1962 California gubernatorial election


The 1962 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. The Democratic incumbent, Pat Brown, ran for re-election against former Vice President and 1960 Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon. In his concession speech, Nixon accused the media of favoring his opponent Brown, stating that it was his "last press conference" and "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more." Six years later, Nixon was elected President of the United States.

Election background

Edmund G. Brown Sr. was a relatively popular Democratic governor in California who was first elected in 1958. At the time, California was generally considered a Republican stronghold, with Republican governors and senators from the end of World War II until the election of Democrat Clair Engle to the Senate in 1958, and Brown's election as governor the same year. The state voted for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and Nixon carried the state over John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election.
In 1962, with popular incumbent Senator Thomas Kuchel guaranteed to win re-election, the Republican Party felt it could also gain the governorship and win the state back from the Democrats. They turned to former Vice President Richard Nixon, the biggest name at the time in the California Republican Party. Having been elected Senator in 1950 and carrying the state against Kennedy in 1960, they also felt a convincing win could be a springboard for Nixon to challenge Kennedy again in 1964, since he narrowly lost to him in 1960. However, the conservative Joe Shell challenged Nixon in the primary, and received support from the John Birch Society. Although Nixon beat Shell in the primary, 1,285,151 votes to Shell's 656,542, the contest was bitter, and Nixon did not reach out to conservative Shell supporters, which weakened him in the general election.
In a bitter and expensive campaign, Brown and Nixon campaigned with great zeal and effort. Nixon had a lead in the polls early on, but Brown lessened the margin as time went on. Still, come election day, Nixon was favored to win a relatively close election. Brown not only won, but he won by a surprising 5%. A stunned and frustrated Nixon announced he was retiring from politics, a promise he would later rescind after running for president again in 1968.

General election results

Results by county

Brown is the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee to have won Colusa and Modoc Counties.
CountyBrownVotesNixonVotesWyckoffVotes
Plumas66.44%3,39731.76%1,6241.80%92
Trinity64.58%2,20133.69%1,1481.73%59
Solano64.31%25,98734.37%13,8881.32%532
Shasta63.97%14,75334.07%7,8581.96%453
Lassen62.50%3,50035.14%1,9682.36%132
San Francisco62.19%180,29836.96%107,1650.85%2,455
Sacramento60.69%115,46237.74%71,7881.57%2,988
Yolo60.67%13,33437.82%8,3111.51%332
Madera60.46%7,72838.36%4,9031.19%152
Placer59.98%13,59238.29%8,6771.72%390
Siskiyou59.98%7,71838.41%4,9421.62%208
Kings59.03%9,14139.48%6,1131.49%231
Amador58.16%2,81140.16%1,9411.68%81
Alameda57.98%206,86140.88%145,8511.13%4,038
Sierra57.98%67639.54%4612.49%29
Fresno57.78%68,18740.85%48,2111.37%1,615
Merced57.62%14,10541.14%10,0711.23%302
El Dorado56.25%6,57241.44%4,8422.30%269
Contra Costa55.49%91,15043.34%71,1921.18%1,935
Yuba53.77%5,02844.74%4,1841.49%139
Stanislaus53.64%30,43144.80%25,4171.57%888
Napa53.50%14,74844.72%12,3261.78%490
Ventura53.46%37,77745.15%31,8991.39%982
San Luis Obispo52.86%16,11045.36%13,8251.78%543
Tuolumne52.48%3,63146.06%3,1871.46%101
Humboldt52.19%17,73946.22%15,7081.59%540
Kern52.10%48,73746.33%43,3421.57%1,471
Colusa52.06%2,32046.14%2,0561.80%80
Del Norte51.97%2,74145.85%2,4182.18%115
San Mateo51.88%90,46447.09%82,1151.03%1,797
Los Angeles51.83%1,191,72446.98%1,080,1131.19%27,445
Modoc51.73%1,64146.44%1,4731.83%58
San Bernardino51.68%88,43746.78%80,0541.54%2,634
Mendocino51.50%8,70446.96%7,9361.54%261
Tehama51.36%5,07746.44%4,5912.21%218
Santa Clara51.20%121,14947.63%112,7001.18%2,783
Nevada51.02%4,81847.12%4,4501.85%175
San Joaquin49.40%43,27649.25%43,1471.34%1,178
Sonoma49.19%29,37349.65%29,6471.17%696
Tulare49.08%24,59849.71%24,9141.21%608
Glenn48.70%3,29949.50%3,3531.80%122
San Benito48.30%2,52750.46%2,6401.24%65
Butte47.74%16,14250.79%17,1721.47%497
Mariposa47.50%1,27250.37%1,3492.13%57
Santa Barbara47.50%30,42451.24%32,8211.26%807
Inyo47.00%2,52650.99%2,7402.01%108
Riverside46.60%50,25751.86%55,9261.54%1,666
Monterey46.52%24,80152.52%28,0000.96%512
Calaveras46.37%2,37951.75%2,6551.87%96
Marin45.38%27,66453.67%32,7200.95%582
Santa Cruz44.93%17,35453.28%20,5801.79%690
Lake44.42%3,31554.15%4,0411.43%107
Imperial44.14%8,24155.01%10,2710.85%158
San Diego42.40%153,38955.83%201,9691.77%6,416
Sutter41.19%4,81657.59%6,7341.21%142
Orange39.16%112,15259.35%169,9621.49%4,263
Mono36.12%48862.18%8401.70%23
Alpine34.72%6763.21%1222.07%4