# 1954 California gubernatorial election

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vte :
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 elections. Knight remains the last Republican gubernatorial nominee to date to carry San Francisco.

## Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 8, 1954.

### Democratic primary
#### Candidates

* Richard P. Graves, former director of the League of California Cities
* Goodwin J. Knight, incumbent Governor (cross-filing)
* Roderick J. Wilson

#### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 1,700,753 | 100.00% |

### Republican primary
#### Candidates

* Cornell L. Gabrish
* Richard P. Graves, former director of the League of California Cities (cross-filing)
* Goodwin J. Knight, incumbent Governor

#### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 1,337,899 | 100.00% |

### Independent–Progressive primary
#### Candidates

* Cornell L. Galbrish (cross-filing)

#### Results

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

1954 California gubernatorial election :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 551,151 | 13.67% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,030,368 | 100.00% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | -16.04% | |

### Results by county

| County | Goodwin J. Knight Republican | Goodwin J. Knight Republican | Richard P. Graves Democratic | Richard P. Graves Democratic | Scattering Write-in | Scattering Write-in | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| 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

* Alameda
* Amador
* Fresno
* Kings
* Lassen
* Madera
* Merced
* Placer
* Plumas
* Sacramento
* Shasta
* Sierra
* Solano
* Trinity
* Tuolumne
* Yolo
* Yuba