# 1974 Arizona gubernatorial election

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The 1974 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Governor Jack Williams decided not to run for a fourth term as governor. Former United States Ambassador to Bolivia Raúl Héctor Castro, who was the Democratic nominee in 1970, won the Democratic nomination again in 1974, and narrowly won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Russell Williams by 0.85%. Castro was sworn into his first and only term as governor on January 6, 1975.
Prior to the election, there was a recall effort led by Cesar Chavez against incumbent Governor Jack Williams, with 180,000 signatures submitted. Many of the signatures were invalidated by the Attorney General Gary Nelson, but this was eventually overturned. By the time this occurred, however, it was meaningless due to the close proximity of the 1974 gubernatorial election, and thus a recall election did not occur.
Approximately two years into his term as governor, Castro would resign to become United States Ambassador to Argentina.

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Russell Williams, member of the Arizona Corporation Commission
* Evan Mecham, former state senator, former nominee for U.S. Senate
* William C. Jacquin, President of the State Senate
* John D. Driggs, Mayor of Phoenix
* Milton H. Graham, former Mayor of Phoenix

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Russell Williams | 53,132 | 35.57% |
| | Republican | Evan Mecham | 30,266 | 20.26% |
| | Republican | William C. Jacquin | 27,138 | 18.17% |
| | Republican | John D. Driggs | 23,519 | 15.75% |
| | Republican | Milton H. Graham | 15,315 | 10.25% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 149,370 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Raúl Héctor Castro, former United States Ambassador to Bolivia, Democratic nominee for governor in 1970
* Jack Ross, car dealer
* Dave Moss, real estate broker
* Walter "Denver" Caudill, Tubac Country Club golf professional

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Raúl Héctor Castro | 115,268 | 67.21% |
| | Democratic | Jack Ross | 31,250 | 18.22% |
| | Democratic | Dave Moss | 19,143 | 11.16% |
| | Democratic | Walter "Denver" Caudill | 5,843 | 3.41% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 171,504 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Results

Arizona gubernatorial election, 1974 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Raúl Héctor Castro | 278,375 | 50.41% | +1.30% |
| | Republican | Russell Williams | 273,674 | 49.56% | −1.33% |
| | Independent | Russell Shaw (write-in) | 149 | 0.03% | |
| | Independent | Harold Bates (write-in) | 4 | 0.00% | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,701 | 0.85% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 552,202 | 100.00% | |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | +2.63% | |

### Results by county

| County | Raúl Héctor Castro Democratic | Raúl Héctor Castro Democratic | Russell Williams Republican | Russell Williams Republican | Russell Shaw Write-in | Russell Shaw Write-in | Harold Bates Write-in | Harold Bates Write-in | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Apache | 4,482 | 69.11% | 2,003 | 30.89% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,479 | 38.23% | 6,485 |
| Cochise | 8,779 | 53.28% | 7,695 | 46.70% | 2 | 0.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,084 | 6.58% | 16,476 |
| Coconino | 9,601 | 59.69% | 6,483 | 40.30% | 1 | 0.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,118 | 19.38% | 16,085 |
| Gila | 5,056 | 55.73% | 4,015 | 44.26% | 1 | 0.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,041 | 11,47% | 9,072 |
| Graham | 2,379 | 46.19% | 2,772 | 53.81% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -393 | -7.63% | 5,151 |
| Greenlee | 2,262 | 61.82% | 1,397 | 38.18% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 865 | 23.64% | 3,659 |
| Maricopa | 139,222 | 44.84% | 171,111 | 55.11% | 135 | 0.04% | 4 | 0.00% | -31,889 | -10.27% | 310,472 |
| Mohave | 4,623 | 50.92% | 4,449 | 49.00% | 7 | 0.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 174 | 1.92% | 9,079 |
| Navajo | 6,440 | 56.80% | 4,899 | 43.20% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,541 | 13.59% | 11,339 |
| Pima | 70,919 | 61.73% | 43,962 | 38.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 26,957 | 23.47% | 114,881 |
| Pinal | 9,405 | 56.52% | 7,235 | 43.48% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,170 | 13.04% | 16,640 |
| Santa Cruz | 2,238 | 66.37% | 1,134 | 33.63% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,104 | 32.74% | 3,372 |
| Yavapai | 7,148 | 43.10% | 9,432 | 56.88% | 3 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,284 | -13.77% | 16,583 |
| Yuma | 5,821 | 45.10% | 7,087 | 54.90% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,266 | -9.81% | 12,908 |
| Totals | 278,375 | 50.41% | 273,674 | 49.56% | 149 | 0.03% | 4 | 0.00% | 4,701 | 0.85% | 552,202 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Apache
* Mohave
* Navajo

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Graham
* Yuma