1914 California gubernatorial election explained

The 1914 California gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. The election saw Hiram Johnson re-elected in 1914 as governor of California on the Progressive Party ticket, nearly tripling his vote total from the 1910 California gubernatorial election.

Johnson was first elected governor in 1910 as a member of the Republican Party. Dissatisfaction with the conservatism of the William Howard Taft administration led many Republicans to join former President Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party. Johnson then ran as the Progressive Party's vice-presidential nominee in the 1912 presidential election. Despite losing the election, and winning California by fewer than 200 votes, Johnson was supremely popular in California.

Hiram Johnson became the first governor of California to be reelected since John Bigler in 1853, although he would not serve out his second term, resigning in 1917 to assume the United States Senate seat he had won in 1916. This was the first gubernatorial election in which Kern County, Glenn County, Lake County, and Madera County did not back the Democratic candidate. It was also the first gubernatorial election since 1855 in which Colusa County, Mariposa County, and Merced County were not carried by a Democrat. This election ushered in a four decade period of Republican dominance in the state's gubernatorial races that was only interrupted once in 1938.

Progressive Party primary

Early in 1914, it was not immediately clear if Hiram Johnson would run for reelection as governor, run for the upcoming senate seat, or retire from public office.^[1] On January 6, 1914 Johnson announced that he would indeed run for reelection under the banner of the Bull Moose Party.^[2] Following this announcement, Hiram Johnson and other members of the Bull Moose Party began a massive voter registration campaign, to get potential voters to register as Progressives.^[3]

Johnson officially kicked off his campaign in Los Angeles, where he gave a speech to a large crowd at the Simpson Auditorium.^[4] There was no party competition against the popular Hiram Johnson, as he ran for governor unopposed and secured his nomination on August 26, 1914.^[5]

Republican primary

Early in the year, John D. Fredericks announced that he was willing to run for governor, but qualified the statement by stating that he was willing to acquiesce to another qualified candidate.^[6] The Republican party would fight an uphill battle due to losing the popular Hiram Johnson to the Progressive party. Republican stalwarts met at Santa Barbara in February of 1914, to discuss their strategy for the upcoming elections. Phillip A. Stanton and Leroy Wright lead the meeting, which was sponsored by Rudolph Spreckels.^[7]

Fredericks spent over $14,000 on his primary campaign, a considerable amount compared to his primary opponents. 12,000 of those dollars were contributed from outside sources.^[8]

General election campaign

While the campaigns were traveling across the state to appeal to the voters, there were efforts behind the scenes to stop several candidates from appearing on the general election ballots entirely due to a quirk in the laws regarding California's primary system.

The state Attorney General Ulysses S. Webb, was asked by Frank C. Jordan, the Secretary of State to clarify whether candidates can be on the November ballot, if they lose a primary election. Webb ruled that

"If a registered Progressive, seeking Republican and Democratic nominations, obtains the Progressive nomination, his name will go on the ballot, according to Webb's ruling, even though be loses the Republican and Democratic nominations. On the other hand, if he should lose the Progressive and gain both of the other nominations, he is out of the running and cannot even be an independent candidate.^[9] "

As a result, members of the Republican Party threatened to file suit against the State if they allowed any progressive to run in the general election if they lost another party's primary, as the law indicated, "a candidate losing any party nomination shall not get on the November ballot."^[10]

This greatly concerned members of the Progressive Party, many of whom cross-filed as Republicans, such as John Eshleman and Friend W. Richardson.^[11]

General election results

Results by county

County	Hiram W. Johnson Progressive		John D. Fredericks Republican		John B. Curtin Democratic		Noble A. Richardson Socialist		Clinton P. Moore Prohibition		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Alameda		47,320		53.73%		25,612		29.08%		7,968		9.05%		5,800		6.59%		1,378		1.56%		0		0.00%		21,708		24.65%		88,078
	Alpine		31		32.63%		42		44.21%		17		17.89%		4		4.21%		1		1.05%		0		0.00%		-11		-11.58%		95
	Amador		1,311		37.88%		1,041		30.08%		929		26.84%		105		3.03%		75		2.17%		0		0.00%		270		7.80%		3,461
	Butte		6,209		48.82%		3,357		26.39%		1,898		14.92%		729		5.73%		525		4.13%		1		0.01%		2,852		22.42%		12,719
	Calaveras		1,291		36.85%		990		28.26%		935		26.69%		208		5.94%		79		2.26%		0		0.00%		301		8.59%		3,503
	Colusa		1,229		34.34%		866		24.20%		1,208		33.75%		140		3.91%		136		3.80%		0		0.00%		21		0.59%		3,579
	Contra Costa		6,966		54.86%		3,050		24.02%		1,657		13.05%		865		6.81%		160		1.26%		0		0.00%		3,916		30.84%		12,698
	Del Norte		493		43.44%		355		31.28%		168		14.80%		81		7.14%		38		3.35%		0		0.00%		138		12.16%		1,135
	El Dorado		1.155		36.74%		992		31.55%		743		23.63%		187		5.95%		66		2.10%		1		0.03%		163		5.18%		3,144
	Fresno		14,095		50.81%		4,964		17.90%		5,566		20.07%		2,085		7.52%		1,029		3.71%		0		0.00%		8,529		30.75%		27,739
	Glenn		1,529		43.31%		1,080		30.59%		633		17.93%		137		3.88%		147		4.16%		4		0.11%		449		12.72%		3,530
	Humboldt		6,202		52.87%		3,696		31.51%		830		7.08%		869		7.41%		133		1.13%		0		0.00%		2,506		21.36%		11,730
	Imperial		3,461		55.13%		1,255		19.99%		873		13.91%		437		6.96%		252		4.01%		0		0.00%		2,206		35.14%		6,278
	Inyo		876		40.07%		601		27.49%		258		11.80%		378		17.29%		73		3.34%		0		0.00%		275		12.58%		2,186
	Kern		7,590		48.84%		3,807		24.49%		3,178		20.45%		771		4.96%		196		1.26%		0		0.00%		3,783		24.34%		15,542
	Kings		1,862		32.38%		2,092		36.38%		1,133		19.70%		353		6.14%		311		5.41%		0		0.00%		-230		-4.00%		5,751
	Lake		612		24.33%		900		35.79%		587		23.34%		283		11.25%		133		5.29%		0		0.00%		-288		-11.45%		2,515
	Lassen		1,133		45.93%		602		24.40%		400		16.21%		217		8.80%		115		4.66%		0		0.00%		531		21.52%		2,467
	Los Angeles		119,824		53.58%		65,484		29.28%		18,331		8.20%		11,129		4.98%		8,879		3.97%		5		0.00%		54,340		24.30%		223,652
	Madera		1,358		38.83%		712		20.36%		1,093		31.26%		203		5.80%		131		3.75%		0		0.00%		265		7.58%		3,497
	Marin		4,065		48.04%		3,071		36.29%		871		10.29%		412		4.87%		43		0.51%		0		0.00%		994		11.75%		8,462
	Mariposa		638		41.70%		229		14.97%		557		36.41%		59		3.86%		47		3.07%		0		0.00%		81		5.29%		1,530
	Mendocino		3,087		38.45%		2,681		33.39%		1,585		19.74%		504		6.28%		172		2.14%		0		0.00%		406		5.06%		8,029
	Merced		2,297		39.45%		1,402		24.08%		1,470		25.25%		406		6.97%		247		4.24%		0		0.00%		827		14.20%		5,822
	Modoc		930		40.75%		532		23.31%		609		26.69%		137		6.00%		74		3.24%		0		0.00%		321		14.07%		2,282
	Mono		187		41.74%		123		27.46%		71		15.85%		54		12.05%		13		2.90%		0		0.00%		64		14.29%		448
	Monterey		3,531		43.67%		2,697		33.36%		1,313		16.24%		273		3.38%		271		3.35%		0		0.00%		834		10.32%		8,085
	Napa		3,234		41.13%		3,077		39.13%		1,098		13.96%		316		4.02%		138		1.76%		0		0.00%		157		2.00%		7,863
	Nevada		2,830		53.70%		949		18.01%		1,101		20.89%		295		5.60%		95		1.80%		0		0.00%		1,729		32.81%		5,270
	Orange		7,304		41.72%		6,096		34.82%		2.184		12.47%		815		4.66%		1,109		6.33%		0		0.00%		1,208		6.90%		17,508
	Placer		3,846		59.03%		1,416		21.73%		705		10.82%		375		5.76%		173		2.66%		0		0.00%		2,430		37.30%		6,515
	Plumas		1,042		52.36%		527		26.48%		232		11.66%		156		7.84%		33		1.66%		0		0.00%		515		25.88%		1,990
	Riverside		6,337		48.87%		4,026		31.05%		1,146		8.84%		754		5.81%		705		5.44%		0		0.00%		2,311		17.82%		12,968
	Sacramento		16,954		58.00%		8,661		29.63%		2,284		7.81%		965		3.30%		367		1.26%		0		0.00%		8,293		28.37%		29,231
	San Benito		1,234		40.77%		1,184		39.11%		454		15.00%		101		3.34%		54		1.78%		0		0.00%		50		1.65%		3,027
	San Bernardino		8,787		41.07%		7,634		35.68%		2,096		9.80%		1,367		6.39%		1,510		7.06%		0		0.00%		1,153		5.39%		21,394
	San Diego		14,152		40.49%		14,365		41.10%		2,864		8.19%		1,879		5.38%		1,694		4.85%		1		0.00%		-213		-0.61%		34,955
	San Francisco		72,257		54.70%		36,606		27.71%		16,167		12.24%		6,346		4.80%		723		0.55%		4		0.00%		35,651		26.99%		132,103
	San Joaquin		8,898		44.48%		5,759		28.79%		3,848		19.24%		805		4.02%		694		3.47%		0		0.00%		3,139		15.69%		20,004
	San Luis Obispo		3,303		48.48%		1,890		27.74%		982		14.41%		457		6.71%		181		2.66%		0		0.00%		1,413		20.74%		6,813
	San Mateo		5,208		54.76%		2,839		29.85%		1,002		10.54%		392		4.12%		69		0.73%		0		0.00%		2,369		24.91%		9,510
	Santa Barbara		3,952		42.42%		2,760		29.63%		1,675		17.98%		547		5.87%		382		4.10%		0		0.00%		1,192		12.80%		9,316
	Santa Clara		14,267		47.05%		10,792		35.59%		3,337		11.01%		1,108		3.65%		813		2.68%		4		0.01%		3,475		11.46%		30,321
	Santa Cruz		4,232		45.23%		2,814		30.07%		1,417		15.14%		540		5.77%		354		3.78%		0		0.00%		1,418		15.15%		9,357
	Shasta		2,711		45.68%		1,567		26.40%		811		13.66%		640		10.78%		206		3.47%		0		0.00%		1,144		19.28%		5,935
	Sierra		568		46.33%		410		33.44%		149		12.15%		72		5.87%		27		2.20%		0		0.00%		158		12.89%		1,226
	Siskiyou		2,663		41.66%		1,747		27.33%		1,342		20.99%		483		7.56%		157		2.46%		0		0.00%		916		14.33%		6,392
	Solano		5,467		51.05%		2,837		26.49%		1,679		15.68%		544		5.08%		183		1.71%		0		0.00%		2,630		24.56%		10,710
	Sonoma		7,693		40.36%		6,945		36.44%		2,967		15.57%		1,030		5.40%		426		2.23%		0		0.00%		748		3.92%		19,061
	Stanislaus		5,245		43.74%		2,201		18.36%		2,530		21.10%		876		7.31%		1,138		9.49%		0		0.00%		2,715		22.64%		11,990
	Sutter		1,083		34.33%		1,463		46.37%		397		12.58%		97		3.07%		114		3.61%		1		0.03%		-380		-12.04%		3,155
	Tehama		2,108		41.29%		1,229		24.07%		1,084		21.23%		394		7.72%		290		5.68%		0		0.00%		879		17.22%		5,105
	Trinity		650		41.94%		399		25.74%		267		17.23%		211		13.61%		23		1.48%		0		0.00%		251		16.19%		1,550
	Tulare		6,480		42.56%		3,479		22.85%		3,349		22.00%		1,369		8.99%		547		3.59%		0		0.00%		3,001		19.71%		15,224
	Tuolumne		1,385		39.25%		490		13.88%		1,309		37.09%		301		8.53%		44		1.25%		0		0.00%		76		2.15%		3,529
	Ventura		2,787		41.58%		2,649		39.53%		824		12.29%		295		4.40%		146		2.18%		1		0.01%		138		2.06%		6,702
	Yolo		2,383		39.51%		1,913		31.71%		1,353		22.43%		231		3.83%		152		2.52%		0		0.00%		470		7.79%		6,032
	Yuba		2,153		54.15%		1,033		25.98%		587		14.76%		129		3.24%		74		1.86%		0		0.00%		1,120		28.17%		3,976
Total	460,495	49.69%	271,990	29.35%	116,121	12.53%	50,716	5.47%	27,345	2.95%	22	0.00%	188,505	20.34%	926,689

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Progressive

• Amador
• Calaveras
• Colusa
• El Dorado
• Glenn
• Inyo
• Kern
• Madera
• Mariposa
• Mendocino
• Merced
• Napa
• Placer
• Sacramento
• Siskiyou
• Solano
• Sonoma
• Tehama
• Tuolumne
• Yolo
• Yuba

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Republican

• Alpine
• Kings
• San Diego
• Sutter

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Lake

Notes and References

1. News: AUGURY OF SUCCESS . 15 October 2024 . Napa Weekly Journal . 2 January 1914.
2. News: Johnson Out for Re-election FIGURES SHOW S.F. GAIN . San Francisco Call . 6 January 1914.
3. News: Governor Johnson is going after the voters . 19 October 2024 . Salinas Index Journal . 3 January 1914.
4. News: JOHNSON FIRES THE FIRST GUN . 24 October 2024 . Healdsburg Tribune . 19 February 1914.
5. News: CURTIN, JOHNSON, FREDERICKS WILL HEAD LEADING TICKETS Race is Close Between Conley and Angellotti.— Phelan, Heney and Knowland for United States Senate.— Maddux and Ferguson for State Senate.— Ellis Wins Nomination for Member of Assembly. . 27 October 2024 . Livingston Chronicle . 29 August 1914.
6. News: FREDERICKS IS WILLING Los Angeles Attorney Says He Is Ready to Make Republican Race for Governor . 24 October 2024 . Riverside Daily Press . 8 January 1914.
7. News: OLD GUARD CONTROLS AT SANTA BARBARA Leroy Wright and Phil Stanton Are Managing Republican Conference. Program Will Evidently Suit General Otis of Times Fine . 27 October 2024 . Riverside Daily Press . 7 February 1914.
8. News: FREDERICKS SPENT $14,896 TO GET G. O. P. NOMINATION Los Angeles Candidate Files Expense Account That Heads the Idst . 27 October 2024 . San Mateo Leader . 17 September 1914.
9. News: A MUDDLE OF THE PRIMARY LAW . 27 October 2024 . Chico Record . 20 August 1914.
10. News: A MUDDLE OF THE PRIMARY LAW . 27 October 2024 . Chico Record . 20 August 1914.
11. News: BULL MOOSE MAY LOSE CANDIDATES Primary Law May Bar From November Election Those Defeated in Any Party Fight. REPUBLICANS TO TEST LAW Courts Will Be Asked for Mandamus Writs to Keep Names Off Final Ballot. . 27 October 2024 . Sacramento Daily Union . 15 August 1914.