1926 California gubernatorial election

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.

1926 California gubernatorial election

← 1922 November 2, 1926 1930 →
 
Nominee C. C. Young Justus S. Wardell
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 814,815 282,451
Percentage 71.22% 24.69%

County results
Young:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

Governor before election

Friend Richardson
Republican

Elected Governor

C. C. Young
Republican

Primary election results

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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.

Republican primary results[1]
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%
Democratic primary results[1]
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%
Socialist primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Socialist Upton Sinclair 5,099 100.00%
Total votes 5,099 100.00%
Prohibition primary results[1]
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

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1926 California gubernatorial election[2]
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

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County C. C. Young
Republican
Justus S. Wardell
Democratic
Upton Sinclair
Socialist
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[2]
# % # % # % # % # %
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

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d 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.
  2. ^ a b 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.