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The 1946 California gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1946.

It is notable for the incumbent Governor, Earl Warren, being nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties.[1] Subsequently, Warren won re-election effectively unopposed, receiving more than 90% of the vote. He was the first Governor of the state to win two elections since Hiram Johnson in 1914.

Primary election results

Republican primary

The Republican primary occurred on June 5, 1946. Incumbent Governor Earl Warren won 91.10% of the vote.

Republican primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Earl Warren (incumbent) 774,502 91.10%
Republican Robert W. Kenny 70,331 8.27%
Republican William E. Riker 5,359 0.63%
Total votes 850,192 100.00%

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary occurred on June 5, 1946. Despite being a Republican, Earl Warren won 51.93% of the vote and the Democratic nomination.

Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Earl Warren 593,180 51.93%
Democratic Robert W. Kenny 530,968 46.49%
Democratic A. Beldon Gilbert 9,865 0.86%
Democratic William E. Riker 8,175 0.72%
Total votes 1,142,188 100.00%

Prohibition primary

Prohibition primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Prohibition Henry R. Schmidt 1,786 100.00%
Total votes 1,786 100.00%

General election results

1946 California gubernatorial election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Earl Warren (incumbent) 2,344,542 91.64% +34.57%
Prohibition Henry R. Schmidt 180,579 7.06% +6.58%
Independent Archie Brown (write-in)[a] 22,606 0.88%
Independent James Roosevelt (write-in)[b] 3,210 0.13%
Independent Robert W. Kenny (write-in) 1,636 0.06%
Independent Albert Clark (write-in) 835 0.03%
Independent Robert W. Long (write-in) 679 0.02%
Scattering 4,312 0.17%
Majority 2,163,963 84.58%
Total votes 2,558,399 100.00%
Republican hold Swing +76.20%

Results by county

County Earl Warren
Republican
Henry R. Schmidt
Prohibition
Archie Brown
Communist
All Others[c]
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[3]
# % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 179,864 88.32% 19,457 9.55% 3,776 1.85% 543[d] 0.27% 160,407 78.77% 203,640
Alpine 106 98.15% 2 1.85% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 104 96.30% 108
Amador 2,416 92.39% 190 7.27% 0 0.00% 9 0.34% 2,226 85.12% 2,615
Butte 12,534 94.13% 782 5.87% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 11,752 88.25% 13,316
Calaveras 2,507 94.78% 135 5.10% 0 0.00% 3 0.11% 2,372 89.68% 2,645
Colusa 2,750 95.52% 129 4.48% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,621 91.04% 2,879
Contra Costa 44,668 89.92% 3,921 7.89% 1,010 2.03% 77 0.16% 40,747 82.03% 49,676
Del Norte 2,138 95.02% 112 4.98% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,026 90.04% 2,250
El Dorado 3,886 92.52% 314 7.48% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3,572 85.05% 4,200
Fresno 48,151 92.05% 4,051 7.74% 90 0.17% 20[e] 0.04% 44,100 84.30% 52,312
Glenn 3,293 95.23% 155 4.48% 7 0.20% 3[f] 0.09% 3,138 90.75% 3,458
Humboldt 14,446 95.03% 677 4.45% 0 0.00% 79 0.52% 13,769 90.57% 15,202
Imperial 7,167 93.91% 446 5.84% 0 0.00% 19 0.25% 6,721 88.06% 7,632
Inyo 2,337 94.42% 125 5.05% 0 0.00% 13 0.53% 2,212 89.37% 2,475
Kern 32,497 92.37% 2,608 7.41% 0 0.00% 78 0.22% 29,889 84.95% 35,183
Kings 7,512 93.88% 472 5.90% 0 0.00% 18 0.22% 7,040 87.98% 8,002
Lake 3,016 94.55% 164 5.14% 0 0.00% 10 0.31% 2,852 89.40% 3,190
Lassen 3,565 93.94% 223 5.88% 0 0.00% 7[g] 0.18% 3,342 88.06% 3,795
Los Angeles 988,710 90.57% 81,301 7.45% 13,949 1.28% 7,670[h] 0.70% 907,409 83.12% 1,091,630
Madera 5,575 92.22% 457 7.56% 0 0.00% 13 0.22% 5,118 84.67% 6,045
Marin 19,912 95.15% 762 3.64% 0 0.00% 252 1.20% 19,150 91.51% 20,926
Mariposa 1,492 94.85% 75 4.77% 6 0.38% 0 0.00% 1,417 90.08% 1,573
Mendocino 7,048 93.92% 373 4.97% 0 0.00% 83 1.11% 6,675 88.95% 7,504
Merced 11,263 94.48% 658 5.52% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 10.605 88.96% 11,921
Modoc 1,846 94.86% 100 5.14% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,746 89.72% 1,946
Mono 502 94.36% 30 5.64% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 472 88.72% 532
Monterey 20,674 95.67% 834 3.86% 0 0.00% 101 0.47% 19,840 91.81% 21,609
Napa 10,786 95.30% 522 4.61% 0 0.00% 10 0.09% 10,264 90.69% 11,318
Nevada 6,483 93.75% 432 6.25% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 6,051 87.51% 6,915
Orange 51,058 93.13% 3,616 6.60% 0 0.00% 151 0.28% 47,442 86.53% 54,825
Placer 9,209 92.33% 765 7.67% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 8,444 84.66% 9,974
Plumas 3,652 93.28% 260 6.64% 0 0.00% 3[i] 0.08% 3,392 86.64% 3,915
Riverside 33,193 92.44% 2,552 7.11% 0 0.00% 162 0.45% 30,641 85.33% 35,907
Sacramento 54,145 91.64% 4,464 7.56% 385 0.65% 89 0.15% 49,681 84.09% 59,083
San Benito 3,807 96.80% 126 3.20% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3,681 93.59% 3,933
San Bernardino 55,874 92.07% 4,500 7.41% 227 0.37% 88 0.15% 51,374 84.65% 60,689
San Diego 115,666 93.48% 8,074 6.52% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 107,592 86.95% 123,740
San Francisco 220,344 92.15% 16,716 6.99% 2,056 0.86% 0 0.00% 203,628 85.16% 239,116
San Joaquin 37,291 93.90% 2,290 5.77% 103 0.26% 30 0.08% 35,001 88.13% 39,714
San Luis Obispo 12,277 94.16% 698 5.35% 0 0.00% 64 0.49% 11,579 88.80% 13,039
San Mateo 47,672 94.80% 2,183 4.34% 331 0.66% 99 0.20% 45,489 90.46% 50,285
Santa Barbara 22,306 95.11% 1,020 4.35% 0 0.00% 128 0.55% 21,286 90.76% 23,454
Santa Clara 62,641 94.28% 3,393 5.11% 410 0.62% 0 0.00% 59,248 89.17% 66,444
Santa Cruz 17,224 94.22% 965 5.28% 0 0.00% 92 0.50% 16,259 88.94% 18,281
Shasta 7,862 94.45% 447 5.37% 15 0.18% 0 0.00% 7,415 89.08% 8,324
Sierra 836 95.65% 37 4.23% 0 0.00% 1 0.11% 799 91.42% 874
Siskiyou 7,504 94.31% 453 5.69% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 7,051 88.61% 7,957
Solano 21,609 94.93% 1,155 5.07% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 20,454 89.85% 22,764
Sonoma 22,692 94.15% 1,219 5.06% 172 0.71% 20 0.08% 21,473 89.09% 24,103
Stanislaus 21,608 92.67% 1,628 6.98% 57 0.24% 24[j] 0.10% 19,980 85.69% 23,317
Sutter 4,486 94.66% 253 5.34% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 4,233 89.32% 4,739
Tehama 3,836 92.66% 304 7.34% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3,532 85.31% 4,140
Trinity 1,799 93.80% 109 5.68% 0 0.00% 10 0.52% 1,690 88.11% 1,918
Tulare 23,361 93.50% 1,587 6.35% 0 0.00% 36 0.14% 21,774 87.15% 24,984
Tuolumne 4,301 95.24% 203 4.50% 12 0.27% 0 0.00% 4,098 90.74% 4,516
Ventura 19,012 90.74% 1,340 6.40% 0 0.00% 601 2.87% 17,672 84.34% 20,953
Yolo 7,719 94.28% 420 5.13% 0 0.00% 48 0.59% 7,299 89.15% 8,187
Yuba 4,414 93.38% 295 6.24% 0 0.00% 18 0.38% 4,119 87.14% 4,727
Total 2,344,542 91.64% 180,579 7.06% 22,606 0.88% 10,672 0.42% 2,163,963 84.58% 2,558,399

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

  1. ^ Affiliated with Communist Party
  2. ^ Affiliated with Democratic Party
  3. ^ These votes were Scattering unless otherwise noted in each county
  4. ^ 247 for Kenny, 102 for Clark
  5. ^ 2 for Roosevelt, 13 for Clark
  6. ^ 2 for Kenny, 1 for Long
  7. ^ 7 for Kenny
  8. ^ 3,203 for Roosevelt, 1,370 for Kenny, 716 for Clark, 674 for Long
  9. ^ 3 for Kenny
  10. ^ 5 for Roosevelt, 7 for Kenny, 4 for Clark, 4 for Long

References

  1. ^ Newton, Jim (October 22, 2006). "The Earl Warren precedent". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote Primary Election June 4, 1946. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote General Election November 5, 1946. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 20, 2024.


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