gaylord Parkinson, postulated what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. It's a rule I followed during that campaign and have ever since."^[3] Parkinson used the phrase as common ground to prevent a split in the party.^[2]

Candidates

• Dale Alexander (D)
• Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (D), incumbent governor
• Wallace James Duffy (D)
• Ingram W. Goad (D)
• Carlton B. Goodlett (D), publisher and activist
• Samuel William Yorty (D), mayor of Los Angeles
• George Christopher (R), former mayor of San Francisco
• Warren N. Dorn (R), Los Angeles County Supervisor
• Joseph R. Maxwell
• William Penn Patrick (R), businessman
• Ronald Reagan (R), actor and former head of Screen Actors Guild

Results

Campaign

Polls in February 1966 showed Christopher with a seven-point lead over Brown and Brown leading Reagan by four, so Brown sought to influence the Republican primary in Reagan's favor by having operatives pass negative claims against Christopher to columnist Drew Pearson.^[4] Nixon worked tirelessly behind the scenes and Reagan trumpeted his law-and-order campaign message, going into the general election with a great deal of momentum. After pollsters discovered that the Berkeley student protests were a major priority of Republican voters, Reagan repeatedly promised to "clean up the mess at Berkeley."^[5]

At first, Brown tried to smear Reagan's conservative supporters with "lame Nazi metaphors". After Reagan deftly parried that tactic, Brown made a serious gaffe. He ran a television commercial in which he used a rhetorical question to remind a group of elementary school children that John Wilkes Booth, another actor, had killed Abraham Lincoln. Brown's crude comparison of Reagan to Booth based on their common background as actors—in the state that happens to be home to Hollywood—did not go over well with the California electorate.^[6] Brown won in only three counties, Alameda, Plumas, and San Francisco. He narrowly won Alameda by about 2,000 votes and Plumas by about 100 votes.

Results

Results by county

County	Ronald Reagan Republican		Edmund G. Brown Democratic		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Alameda		189,055		49.54%		190,968		50.04%		1,607		0.42%		-1,913		-0.50%		381,630
	Alpine		148		65.78%		77		34.22%		0		0.00%		71		31.56%		225
	Amador		2,985		58.29%		2,132		41.63%		4		0.08%		853		16.66%		5,121
	Butte		25,443		67.48%		12,263		32.52%		0		0.00%		13,180		34.95%		37,706
	Calaveras		3,810		67.72%		1,812		32.21%		4		0.07%		1,998		35.51%		5,626
	Colusa		2,806		62.07%		1,713		37.89%		2		0.04%		1,093		24.18%		4,521
	Contra Costa		107,543		54.79%		87,525		44.59%		1,217		0.62%		20,018		10.20%		196,285
	Del Norte		3,409		63.96%		1,918		35.98%		3		0.06%		1,491		27.97%		5,330
	El Dorado		9,189		62.97%		5,378		36.86%		25		0.17%		3,811		26.12%		14,592
	Fresno		70,182		53.90%		59,869		45.98%		167		0.13%		10,313		7.92%		130,218
	Glenn		4,676		66.33%		2,371		33.63%		3		0.04%		2,305		32.70%		7,050
	Humboldt		19,210		57.16%		14,374		42.77%		23		0.07%		4,836		14.39%		33,607
	Imperial		12,372		62.84%		7,307		37.12%		8		0.04%		5,065		25.73%		19,687
	Inyo		3,961		66.14%		2,023		33.78%		5		0.08%		1,938		32.36%		5,989
	Kern		64,716		62.62%		38,543		37.29%		96		0.09%		26,173		25.32%		103,355
	Kings		9,957		55.77%		7,890		44.19%		7		0.04%		2,067		11.58%		17,854
	Lake		5,499		63.01%		3,217		36.86%		11		0.13%		2,282		26.15%		8,727
	Lassen		3,190		53.95%		2,723		46.05%		0		0.00%		467		7.90%		5,913
	Los Angeles		1,389,995		57.18%		1,037,663		42.68%		3,435		0.14%		352,332		14.49%		2,431,093
	Madera		7,490		54.13%		6,335		45.78%		12		0.09%		1,155		8.35%		13,837
	Marin		40,411		57.02%		30,230		42.66%		227		0.32%		10,181		14.37%		70,868
	Mariposa		1,811		61.45%		1,133		38.45%		3		0.10%		678		23.01%		2,947
	Mendocino		10,161		59.76%		6,827		40.15%		15		0.09%		3,334		19.61%		17,003
	Merced		14,103		52.98%		12,499		46.96%		16		0.06%		1,604		6.03%		26,618
	Modoc		1,946		62.67%		1,156		37.23%		3		0.10%		790		25.44%		3,105
	Mono		1,205		77.84%		343		22.16%		0		0.00%		862		55.68%		1,548
	Monterey		35,944		60.96%		22,923		38.88%		96		0.16%		13,021		22.08%		58,963
	Napa		17,740		59.45%		12,060		40.42%		40		0.13%		5,680		19.03%		29,840
	Nevada		7,373		65.80%		3,823		34.12%		9		0.08%		3,550		31.68%		11,205
	Orange		293,413		72.06%		113,275		27.82%		466		0.11%		180,138		44.24%		407,154
	Placer		14,664		54.55%		12,187		45.33%		32		0.12%		2,477		9.21%		26,883
	Plumas		2,658		49.15%		2,747		50.80%		3		0.06%		-89		-1.65%		5,408
	Riverside		84,501		62.35%		50,112		36.98%		907		0.67%		34,389		25.38%		135,520
	Sacramento		109,801		50.85%		105,861		49.03%		262		0.12%		3,940		1.82%		215,924
	San Benito		3,565		60.96%		2,283		39.04%		0		0.00%		1,282		21.92%		5,848
	San Bernardino		121,916		62.13%		74,120		37.77%		187		0.10%		47,796		24.36%		196,223
	San Diego		252,070		63.76%		142,890		36.14%		398		0.10%		109,180		27.62%		395,358
	San Francisco		114,796		41.06%		164,435		58.82%		341		0.12%		-49,639		-17.76%		279,572
	San Joaquin		54,647		60.73%		35,281		39.21%		51		0.06%		19,366		21.52%		89,979
	San Luis Obispo		21,528		62.52%		12,891		37.44%		13		0.04%		8,637		25.08%		34,432
	San Mateo		107,498		53.63%		92,654		46.23%		276		0.14%		14,844		7.41%		200,428
	Santa Barbara		50,284		63.21%		28,853		36.27%		414		0.52%		21,431		26.94%		79,551
	Santa Clara		164,970		55.33%		132,793		44.54%		410		0.14%		32,177		10.79%		298,173
	Santa Cruz		26,988		61.42%		16,913		38.49%		42		0.10%		10,075		22.93%		43,943
	Shasta		15,155		54.76%		12,486		45.12%		32		0.12%		2,669		9.64%		27,673
	Sierra		650		55.27%		526		44.73%		0		0.00%		124		10.54%		1,176
	Siskiyou		7,057		54.17%		5,962		45.76%		9		0.07%		1,095		8.40%		13,028
	Solano		23,187		50.11%		23,047		49.81%		39		0.08%		140		0.30%		46,273
	Sonoma		41,516		60.57%		26,898		39.24%		126		0.18%		14,618		21.33%		68,540
	Stanislaus		31,473		54.36%		26,418		45.63%		10		0.02%		5,055		8.73%		57,901
	Sutter		9,828		70.43%		4,126		29.57%		0		0.00%		5,702		40.86%		13,954
	Tehama		6,629		62.94%		3,891		36.94%		12		0.11%		2,738		26.00%		10,532
	Trinity		2,050		62.23%		1,242		37.70%		2		0.06%		808		24.53%		3,294
	Tulare		33,095		59.91%		22,109		40.02%		41		0.07%		10,986		19.89%		55,245
	Tuolumne		4,845		58.16%		3,479		41.76%		6		0.07%		1,366		16.40%		8,330
	Ventura		580,68		60.82%		37,224		38.99%		181		0.19%		20,844		21.83%		95,473
	Yolo		13,073		49.97%		13,032		49.81%		57		0.22%		41		0.16%		26,162
	Yuba		6,658		60.50%		4,344		39.47%		3		0.03%		2,314		21.03%		11,005
Total	3,742,913	57.55%	2,749,174	42.27%	11,358	0.17%	993,739	15.28%	6,503,445

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Amador
• Colusa
• Contra Costa
• Del Norte
• El Dorado
• Fresno
• Humboldt
• Kern
• Kings
• Lassen
• Los Angeles
• Madera
• Mendocino
• Merced
• Modoc
• Napa
• Nevada
• Placer
• Sacramento
• San Bernardino
• San Joaquin
• San Luis Obispo
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Shasta
• Sierra
• Siskiyou
• Solano
• Stanislaus
• Tehama
• Trinity
• Tuolumne
• Ventura
• Yolo
• Yuba

Further reading

• Anderson, Totton J.; Lee, Eugene C. (1967), "The 1966 Election in California", Western Political Quarterly, 20#2 pp. 535–554 in JSTOR
• Becker, Jules, and Douglas A. Fuchs. "How two major California dailies covered Reagan vs. Brown." Journalism Quarterly 44.4 (1967): 645–653.
• Book: Cannon, Lou. Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power. New York. PublicAffairs. 2003. 1-58648-030-8.
• Cannon, Lou (2001), Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio (PublicAffairs, 2001)
• Cannon, Lou. "Preparing for the Presidency: The Political Education of Ronald Reagan" in A Legacy of Leadership: Governors and American History ed. by Clayton McClure Brooks (2008) pp 137–155. online
• Dallek, Matthew. The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics (2000), 1966 election;
• De Groot, Gerard J. "'A Goddamned Electable Person': The 1966 California Gubernatorial Campaign of Ronald Reagan." History 82#267 (1997) pp: 429-448 online.
• De Groot, Gerard J. "Ronald Reagan and Student Unrest in California, 1966-1970." Pacific Historical Review 65.1 (1996): 107–129. online free
• Edwards, Anne. Early Reagan: The Rise to Power (New York, 1987), includes 1966 election
• McKenna, Kevin. "The 'Total Campaign': How Ronald Reagan Overwhelmingly Won the California Gubernatorial Election of 1966." (Thesis, Columbia University, 2010)
• 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) .
• 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.
• Reeves, Michelle. "Obey the Rules or Get Out": Ronald Reagan's 1966 Gubernatorial Campaign and the 'Trouble in Berkeley'." Southern California Quarterly (2010): 275–305. in JSTOR
• Rice, Richard B. The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. (McGraw-Hill, 2012).). .
• Rogin, Michael Paul, John L. Shover. Political Change in California: Critical Elections and Social Movements, 1890-1966 (Greenwood, 1970).
• Rorabaugh, William J. Berkeley at War, the 1960s (Oxford University Press, 1989).
• Schuparra, Kurt. Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966 (M.E. Sharpe, 1998).

External links

• Autumn and Cardboard: The 1966 California Gubernatorial Election
• Reagan Heritage
• Bepress (pg 13)
• SFgate

Notes and References

1. After his re-election victory over former vice president Richard Nixon in 1962, Brown was strongly considered for Lyndon B. Johnson's running mate in 1964.Web site: California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown. Paley Center. November 28, 2023. However, Brown's popularity began to sag amidst the civil disorders of the Watts riots and the early student protests at the University of California, Berkeley including the Free Speech Movement.
2. Web site: Wilcox. David C.. The "Eleventh Commandment". Enter Stage Right. 15 September 2010. 8 April 2002.
3. Reagan, Ronald (1990). An American Life. Simon and Schuster. p. 150.
4. With the nomination of Reagan, a well-known and charismatic political outsider-actor, the Republicans seized upon Brown's sudden unpopularity evidenced by a tough battle in the Democratic primary.
5. Book: Kerr. Clark. The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967, Volume 2. 2001. University of California Press. Berkeley. 9780520925014. 288. 3 July 2020.
6. Within 48 hours, Reagan had overtaken Brown in the polls.

   With a lead that grew throughout September and October, Reagan won by over 990,000 votes, aided by traditionally Democratic working-class areas in Los Angeles and elsewhere.