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1990 California gubernatorial election

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1990 California gubernatorial election
← 1986 November 6, 1990 1994 →
 
Nominee Pete Wilson Dianne Feinstein
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 3,791,904 3,525,197
Percentage 49.25% 45.78%
County resultsCongressional district resultsWilson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Feinstein:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

George Deukmejian
Republican

Elected Governor

Pete Wilson
Republican

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The 1990 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. The Republican candidate, Senator Pete Wilson, defeated the Democratic candidate, former San Francisco mayor Dianne Feinstein.

Feinstein won the Democratic nomination against opponents including California Attorney General John Van de Kamp. Wilson faced minimal opposition in his bid for the Republican nomination.

In 1992, Feinstein was elected to Wilson's former Senate seat and served in the Senate until her death in September 2023.

Republican primary

Candidates

  • Donald L. Bullock
  • Jeffrey T. Greene
  • David M. Williams
  • Pete Wilson, incumbent U.S. Senator and former mayor of San Diego

Results

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pete Wilson 1,856,614 87.50%
Republican David M. Williams 107,397 5.06%
Republican Jeffrey T. Greene 79,083 3.73%
Republican Donald L. Bullock 54,577 2.57%
Republican William B. Allen (write-in) 24,058 1.13%
Total votes 2,121,729 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • John Hancock Abbott
  • Eileen Anderson
  • Lydon Byrne
  • Mark Calney
  • Dianne Feinstein, mayor of San Francisco
  • Franklin Geraty
  • Charles A. Mahon III
  • Charles Pineda Jr.
  • Frank L. Thomas
  • John van de Kamp, California Attorney General
  • F. Frank Wong

Results

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dianne Feinstein 1,361,360 52.26%
Democratic John Van de Kamp 1,067,899 41.00%
Democratic Frank L. Thomas 35,900 1.38%
Democratic Charles Pineda Jr. 25,396 0.97%
Democratic Franklin R. Geraty 24,251 0.93%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott 19,697 0.76%
Democratic Charles A. Mahon III 17,987 0.69%
Democratic F. Frank Wong 16,280 0.62%
Democratic Eileen Anderson 16,116 0.62%
Democratic Lydon Byrne 11,975 0.46%
Democratic Mark Calney 7,923 0.30%
Democratic Sue Lockard Digre (write-in) 68 0.00%
Total votes 2,604,852 100.00%

Minor party primaries

American Independent Party

American Independent primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent Jerome McCready 8,921 54.12%
American Independent Chuck Morsa 7,563 45.88%
Total votes 16,484 100.00%

Libertarian Party

Libertarian primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Dennis Thompson 11,857 100.00%
Total votes 11,857 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

Peace and Freedom primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Peace and Freedom Maria Elizabeth Muñoz 3,461 56.66%
Peace and Freedom Merle Woo 2,647 43.34%
Total votes 6,108 100.00%

General election results

Candidates

  • Dianne Feinstein, mayor of San Francisco (Democratic)
  • Jerome McCready (American Independent)
  • Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (Peace and Freedom)
  • Dennis Thompson (Libertarian)
  • Pete Wilson, U.S. Senator (Republican)

Results

1990 California gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Pete Wilson 3,791,904 49.25% −11.29%
Democratic Dianne Feinstein 3,525,197 45.78% +8.41%
Libertarian Dennis Thompson 145,628 1.89% +1.18%
American Independent Jerome McCready 139,661 1.81% +1.13%
Peace and Freedom Maria Elizabeth Muñoz 96,842 1.26% +0.56%
Independent Joel Britton (write-in) 98 0.00%
Independent Charles A. Mahon III (write-in) 91 0.00%
Independent Franklin R. Geraty (write-in) 34 0.00%
Independent Jerry Irwin Solomon (write-in) 12 0.00%
Majority 266,707 3.46%
Total votes 7,699,467 100.00%
Republican hold Swing -19.71%

Results by county

County Pete Wilson
Republican 		Dianne Feinstein
Democratic 		Dennis Thompson
Libertarian 		Jerome McCready
American Independent 		Maria Elizabeth Muñoz
Peace & Freedom 		All Others
Write-in 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 117,107 31.64% 237,345 64.12% 6,261 1.69% 4,049 1.09% 5,405 1.46% 11 0.00% -120,238 -32.48% 370,178
Alpine 242 52.72% 174 37.91% 14 3.05% 16 3.49% 13 2.83% 0 0.00% 68 14.81% 459
Amador 6,469 53.99% 4,797 40.04% 261 2.18% 336 2.80% 118 0.98% 0 0.00% 1,672 13.96% 11,981
Butte 35,048 54.93% 25,422 39.85% 1,458 2.29% 1,264 1.98% 607 0.95% 2 0.00% 9,626 15.09% 63,801
Calaveras 7,071 52.99% 5,422 40.63% 391 2.93% 322 2.41% 139 1.04% 0 0.00% 1,649 12.36% 13,345
Colusa 2,798 62.37% 1,455 32.43% 93 2.07% 103 2.30% 37 0.82% 0 0.00% 1,343 29.94% 4,486
Contra Costa 119,901 43.94% 144,268 52.87% 3,703 1.36% 2,759 1.01% 2,235 0.82% 17 0.01% -24,367 -8.93% 272,883
Del Norte 3,615 53.21% 2,717 39.99% 140 2.06% 219 3.22% 103 1.52% 0 0.00% 898 13.22% 6,794
El Dorado 26,452 55.81% 18,390 38.80% 780 1.65% 1,339 2.83% 432 0.91% 3 0.01% 8,062 17.01% 47,396
Fresno 77,693 52.57% 63,523 42.98% 2,176 1.47% 2,772 1.88% 1,618 1.09% 0 0.00% 14,170 9.59% 147,782
Glenn 4,190 61.06% 2,182 31.80% 185 2.70% 257 3.75% 48 0.70% 0 0.00% 2,008 29.26% 6,862
Humboldt 22,943 46.81% 22,823 46.57% 951 1.94% 1,042 2.13% 1,249 2.55% 0 0.00% 120 0.24% 49,008
Imperial 9,422 52.22% 7,463 41.36% 249 1.38% 297 1.65% 613 3.40% 0 0.00% 1,959 10.86% 18,044
Inyo 4,566 62.97% 2,369 32.67% 114 1.57% 119 1.64% 83 1.14% 0 0.00% 2,197 30.30% 7,251
Kern 73,065 60.08% 41,763 34.34% 2,359 1.94% 2,857 2.35% 1,568 1.29% 1 0.00% 31,302 25.74% 121,613
Kings 9,771 56.09% 6,731 38.64% 225 1.29% 393 2.26% 299 1.72% 0 0.00% 3,040 17.45% 17,419
Lake 8,344 47.11% 8,475 47.85% 436 2.46% 277 1.56% 178 1.01% 0 0.00% -131 -0.74% 17,710
Lassen 4,790 56.23% 3,152 37.00% 180 2.11% 311 3.65% 86 1.01% 0 0.00% 1,638 19.23% 8,519
Los Angeles 867,781 46.61% 911,413 48.95% 30,157 1.62% 27,931 1.50% 24,560 1.32% 51 0.00% -43,632 -2.34% 1,861,893
Madera 11,216 56.50% 7,431 37.44% 323 1.63% 651 3.28% 229 1.15% 0 0.00% 3,785 19.07% 19,850
Marin 35,563 36.77% 57,255 59.20% 1,750 1.81% 875 0.90% 1,277 1.32% 0 0.00% -21,692 -22.43% 96,720
Mariposa 3,336 51.88% 2,634 40.96% 146 2.27% 250 3.89% 64 1.00% 0 0.00% 702 10.92% 6,430
Mendocino 11,723 40.86% 14,515 50.60% 700 2.44% 696 2.43% 1,054 3.67% 0 0.00% -2,792 -9.73% 28,688
Merced 17,054 50.64% 15,004 44.55% 514 1.53% 688 2.04% 419 1.24% 0 0.00% 2,050 6.09% 33,679
Modoc 2,115 57.35% 1,320 35.79% 83 2.25% 123 3.34% 47 1.27% 0 0.00% 795 21.56% 3,688
Mono 1,776 57.46% 1,124 36.36% 78 2.52% 64 2.07% 49 1.59% 0 0.00% 652 21.09% 3,091
Monterey 34,932 42.66% 42,371 51.74% 1,554 1.90% 1,810 2.21% 1,222 1.49% 4 0.00% -7,439 -9.08% 81,893
Napa 18,931 47.24% 19,017 47.45% 935 2.33% 717 1.79% 473 1.18% 2 0.00% -86 -0.21% 40,075
Nevada 18,458 54.20% 13,588 39.90% 845 2.48% 818 2.40% 349 1.02% 0 0.00% 4,870 14.30% 34,058
Orange 425,025 63.72% 208,886 31.32% 13,589 2.04% 13,156 1.97% 6,367 0.95% 7 0.00% 216,139 32.40% 667,030
Placer 36,397 56.53% 24,577 38.17% 1,171 1.82% 1,593 2.47% 641 1.00% 3 0.00% 11,820 18.36% 64,382
Plumas 4,243 51.87% 3,477 42.51% 176 2.15% 205 2.51% 78 0.95% 1 0.01% 766 9.36% 8,180
Riverside 157,214 57.26% 102,847 37.46% 5,064 1.84% 6,809 2.48% 2,620 0.95% 1 0.00% 54,367 19.80% 274,555
Sacramento 167,982 50.32% 149,215 44.70% 5,381 1.61% 7,248 2.17% 3,997 1.20% 25 0.01% 18,767 5.62% 333,848
San Benito 4,120 45.23% 4,445 48.80% 185 2.03% 171 1.88% 187 2.05% 0 0.00% -325 -3.57% 9,108
San Bernardino 169,028 55.99% 114,764 38.02% 6,612 2.19% 7,536 2.50% 3,894 1.29% 39 0.01% 54,264 17.98% 301,873
San Diego 383,959 57.09% 244,759 36.39% 18,217 2.71% 16,963 2.52% 8,624 1.28% 15 0.00% 139,200 20.70% 672,537
San Francisco 56,652 25.00% 161,626 71.32% 2,938 1.30% 1,456 0.64% 3,952 1.74% 3 0.00% -104,974 -46.32% 226,627
San Joaquin 62,249 54.98% 46,653 41.21% 1,488 1.31% 1,916 1.69% 904 0.80% 3 0.00% 15,596 13.78% 113,213
San Luis Obispo 38,909 53.54% 30,140 41.47% 1,513 2.08% 1,208 1.66% 900 1.24% 3 0.00% 8,769 12.07% 72,673
San Mateo 80,253 40.45% 109,963 55.43% 3,347 1.69% 2,537 1.28% 2,290 1.15% 6 0.00% -29,710 -14.98% 198,396
Santa Barbara 58,677 53.11% 46,977 42.52% 1,667 1.51% 1,403 1.27% 1,746 1.58% 4 0.00% 11,700 10.59% 110,474
Santa Clara 178,310 42.57% 218,843 52.24% 9,987 2.38% 6,544 1.56% 5,195 1.24% 13 0.00% -40,533 -9.68% 418,892
Santa Cruz 26,797 33.11% 48,530 59.96% 2,180 2.69% 1,694 2.09% 1,739 2.15% 1 0.00% -21,733 -26.85% 80,941
Shasta 28,322 57.85% 17,795 36.35% 1,195 2.44% 1,344 2.75% 305 0.62% 0 0.00% 10,527 21.50% 48,961
Sierra 813 51.04% 671 42.12% 34 2.13% 54 3.39% 21 1.32% 0 0.00% 142 8.91% 1,593
Siskiyou 8,320 52.61% 6,346 40.13% 446 2.82% 559 3.54% 142 0.90% 0 0.00% 1,974 12.48% 15,813
Solano 36,755 42.50% 44,969 52.00% 1,753 2.03% 2,020 2.34% 970 1.12% 15 0.02% -8,214 -9.50% 86,482
Sonoma 54,706 38.60% 79,093 55.81% 2,982 2.10% 2,436 1.72% 2,505 1.77% 1 0.00% -24,387 -17.21% 141,723
Stanislaus 47,275 53.49% 37,182 42.07% 1,187 1.34% 1,980 2.24% 757 0.86% 1 0.00% 10,093 11.42% 88,382
Sutter 12,647 65.45% 5,796 30.00% 318 1.65% 399 2.06% 163 0.84% 0 0.00% 6,851 35.46% 19,323
Tehama 9,415 56.94% 5,915 35.77% 621 3.76% 498 3.01% 87 0.53% 0 0.00% 3,500 21.17% 16,536
Trinity 2,908 51.73% 2,250 40.02% 208 3.70% 176 3.13% 80 1.42% 0 0.00% 658 11.70% 5,622
Tulare 41,186 62.76% 21,670 33.02% 940 1.43% 1,058 1.61% 775 1.18% 0 0.00% 19,516 29.74% 65,629
Tuolumne 10,465 52.91% 8,294 41.93% 390 1.97% 464 2.35% 167 0.84% 0 0.00% 2,171 10.98% 19,780
Ventura 106,234 57.58% 68,139 36.93% 3,962 2.15% 3,770 2.04% 2,398 1.30% 2 0.00% 38,095 20.65% 184,505
Yolo 19,316 43.53% 22,890 51.59% 756 1.70% 772 1.74% 638 1.44% 1 0.00% -3,574 -8.05% 44,373
Yuba 7,355 59.22% 4,342 34.96% 260 2.09% 337 2.71% 126 1.01% 0 0.00% 3,013 24.26% 12,420
Total 3,791,904 49.25% 3,525,197 45.78% 145,628 1.89% 139,661 1.81% 96,842 1.26% 235 0.00% 266,707 3.46% 7,699,467

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Pete Wilson won 25 of California's 45 congressional districts including 8 districts that were won by Democrats and Dianne Feinstein won 20 of California's 45 congressional districts including 2 districts that were won by Republicans.

District Wilson Feinstein Representative
1st 42.3% 51.6% Frank Riggs (R)
2nd 56.3% 37.4% Wally Herger (R)
3rd 49.3% 46.1% Bob Matsui (D)
4th 48.7% 45.5% Vic Fazio (D)
5th 26.7% 69.7% Nancy Pelosi (D)
6th 32.0% 63.7% Barbara Boxer (D)
7th 41.3% 54.3% George Miller (D)
8th 29.0% 67.7% Ron Dellums (D)
9th 37.2% 58.4% Pete Stark (D)
10th 37.2% 57.2% Don Edwards (D)
11th 38.2% 57.4% Tom Lantos (D)
12th 45.2% 50.1% Tom Campbell (R)
13th 43.7% 50.9% Norman Mineta (D)
14th 56.6% 38.4% John Doolittle (R)
15th 53.0% 42.3% Gary Condit (D)
16th 39.6% 54.6% Leon Panetta (D)
17th 59.7% 35.9% Cal Dooley (D)
18th 48.3% 46.8% Richard Lehman (D)
19th 52.4% 42.5% Bob Lagomarsino (R)
20th 61.2% 33.3% Bill Thomas (R)
21st 59.8% 35.6% Elton Gallegly (R)
22nd 62.9% 32.7% Carlos Moorhead (R)
23rd 41.0% 55.7% Anthony Beilenson (D)
24th 33.7% 62.5% Henry Waxman (D)
25th 34.5% 60.0% Edward Roybal (D)
26th 42.4% 53.4% Howard Berman (D)
27th 42.9% 52.8% Mel Levine (D)
28th 27.4% 69.2% Julian Dixon (D)
29th 22.2% 74.3% Maxine Waters (D)
30th 46.7% 48.0% Matthew Martinez (D)
31st 34.8% 60.6% Mervyn Dymally (D)
32nd 50.3% 44.4% Glenn Anderson (D)
33rd 59.4% 35.5% David Dreier (R)
34th 47.0% 46.8% Ed Torres (D)
35th 60.5% 33.2% Jerry Lewis (R)
36th 48.3% 46.1% George Brown (D)
37th 58.4% 36.5% Al McCandless (R)
38th 57.4% 36.6% Bob Dornan (R)
39th 66.6% 28.2% William Dannemeyer (R)
40th 63.6% 32.0% Christopher Cox (R)
41st 54.9% 39.5% Bill Lowery (R)
42nd 62.0% 33.8% Dana Rohrabacher (R)
43rd 64.0% 30.0% Ron Packard (R)
44th 46.6% 46.1% Duke Cunningham (R)
45th 60.5% 32.3% Duncan Hunter (R)

Notes

  1. 9 for Britton, 1 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
  2. 2 for Mahon
  3. 4 for Britton, 11 for Mahon, 2 for Geraty
  4. 3 for Mahon
  5. 1 for Mahon
  6. 41 for Britton, 4 for Mahon, 2 for Geraty, 4 for Solomon
  7. 1 for Britton, 3 for Mahon
  8. 1 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
  9. 3 for Britton, 3 for Mahon, 1 for Solomon
  10. 1 for Britton, 2 for Geraty
  11. 1 for Mahon
  12. 1 for Mahon
  13. 1 for Britton, 12 for Mahon, 10 for Geraty, 2 for Solomon
  14. 10 for Britton, 15 for Mahon, 9 for Geraty, 5 for Solomon
  15. 13 for Britton, 2 for Mahon
  16. 2 for Britton, 1 for Geraty
  17. 3 for Mahon
  18. 2 for Britton, 1 for Mahon
  19. 3 for Britton, 2 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
  20. 2 for Britton, 2 for Geraty
  21. 3 for Britton, 7 for Mahon, 3 for Geraty
  22. 1 for Britton
  23. 15 for Mahon
  24. 1 for Britton
  25. 1 for Mahon
  26. 1 for Britton, 1 for Mahon
  27. 1 for Mahon

References

  1. ^ California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote June 5, 1990 Primary Election (PDF). Sacramento, California. pp. 9–11. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  2. ^ California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote General Election, November 6, 1990 (PDF). Sacramento, California. p. 11. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  3. California Secretary of State. Supplement to Statement of Vote November 1990. Sacramento, California. pp. 48–51. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
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