Candidates •
Jerry Brown,
Secretary of State of California and son of former governor
Pat Brown (Democratic) •
Houston Flournoy,
California State Controller (Republican) • Edmon V. Kaiser (American Independent) • Elizabeth Keathley (Peace and Freedom)
Campaign Brown had statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California, and maintained a lead in most of the early polls. Flournoy began to gain in the polls as the election approached, but Brown won, although by a much smaller margin than predicted. Coincidentally, when Brown ran for
Secretary of State four years earlier, he defeated James Flournoy – no relation to Houston – in a very close election.
Results Results by county Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic •
Del Norte •
Humboldt •
Imperial •
Los Angeles •
Mendocino •
Merced •
Placer •
San Bernardino •
San Mateo •
Santa Clara •
Santa Cruz •
Siskiyou •
Solano •
Sonoma •
Tehama •
Trinity •
Yuba Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican •
Stanislaus ==Notes==