1918 California gubernatorial election

1918 California gubernatorial election

← 1914 November 5, 1918 1922 →
 
Nominee William Stephens Theodore Arlington Bell
Party Republican Independent
Alliance Prohibition
Progressive
Popular vote 387,547 251,189
Percentage 56.27% 36.47%

County results
Stephens:      40–50%      50–60      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Bell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election

William Stephens
Republican

Elected Governor

William Stephens
Republican

The 1918 California gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1918. William Stephens had defeated James Rolph for the Republican nomination and won the general election in a landslide after Rolph was denied the Democratic Party's nomination. Stephens was the first governor elected with an absolute majority of the vote since Henry Gage in 1898 and won the highest share of the vote since Frederick Low in 1863.

Primary election

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San Francisco mayor James Rolph, a Republican, cross-filed in both the Republican and Democratic primaries, won the Democratic primary, and received the most overall votes of any candidate in the primary election across all parties. However, because he failed to win his own party's nomination, he was barred from receiving the Democratic nomination thanks to the 1917 Hawson amendment to California electoral law, leaving the Democratic Party without a candidate. Incumbent Republican governor William Stephens won the Republican, Prohibition, and Progressive nominations. The only other primary candidate to advance to the general election was Socialist Henry H. Roser, running unopposed.

Republican primary results[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William Stephens 169,942 44.99%
Republican James Rolph 146,990 38.91%
Republican J. O. Hayes 24,676 6.53%
Republican Walter Bordwell 17,038 4.51%
Republican Charles Fickert 13,259 3.51%
Republican C. A. A. McGee 4,014 1.06%
Republican Francis J. Heney 1,539 0.41%
Republican Thomas Lee Woolwine 276 0.07%
Republican Henry H. Roser 8 0.00%
Total votes 377,742 100.00%
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James Rolph 74,955 43.76%
Democratic Francis J. Heney 60,662 35.41%
Democratic Thomas Lee Woolwine 28,879 16.86%
Democratic William Stephens 6,257 3.65%
Democratic J. O. Hayes 309 0.18%
Democratic Charles Fickert 91 0.05%
Democratic Walter Bordwell 73 0.04%
Democratic C. A. A. McGee 54 0.03%
Democratic Henry H. Roser 10 0.01%
Total votes 171,290 100.00%
Prohibition primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Prohibition William Stephens 12,853 96.97%
Prohibition Francis J. Heney 157 1.18%
Prohibition James Rolph 97 0.73%
Prohibition Walter Bordwell 53 0.40%
Prohibition Thomas Lee Woolwine 35 0.26%
Prohibition J. O. Hayes 31 0.23%
Prohibition Charles Fickert 21 0.16%
Prohibition C. A. A. McGee 7 0.05%
Prohibition Henry H. Roser 1 0.01%
Total votes 13,255 100.00%
Progressive primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive William Stephens 5,142 53.44%
Progressive Francis J. Heney 3,418 35.52%
Progressive James Rolph 980 1.18%
Progressive J. O. Hayes 26 0.27%
Progressive Walter Bordwell 18 0.19%
Progressive Thomas Lee Woolwine 17 0.18%
Progressive Charles Fickert 13 0.14%
Progressive C. A. A. McGee 6 0.06%
Progressive Henry H. Roser 2 0.02%
Total votes 9,622 100.00%
Socialist primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Socialist Henry H. Roser 7,931 85.43%
Socialist James Rolph 704 7.58%
Socialist Francis J. Heney 382 4.11%
Socialist William Stephens 214 2.31%
Socialist J. O. Hayes 29 0.31%
Socialist Thomas Lee Woolwine 19 0.20%
Socialist Walter Bordwell 3 0.09%
Socialist Charles Fickert 1 0.01%
Socialist C. A. A. McGee 1 0.01%
Total votes 9,284 100.00%

After the Democrats were left without a nominee, Theodore Arlington Bell, who had been the Democratic nominee for governor in 1906 and 1910, entered the race as an independent. His second-place finish in the general election indicated that Democrats regarded him as their de facto candidate.

General election results

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1918 California gubernatorial election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William Stephens (incumbent) 387,547 56.27% +26.92%
Independent Theodore Arlington Bell 251,189 36.47%
Socialist Henry H. Roser 29,003 4.21% −1.26%
Republican James Rolph (write-in) 20,605 2.99%
Scattering 326 0.05%
Majority 136,358 19.80%
Total votes 688,670 100.00%
Republican hold Swing -0.54%

Results by county

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County William D. Stephens
Republican
Theodore A. Bell
Independent
Henry H. Roser
Socialist
James Rolph
Write-in
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[3]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 42,276 56.72% 27,332 36.67% 4,288 5.75% 619 0.83% 18 0.02% 14,944 20.05% 74,533
Alpine 56 82.35% 9 13.24% 3 4.41% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 47 69.12% 68
Amador 933 46.39% 887 44.11% 45 2.24% 146 7.26% 0 0.00% 46 2.29% 2,011
Butte 3,637 55.01% 1,496 22.63% 236 3.57% 1,235 18.68% 7 0.11% 2,141 32.39% 6,611
Calaveras 905 55.52% 650 39.88% 56 3.44% 0 0.00% 19 1.17% 255 15.64% 1,630
Colusa 1,200 54.05% 722 32.52% 51 2.30% 247 11.13% 0 0.00% 478 21.53% 2,220
Contra Costa 4,539 50.69% 3,778 42.19% 534 5.96% 103 1.15% 0 0.00% 761 8.50% 8,954
Del Norte 585 64.36% 268 29.48% 52 5.72% 0 0.00% 4 0.44% 317 34.87% 909
El Dorado 950 41.36% 681 29.65% 75 3.27% 591 25.73% 0 0.00% 269 11.71% 2,297
Fresno 15,607 66.99% 6,679 28.67% 944 4.05% 67 0.29% 0 0.00% 8,928 38.32% 23,297
Glenn 1,685 59.06% 757 26.53% 77 2.70% 331 11.60% 3 0.11% 928 32.53% 2,853
Humboldt 5,974 65.25% 2,317 25.31% 467 5.10% 389 4.25% 9 0.10% 3,657 39.94% 9,156
Imperial 2,748 68.61% 1,066 26.62% 188 4.69% 0 0.00% 3 0.07% 1,682 42.00% 4,005
Inyo 744 64.64% 315 27.37% 88 7.65% 0 0.00% 4 0.35% 429 37.27% 1,151
Kern 5,894 52.58% 4,897 43.68% 413 3.68% 0 0.00% 6 0.05% 997 8.89% 11,210
Kings 3,286 67.93% 1,375 28.43% 162 3.35% 13 0.27% 1 0.02% 1,911 39.51% 4,837
Lake 1,032 58.80% 619 35.27% 87 4.96% 0 0.00% 17 0.97% 413 23.53% 1,755
Lassen 1,068 56.18% 444 23.36% 82 4.31% 307 16.15% 0 0.00% 624 32.82% 1,901
Los Angeles 106,198 63.78% 54,031 32.45% 6,094 3.66% 63 0.04% 121 0.07% 52,167 31.33% 166,507
Madera 1,763 60.50% 994 34.11% 138 4.74% 17 0.58% 2 0.07% 769 26.39% 2,914
Marin 2,811 46.59% 2,961 49.08% 261 4.33% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -150 -2.49% 6,033
Mariposa 605 54.65% 439 39.66% 58 5.24% 5 0.45% 0 0.00% 166 15.00% 1,107
Mendocino 2,780 52.17% 2,281 42.80% 268 5.03% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 499 9.36% 5,329
Merced 2,751 63.62% 1,337 30.92% 208 4.81% 28 0.65% 0 0.00% 1,414 32.70% 4,324
Modoc 930 60.74% 428 27.96% 54 3.53% 115 7.51% 4 0.26% 502 32.79% 1,531
Mono 114 56.44% 67 33.17% 20 9.90% 1 0.50% 0 0.00% 47 23.27% 202
Monterey 3,739 62.97% 1,954 32.91% 188 3.17% 57 0.96% 0 0.00% 1,785 30.06% 5,938
Napa 1,805 32.31% 3,511 62.84% 165 2.95% 106 1.90% 0 0.00% -1,706 -30.54% 5,587
Nevada 1,899 52.23% 875 24.06% 135 3.71% 727 19.99% 0 0.00% 1,024 28.16% 3,636
Orange 9,192 73.17% 2,985 23.76% 384 3.06% 0 0.00% 2 0.02% 6,207 49.41% 12,563
Placer 1,978 44.23% 937 20.95% 121 2.71% 1,436 32.11% 0 0.00% 542[a] 12.12% 4,472
Plumas 540 51.28% 251 23.84% 50 4.75% 212 20.13% 0 0.00% 289 27.45% 1,053
Riverside 7,181 74.71% 2,021 21.03% 410 4.27% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 5,160 53.68% 9,612
Sacramento 9,004 43.64% 5,517 26.74% 438 2.12% 5,675 27.50% 0 0.00% 3,329[a] 16.13% 20,634
San Benito 1,227 56.94% 858 39.81% 55 2.55% 14 0.65% 1 0.05% 369 17.12% 2,155
San Bernardino 9,899 69.56% 3,909 27.47% 422 2.97% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 5,990 42.09% 14,230
San Diego 16,333 65.07% 7,618 30.35% 1,132 4.51% 12 0.05% 5 0.02% 8,715 34.72% 25,100
San Francisco 36,099 35.96% 56,726 56.51% 5,249 5.23% 2,302 2.29% 6 0.01% -20,627 -20.55% 100,382
San Joaquin 9,475 57.10% 5,776 34.81% 713 4.30% 630 3.80% 0 0.00% 3,699 22.29% 16,594
San Luis Obispo 3,128 59.21% 1,806 34.19% 349 6.61% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,322 25.02% 5,283
San Mateo 3,909 47.16% 3,817 46.05% 422 5.09% 138 1.66% 3 0.04% 92 1.11% 8,289
Santa Barbara 4,699 67.32% 1,915 27.44% 351 5.03% 0 0.00% 15 0.21% 2,784 39.89% 6,980
Santa Clara 13,167 59.53% 8,077 36.52% 699 3.16% 155 0.70% 19 0.09% 5,090 23.01% 22,117
Santa Cruz 4,014 61.83% 1,863 28.70% 216 3.33% 399 6.15% 0 0.00% 2,151 33.13% 6,492
Shasta 1,949 55.35% 937 26.61% 178 5.06% 450 12.78% 7 0.20% 1,012 28.74% 3,521
Sierra 379 54.38% 181 25.97% 22 3.16% 113 16.21% 2 0.29% 198 28.41% 697
Siskiyou 2,196 48.49% 1,360 30.03% 216 4.77% 757 16.71% 0 0.00% 836 18.46% 4,529
Solano 3,254 43.88% 3,497 47.15% 235 3.17% 430 5.80% 0 0.00% -243 -3.28% 7,416
Sonoma 5,258 41.77% 6,696 53.20% 366 2.91% 258 2.05% 9 0.07% -1,438 -11.42% 12,587
Stanislaus 6,459 66.92% 2,795 28.96% 346 3.58% 48 0.50% 4 0.04% 3,664 37.96% 9,652
Sutter 1,093 50.37% 495 22.81% 56 2.58% 526 24.24% 0 0.00% 567[a] 26.13% 2,170
Tehama 1,963 61.73% 731 22.99% 124 3.90% 362 11.38% 0 0.00% 1,232 38.74% 3,180
Trinity 475 52.37% 245 27.01% 60 6.62% 127 14.00% 0 0.00% 230 25.36% 907
Tulare 8,927 71.46% 3,025 24.21% 511 4.09% 0 0.00% 30 0.24% 5,902 47.24% 12,493
Tuolumne 1,263 56.18% 827 36.79% 157 6.98% 1 0.04% 0 0.00% 436 19.40% 2,248
Ventura 3,243 66.59% 1,465 30.08% 157 3.22% 0 0.00% 5 0.10% 1,778 36.51% 4,870
Yolo 1,765 47.07% 1,238 33.01% 71 1.89% 676 18.03% 0 0.00% 527 14.05% 3,750
Yuba 964 44.06% 451 20.61% 56 2.56% 717 32.77% 0 0.00% 247[a] 11.29% 2,188
Total 387,547 56.27% 251,189 36.47% 29,003 4.21% 20,605 2.99% 326 0.05% 136,358 19.80% 688,670

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Independent

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Margin over Rolph

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at Primary Election held on August 27, 1918 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. pp. 4–8. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Melendy, H. Brett (1964). "California's Cross-Filing Nightmare: The 1918 Gubernatorial Election". Pacific Historical Review. 33 (3). University of California Press: 317–330. doi:10.2307/3636839. ISSN 0030-8684. JSTOR 3636839.
  3. ^ a b California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 5, 1918 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 7. Retrieved July 19, 2024.