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 County resultsYoung: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% | |||||||||||||||||
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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.
Primary election results
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | C. C. Young | 327,596 | 42.71% | |
| Republican | Friend William Richardson (incumbent) | 312,324 | 40.72% | |
| Republican | Rex B. Goodell | 105,489 | 13.75% | |
| Republican | R. F. McClellan | 8,486 | 1.11% | |
| Republican | W. D. Mitchell | 7,858 | 1.02% | |
| Republican | Mayo Thomas | 5,269 | 0.69% | |
| Total votes | 767,022 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Justus S. Wardell | 67,875 | 52.94% | |
| Democratic | Carl Alexander Johnson | 60,329 | 47.06% | |
| Total votes | 128,204 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist | Upton Sinclair | 5,099 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 5,099 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibition | Friend William Richardson (write-in) | 2,999 | 73.22% | |
| Prohibition | C. C. Young (write-in) | 1,097 | 26.78% | |
| Total votes | 4,096 | 100.00% | ||
General election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | C. C. Young | 814,815 | 71.22% | +11.53% | |
| Democratic | Justus S. Wardell | 282,451 | 24.69% | −11.29% | |
| Socialist | Upton Sinclair | 45,972 | 4.02% | −0.27% | |
| Scattering | 874 | 0.08% | |||
| Majority | 532,364 | 46.53% | |||
| Total votes | 1,144,112 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | +22.83% | |||
Results by county
| 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 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
References
- ^ California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at Primary Election held on August 31, 1926 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 2, 1926 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
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| (1925←) 1926 United States elections (→1927) | |
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