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 re-election for a third consecutive (and fifth non-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 in a landslide, with 62% of the vote, the biggest  victory in a gubernatorial race in California since Earl Warren won re-election 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 almost eight million votes. 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. Primary election. Results by county. Red represents counties won by Cox. Blue represents counties won by Newsom. Green represents counties won by Villaraigosa. General election. 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 state's more rural areas, 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 Riverside County in the Inland Empire in addition to handily winning traditionally Republican Kern County in the Central Valley. Results by county. Here are the results of the election by county. Blue represents counties won by Newsom. Red represents counties won by Cox.