2018 California gubernatorial election


The 2018 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of California. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jerry Brown was ineligible to run for reelection for a third consecutive term due to term limits from the Constitution of California.
The race was between the incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and businessman John H. Cox, a Republican, who qualified for the general election after placing first and second in the June 5, 2018 primary election. Newsom easily won with 62% of the vote, the biggest victory in a gubernatorial race in California since Earl Warren won reelection in 1950, and the biggest victory for a non-incumbent since 1930. The election also marked the first time Orange County has voted for the Democratic candidate since Jerry Brown won it in 1978, and the first time Democrats have won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state's history. Newsom got a record high number of votes of almost eight million. Newsom assumed office on January 7, 2019.

Candidates

A primary election was held on June 5, 2018. Under California's non-partisan blanket primary law, all candidates appeared on the same ballot, regardless of party. Voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers – regardless of party – advance to the general election in November, regardless of whether a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election.

Democratic Party

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Endorsements

Polling

;with Kevin Faulconer and Eric Garcetti
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		John
Chiang
John
Cox
Kevin
Faulconer
Eric
Garcetti
Gavin
Newsom
Tom
Steyer
Ashley
Swearengin
Antonio
Villaraigosa
Other /
Undecided
March 13–20, 20171,000± 3.6%6%11%11%9%24%4%–7%25%
January 17–18, 2017882± 3.3%2%–20%13%25%4%12%9%16%
October 25–31, 2016600–2%–16%7%23%5%11%6%30%
February 6–8, 2015824–10%–30%11%22%––13%26%

Results

Results by county

Red represents counties won by Cox. Blue represents counties won by Newsom. Green represents counties won by Villaraigosa.
CountyNewsom %Cox %Villaraigosa %Allen %Chiang %Others %
Alameda53.5%10.6%10.0%4.4%9.6%11.9%
Alpine38.5%24.1%6.7%8.7%10.4%11.6%
Amador21.5%41.8%5.8%15.1%8.0%7.8%
Butte25.6%34.4%5.5%14.5%6.1%13.9%
Calaveras23.3%38.2%5.3%18.1%6.6%8.5%
Colusa13.0%43.3%16.0%16.3%3.6%7.8%
Contra Costa49.9%19.7%8.7%7.4%6.9%7.4%
Del Norte23.4%27.0%3.5%24.8%7.7%13.6%
El Dorado24.5%40.7%5.8%13.9%8.1%7.0%
Fresno16.8%33.7%20.2%14.3%7.6%7.4%
Glenn12.4%48.1%7.9%18.2%3.3%10.1%
Humboldt37.9%22.3%5.0%9.6%6.4%18.8%
Imperial11.8%22.7%31.2%9.8%7.9%16.6%
Inyo22.6%30.7%8.6%15.9%8.7%13.5%
Kern12.1%40.6%13.9%19.9%5.4%8.1%
Kings9.4%36.7%17.0%23.8%6.7%6.4%
Lake37.5%28.4%6.6%12.0%5.0%10.5%
Lassen13.1%41.7%2.1%26.8%6.6%9.7%
Los Angeles32.7%19.6%21.7%5.8%13.2%7.0%
Madera12.8%40.2%15.7%18.9%5.2%7.2%
Marin64.1%12.5%8.2%3.8%5.3%6.1%
Mariposa19.1%34.9%8.2%23.4%6.3%8.1%
Mendocino45.2%17.9%7.8%9.1%5.1%14.9%
Merced18.2%29.7%17.9%16.0%7.3%10.8%
Modoc11.4%49.9%3.0%18.0%3.1%14.6%
Mono31.6%26.1%12.2%12.0%5.0%13.1%
Monterey37.8%19.8%16.8%9.4%6.6%9.6%
Napa46.1%19.4%10.0%9.7%5.5%9.3%
Nevada34.1%25.7%5.9%17.4%7.0%9.9%
Orange24.3%36.3%11.4%11.5%9.0%7.5%
Placer25.7%40.2%5.8%13.1%9.0%6.2%
Plumas26.9%38.5%3.8%15.5%5.7%9.6%
Riverside22.3%34.4%13.7%15.3%7.5%6.8%
Sacramento29.7%26.2%10.7%10.2%14.5%8.7%
San Benito33.6%23.4%13.3%16.0%4.8%8.9%
San Bernardino19.7%33.9%15.2%14.7%9.2%7.3%
San Diego30.5%32.6%10.4%7.5%9.8%9.2%
San Francisco57.5%6.6%9.1%2.2%8.9%15.7%
San Joaquin26.3%31.4%11.1%13.6%9.3%8.3%
San Luis Obispo33.2%29.4%6.8%14.6%7.3%8.7%
San Mateo55.0%13.9%10.4%5.1%7.1%8.5%
Santa Barbara33.8%26.2%12.3%11.5%6.8%9.4%
Santa Clara48.5%13.9%10.9%8.3%7.7%10.7%
Santa Cruz52.4%11.8%11.5%7.0%4.5%12.8%
Shasta16.9%44.3%3.9%19.9%4.5%10.5%
Sierra22.9%35.1%3.7%17.6%7.1%13.6%
Siskiyou23.3%34.5%3.4%18.5%5.0%15.3%
Solano41.6%23.3%8.9%11.3%6.9%8.0%
Sonoma54.6%16.4%8.9%5.5%4.9%9.7%
Stanislaus23.2%31.6%12.3%16.3%7.3%9.3%
Sutter16.4%40.0%8.3%17.4%8.2%9.7%
Tehama13.2%45.4%4.5%21.6%4.7%10.6%
Trinity23.6%31.4%4.7%17.9%5.4%17.0%
Tulare13.9%36.5%16.4%20.4%5.2%7.6%
Tuolumne26.8%37.6%5.7%15.8%5.6%8.5%
Ventura26.7%32.6%13.4%9.1%11.0%7.2%
Yolo31.6%19.9%13.7%7.0%14.6%13.2%
Yuba16.3%39.6%7.6%21.1%6.6%8.8%
Totals33.6%25.5%13.3%9.5%9.5%8.6%

General election

Endorsements

Predictions

;Notes

Polling

;with Newsom and Chiang
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		John
Chiang 		Gavin
Newsom 		Undecided
January 27 – February 1, 201850044%30%–
February 6–8, 201582430%37%33%

;with Newsom and Villaraigosa
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Gavin
Newsom 		Antonio
Villaraigosa 		Undecided
March 30 – April 4, 2018800± 3.7%38%21%41%
February 6–8, 2015824–42%22%36%

;with Villaraigosa and Garcetti
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Eric
Garcetti 		Antonio
Villaraigosa 		Undecided
February 6–8, 201582428%30%42%

Results

Newsom won the general election by the largest margin of any California gubernatorial candidate since Earl Warren's re-election in 1950. In addition to winning the traditional Democratic strongholds of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles County, Sacramento, and North Coast, Newsom performed well in the traditionally swing Central Coast, San Bernardino County, and San Diego County, as well as narrowly winning traditionally Republican Orange County - the latter voting for a Democrat for the first time in a gubernatorial election since Jerry Brown's first re-election in 1978. Cox did well in the more rural areas of the state, even flipping Stanislaus County; Stanislaus is the only county that voted for Brown in 2014 but flipped to Cox in 2018. Cox also narrowly won Fresno County and handily won traditionally Republican Kern County in the Central Valley, and narrowly won Riverside County in the Inland Empire.

Results by county

Here are the results of the election by county. Blue represents counties won by Newsom. Red represents counties won by Cox.

Voter demographics