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1954 California gubernatorial election

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1954 California gubernatorial election

← 1950 November 2, 1954 1958 →
 
Nominee Goodwin Knight Richard Graves
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 2,290,519 1,739,368
Percentage 56.83% 43.16%

County results

Knight:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Graves:      50–60%

Governor before election

Goodwin Knight
Republican

Elected Governor

Goodwin Knight
Republican

The 1954 California gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican governor Goodwin Knight, who had ascended to the office after Earl Warren resigned to become Chief Justice of the United States the previous year, won a full term against Democrat Richard Graves.

Graves was the first Democratic nominee for governor to carry Yolo County since 1910; since 1954 it has been won by the Democratic nominee in all but three[a] elections. Knight remains the last Republican gubernatorial nominee to date to carry San Francisco.

Primary elections

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Primary elections were held on June 8, 1954.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard P. Graves 860,846 50.62%
Republican Goodwin J. Knight 718,695 42.26%
Democratic Roderick J. Wilson 121,212 7.13%
Total votes 1,700,753 100.00%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Republican primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Goodwin J. Knight 1,198,896 89.61%
Democratic Richard P. Graves 112,919 8.44%
Republican Cornell L. Gabrish 26,084 1.95%
Total votes 1,337,899 100.00%

Independent–Progressive primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Independent–Progressive primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Cornell L. Galbrish 1,896 100.00%
Total votes 1,896 100.00%

Galbrish was disqualified from the general election as he had not won his own party's nomination.

General election results

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1954 California gubernatorial election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Goodwin J. Knight (incumbent) 2,290,519 56.83% −8.02%
Democratic Richard P. Graves 1,739,368 43.16% +8.02%
Scattering 481 0.01%
Majority 551,151 13.67%
Total votes 4,030,368 100.00%
Republican hold Swing -16.04%

Results by county

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County Goodwin J. Knight
Republican
Richard P. Graves
Democratic
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[3]
# % # % # % # %
Alameda 143,007 49.93% 143,350 50.05% 52 0.02% -343 -0.12% 286,409
Alpine 110 80.88% 26 19.12% 0 0.00% 84 61.76% 136
Amador 1,964 45.86% 2,319 54.14% 0 0.00% -355 -8.29% 4,283
Butte 14,390 58.92% 10,035 41.08% 0 0.00% 4,355 17.83% 24,425
Calaveras 2,574 53.64% 2,225 46.36% 0 0.00% 349 7.27% 4,799
Colusa 2,337 57.76% 1,709 42.24% 0 0.00% 628 15.52% 4,046
Contra Costa 58,340 51.61% 54,681 48.37% 15 0.01% 3,659 3.24% 113,036
Del Norte 2,584 64.86% 1,400 35.14% 0 0.00% 1,184 29.72% 3,984
El Dorado 3,968 54.87% 3,264 45.13% 0 0.00% 704 9.73% 7,232
Fresno 44,581 49.12% 46,168 50.87% 2 0.00% -1,587 -1.75% 90,751
Glenn 3,197 57.45% 2,368 42.55% 0 0.00% 829 14.90% 5,565
Humboldt 16,324 63.39% 9,426 36.61% 0 0.00% 6,898 26.79% 25,750
Imperial 7,664 58.25% 5,494 41.75% 0 0.00% 2,170 16.49% 13,158
Inyo 2,662 66.45% 1,344 33.55% 0 0.00% 1,318 32.90% 4,006
Kern 35,301 51.69% 32,997 48.31% 1 0.00% 2,304 3.37% 68,299
Kings 5,070 42.75% 6,789 57.25% 0 0.00% -1,719 -14.50% 11,859
Lake 3,409 64.98% 1,837 35.02% 0 0.00% 1,572 29.97% 5,246
Lassen 2,597 45.30% 3,136 54.70% 0 0.00% -539 -9.40% 5,733
Los Angeles 950,611 57.31% 707,734 42.67% 303 0.02% 242,877 14.64% 1,658,648
Madera 5,147 46.94% 5,817 53.06% 0 0.00% -670 -6.11% 10,964
Marin 23,830 64.01% 13,392 35.97% 4 0.01% 10,438 28.04% 37,226
Mariposa 1,405 60.80% 906 39.20% 0 0.00% 499 21.59% 2,311
Mendocino 9,146 59.94% 6,111 40.05% 1 0.01% 3,035 19.89% 15,258
Merced 9,924 48.46% 10,553 51.53% 1 0.00% -629 -3.07% 20,478
Modoc 1,763 54.70% 1,460 45.30% 0 0.00% 303 9.40% 3,223
Mono 602 76.20% 188 23.80% 0 0.00% 414 52.41% 790
Monterey 22,593 59.45% 15,411 40.55% 2 0.01% 7,182 18.90% 38,006
Napa 10,992 60.59% 7,149 39.41% 0 0.00% 3,843 21.18% 18,141
Nevada 4,376 57.13% 3,284 42.87% 0 0.00% 1,092 14.26% 7,660
Orange 63,148 69.65% 27,511 30.34% 7 0.01% 35,637 39.31% 90,666
Placer 7,459 46.97% 8,420 53.03% 0 0.00% -961 -6.05% 15,879
Plumas 2,053 43.50% 2,667 56.50% 0 0.00% -614 -13.01% 4,720
Riverside 39,047 63.22% 22,706 36.77% 6 0.01% 16,341 26.46% 61,759
Sacramento 55,277 49.61% 56,137 50.38% 12 0.01% -860 -0.77% 111,426
San Benito 2,911 64.86% 1,577 35.14% 0 0.00% 1,334 29.72% 4,488
San Bernardino 60,417 58.39% 43,058 41.61% 5 0.00% 17,359 16.78% 103,480
San Diego 139,769 64.23% 77,817 35.76% 6 0.00% 61,952 28.47% 217,592
San Francisco 151,458 55.97% 119,138 44.03% 13 0.00% 32,320 11.94% 270,609
San Joaquin 36,111 55.99% 28,384 44.01% 6 0.01% 7,727 11.98% 64,501
San Luis Obispo 12,808 58.34% 9,145 41.65% 2 0.01% 3,663 16.68% 21,955
San Mateo 71,440 63.02% 41,910 36.97% 13 0.01% 29,530 26.05% 113,363
Santa Barbara 23,368 62.63% 13,941 37.36% 2 0.01% 9,427 25.27% 37,311
Santa Clara 72,695 58.25% 52,088 41.74% 9 0.01% 20,607 16.51% 124,792
Santa Cruz 19,008 64.17% 10,613 35.83% 1 0.00% 8,395 28.34% 29,622
Shasta 6,582 44.69% 8,144 55.30% 1 0.01% -1,560 -10.61% 14,727
Sierra 579 49.15% 599 50.85% 0 0.00% -20 -1.70% 1,178
Siskiyou 6,019 52.72% 5,397 47.28% 0 0.00% 622 5.45% 11,416
Solano 16,537 48.87% 17,303 51.13% 0 0.00% -766 -2.26% 33,840
Sonoma 26,766 64.55% 14,699 35.45% 3 0.01% 12,067 29.10% 41,468
Stanislaus 21,487 50.77% 20,828 49.22% 4 0.01% 659 1.56% 42,319
Sutter 4,704 58.15% 3,386 41.85% 0 0.00% 1,318 16.29% 8,090
Tehama 4,566 59.20% 3,147 40.80% 0 0.00% 1,419 18.40% 7,713
Trinity 1,137 49.16% 1,176 50.84% 0 0.00% -39 -1.69% 2,313
Tulare 21,491 54.64% 17,842 45.36% 1 0.00% 3,649 9.28% 39,334
Tuolumne 2,773 47.60% 3,053 52.40% 0 0.00% -280 -4.81% 5,826
Ventura 19,926 53.33% 17,434 46.66% 4 0.01% 2,492 6.67% 37,364
Yolo 7,053 49.77% 7,114 50.20% 5 0.04% -61 -0.43% 14,172
Yuba 3,462 49.30% 3,561 50.70% 0 0.00% -99 -1.41% 7,023
Total 2,290,519 56.83% 1,739,368 43.16% 481 0.01% 551,151 13.67% 4,030,368

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Notes

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  1. ^ 1966, 1986, and 2006

References

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  1. ^ "Richard P. Graves; Ran Against Gov. Knight in 1954". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. June 8, 1989. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote Direct Primary Election June 8, 1954. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote General Election November 2, 1954. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 20, 2024.

Bibliography

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  • Barclay, Thomas S. (December 1954). "The 1954 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 7 (4). University of Utah on behalf of the Western Political Science Association: 597–604. Retrieved July 11, 2023.