1982 California gubernatorial election

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Wikipedia

1982 California gubernatorial election
← 1978 November 2, 1982 1986 →
 
Nominee George Deukmejian Tom Bradley
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 3,881,014 3,787,669
Percentage 49.28% 48.09%
County results

Deukmejian:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

Bradley:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election

Jerry Brown
Democratic

 Elected Governor

George Deukmejian
Republican

The 1982 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1982. The Republican nominee, Attorney General George Deukmejian, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Incumbent Governor Jerry Brown did not seek reelection to a third consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 2010 and 2014.

Primary election

In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley easily defeated State Senator John Garamendi and Mario G. Obledo. On the Republican side, it was a two-man race between Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb and Attorney General George Deukmejian. Deukmejian won the primary with nearly 55% of the vote.

Republican Party

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican George Deukmejian 1,165,266 51.08%
Republican Mike Curb 1,020,935 44.76%
Republican William H. R. Clark 44,998 1.97%
Republican Michael Arthur Hirt 25,613 1.12%
Republican James C. Mansfield 24,303 1.07%
Total votes 2,281,115 100.00%

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tom Bradley 1,726,985 61.08%
Democratic John Garamendi 712,161 25.19%
Democratic Mario G. Obledo 132,402 4.68%
Democratic Frank L. Thomas 51,158 1.81%
Democratic Linda Irene Parnell 45,607 1.61%
Democratic Hugh G. Bagley 40,335 1.43%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott 26,989 0.95%
Democratic Ben Trevino 19,220 0.68%
Democratic Genevieve Grafe Marcus 16,124 0.57%
Democratic Raymond V. Liebenberg 15,267 0.54%
Democratic Jules Kimmett 15,182 0.54%
Democratic Josephum S. Ramos 12,948 0.46%
Democratic Allen Lee Seaman 12,942 0.46%
Democratic William A. Brown (write-in) 28 0.00%
Total votes 2,827,348 100.00%

American Independent Party

American Independent primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent James C. Griffin 16,818 100.00%
Total votes 16,818 100.00%

Libertarian Party

American Independent primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Dan P. Dougherty 13,565 100.00%
Total votes 13,565 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

Peace and Freedom primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Martinez 4,353 55.07%
Peace and Freedom Jan B. Tucker 3,552 44.93%
Total votes 7,905 100.00%

General election

Early indications were that it would be a close race but as the campaign went on, Bradley slowly increased his lead in the polls. Despite this, the outcome was still in doubt as election night wore on. A large late surge of absentee ballots (many from conservative Orange County and Deukmejian's home area of Long Beach) helped tip the balance in his favor. The incorrect polling numbers led to the theory — later dubbed "the Bradley effect" — that a statistically significant number of voters had given inaccurate responses when questioned by pollsters.

1982 California gubernatorial election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican George Deukmejian 3,881,014 49.27% +12.77%
Democratic Tom Bradley 3,787,669 48.09% −7.95%
Libertarian Dan P. Dougherty 81,076 1.03% −4.43%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Martinez 70,327 0.89% −0.13%
American Independent Jim Griffin 56,249 0.71% −0.26%
Scattering 363 0.00%
Majority 93,345 1.19%
Total votes 7,876,698 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing +20.72%

Results by county

County George Deukmejian
Republican		 Tom Bradley
Democratic		 Dan P. Dougherty
Libertarian		 Elizabeth Martinez
Peace & Freedom		 Jim Griffin
American Independent		 Margin Total votes cast[a][2]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 145,964 37.62% 225,578 58.91% 4,477 1.15% 5,845 1.51% 3,158 0.81% -82,614 -21.29% 388,022
Alpine 218 52.66% 185 44.69% 1 0.24% 3 0.72% 7 1.69% 33 7.97% 414
Amador 6,251 61.19% 3,643 35.66% 88 0.86% 87 0.85% 146 1.43% 2,608 25.53% 10,215
Butte 36,074 58.13% 23,734 38.25% 793 1.28% 813 1.31% 639 1.03% 12,340 19.89% 62,053
Calaveras 6,277 61.63% 3,501 34.37% 157 1.54% 126 1.24% 124 1.22% 2,776 27.26% 10,185
Colusa 3,036 62.95% 1,621 33.61% 53 1.10% 68 1.41% 45 0.93% 1,415 29.34% 4,823
Contra Costa 126,460 49.83% 119,712 47.17% 3,167 1.25% 2,249 0.89% 2,200 0.87% 6,748 2.66% 253,788
Del Norte 3,355 51.32% 2,934 44.88% 72 1.10% 107 1.64% 70 1.07% 421 6.44% 6,538
El Dorado 20,591 59.37% 12,999 37.48% 423 1.22% 284 0.82% 383 1.10% 7,592 21.89% 34,680
Fresno 80,171 52.59% 68,623 45.01% 1,468 0.96% 1,213 0.80% 978 0.64% 11,548 7.57% 152,453
Glenn 5,492 67.49% 2,398 29.47% 79 0.97% 43 0.53% 126 1.55% 3,094 38.02% 8,138
Humboldt 21,609 45.38% 23,991 50.38% 622 1.31% 748 1.57% 653 1.37% -2,382 -5.00% 47,623
Imperial 10,272 51.40% 9,133 45.70% 140 0.70% 204 1.02% 237 1.19% 1,139 5.70% 19,986
Inyo 5,008 63.87% 2.599 33.15% 88 1.12% 65 0.83% 81 1.03% 2,409 30.72% 7,841
Kern 70,095 55.30% 53,799 42.44% 935 0.74% 859 0.68% 1,065 0.84% 16,296 12.86% 126,753
Kings 9,938 54.64% 7,718 42.43% 140 0.77% 176 0.97% 217 1.19% 2,220 12.21% 18,189
Lake 8,867 53.24% 7,143 42.89% 233 1.40% 184 1.10% 227 1.36% 1,724 10.35% 16,654
Lassen 4,472 56.64% 3,003 38.03% 133 1.68% 72 0.91% 216 2.74% 1,469 18.60% 7,896
Los Angeles 1,024,946 45.67% 1,173,149 52.27% 16,794 0.75% 18,163 0.81% 11,184 0.50% -148,203 -6.60% 2,244,236
Madera 10,334 54.57% 7,889 41.66% 312 1.65% 152 0.80% 250 1.32% 2,445 12.91% 18,937
Marin 42,260 42.83% 52,534 53.24% 2,371 2.40% 1,066 1.08% 437 0.44% -10,274 -10.41% 98,668
Mariposa 3,255 56.39% 2,324 40.26% 64 1.11% 60 1.04% 69 1.20% 931 16.13% 5,772
Mendocino 12.398 46.82% 12,786 48.29% 422 1.59% 519 1.96% 353 1.33% -388 -1.47% 26,478
Merced 17,477 52.62% 14,649 44.10% 467 1.41% 261 0.79% 362 1.09% 2,828 8.51% 33,216
Modoc 2,599 68.83% 995 26.35% 64 1.69% 34 0.90% 84 2.22% 1,604 42.48% 3,776
Mono 1,977 59.58% 1,249 37.64% 26 0.78% 34 1.02% 32 0.96% 728 21.94% 3,318
Monterey 37,493 47.78% 38,301 48.81% 958 1.22% 1,067 1.36% 656 0.84% -808 -1.03% 78,475
Napa 21,812 54.20% 17,042 42.34% 494 1.23% 454 1.13% 445 1.11% 4,770 11.85% 40,247
Nevada 14,753 56.80% 10,262 39.51% 499 1.92% 234 0.90% 226 0.87% 4,491 17.29% 25,974
Orange 422,878 61.44% 252,572 36.70% 5,965 0.87% 3,346 0.49% 3,537 0.51% 170,306 24.74% 688,298
Placer 28,082 55.47% 20,832 41.15% 737 1.46% 425 0.84% 548 1.08% 7,250 14.32% 50,624
Plumas 4,237 53.53% 3,355 42.39% 161 2.03% 61 0.77% 101 1.28% 882 11.14% 7,915
Riverside 119,680 53.27% 100,370 44.68% 1,524 0.68% 1,538 0.68% 1,535 0.68% 19,310 8.60% 224,647
Sacramento 171,176 52.35% 146,167 44.70% 4,114 1.26% 2,820 0.86% 2,705 0.83% 25,009 7.65% 326,982
San Benito 3,608 46.67% 3,782 48.92% 167 2.16% 75 0.97% 99 1.28% -174 -2.25% 7,731
San Bernardino 144,096 53.29% 119,185 44.08% 2,393 0.88% 1,997 0.74% 2,727 1.01% 24,911 9.21% 270,398
San Diego 330,037 52.76% 279,113 44.62% 6,642 1.06% 5,043 0.81% 4,681 0.75% 50,924 8.14% 625,516
San Francisco 69,478 30.43% 151,769 66.47% 2,829 1.24% 3,218 1.41% 1,040 0.46% -82,291 -36.04% 228,334
San Joaquin 65,583 60.06% 40,002 36.63% 1,348 1.23% 994 0.91% 1.265 1.16% 25,581 23.43% 109,192
San Luis Obispo 33,457 52.94% 28,417 44.96% 556 0.88% 383 0.61% 388 0.61% 5,040 7.97% 63,201
San Mateo 99,527 46.36% 108,374 50.48% 2,977 1.39% 1,948 0.91% 1,843 0.86% -8,847 -4.12% 214,669
Santa Barbara 55,682 48.33% 57,164 49.62% 988 0.86% 801 0.70% 568 0.49% -1,482 -1.29% 115,203
Santa Clara 180,232 43.96% 216,781 52.87% 5,983 1.46% 3,858 0.94% 3,163 0.77% -36,549 -8.91% 410,017
Santa Cruz 29,545 38.09% 44,282 57.09% 1,221 1.57% 1,940 2.50% 577 0.74% -14,737 -19.00% 77,565
Shasta 26,902 57.61% 18,053 38.66% 707 1.51% 394 0.84% 642 1.37% 8,849 18.95% 46,698
Sierra 914 48.33% 907 47.96% 24 1.27% 20 1.06% 26 1.37% 7 0.37% 1,891
Siskiyou 9,457 58.40% 6,009 37.11% 259 1.60% 188 1.16% 281 1.74% 3,448 21.29% 16,194
Solano 36,968 50.31% 33,997 46.26% 979 1.33% 706 0.96% 837 1.14% 2,971 4.04% 73,487
Sonoma 55,968 45.10% 63,542 51.20% 1,735 1.40% 1,747 1.41% 1,115 0.90% -7,574 -6.10% 124,107
Stanislaus 43,639 55.94% 32,276 41.38% 687 0.88% 648 0.83% 758 0.97% 11,363 14.57% 78,008
Sutter 10,753 63.33% 5,660 33.33% 184 1.08% 235 1.38% 148 0.87% 5,093 29.99% 16,980
Tehama 9,628 58.55% 6,134 37.30% 250 1.52% 145 0.88% 288 1.75% 3,494 21.25% 16,445
Trinity 3,100 53.95% 2,351 40.92% 112 1.95% 66 1.15% 117 2.04% 749 13.04% 5,746
Tulare 38,901 56.69% 28,330 41.29% 415 0.60% 501 0.73% 470 0.68% 10,571 15.41% 68,617
Tuolumne 8,716 56.84% 6,107 39.82% 160 1.04% 148 0.97% 204 1.33% 2,609 17.01% 15,335
Ventura 99,130 55.22% 76,094 42.39% 1,782 0.99% 1,290 0.72% 1,228 0.68% 23,036 12.83% 179,524
Yolo 19,227 42.99% 24,150 54.00% 485 1.08% 445 1.00% 415 0.93% -4,923 -11.01% 44,722
Yuba 6,959 53.77% 5,400 41.73% 152 1.17% 157 1.21% 273 2.11% 1,559 12.05% 12,941
Total3,881,01449.27%3,787,66948.09%81,0761.03%70,3270.89%56,2490.71%93,3451.19%7,876,698

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

  1. ↑ County totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement Of Vote

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote Primary Election June 8, 1982. Sacramento, California. pp. 8–9. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote General Election, November 2, 1982. Sacramento, California. p. 1. Retrieved July 21, 2024.