1962 California gubernatorial election
The 1962 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. The Democratic incumbent, Pat Brown, ran for re-election against former U.S. vice president and 1960 Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon. In his concession speech the following morning, Nixon accused the media of favoring his opponent Brown, stating that it was his "last press conference" and "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more."[1] Six years later, Nixon was elected President of the United States, and exactly ten years after this press conference he was re-elected in a landslide.
Background[edit]
Pat Brown was a relatively popular Democratic governor in California who was first elected in 1958.[2] However, he was seen as vulnerable due to criticisms of indecision and occasional errors in policy.[3]
In 1958, the Democratic Party had swept all but a single statewide office, and all of the incumbents were seeking reelection in 1962.[3] Despite 1958's near-sweep by Democrats and the state having more registered Democrats than Republicans (4,289,997 registered Democrats on election day 1962 compared to 3,002,038 registered Republicans),[3] at the time, California was generally considered a Republican stronghold, with Republican governors and senators from the end of World War II until the election of Democrat Clair Engle to the Senate in 1958, and Brown's election as governor the same year. The state had voted for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and Nixon carried the state over John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election.
In 1962, with popular incumbent Senator Thomas Kuchel essentially guaranteed to win re-election, the Republican Party felt it could also gain the governorship and win the state back from the Democrats. They turned to former Vice President Richard Nixon, the biggest name at the time in the California Republican Party.[4] Nixon had a record of winning statewide elections in California, having been elected Senator in 1950, carrying the state twice (in 1952 and 1956) as the vice presidential candidate on the ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower, and carrying the state against Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.[4][3] They also felt a convincing win could be a springboard for Nixon to challenge Kennedy again in 1964, since he narrowly lost to him in 1960.[4]
General election[edit]
Campaign[edit]
In a bitter and expensive campaign, Brown and Nixon campaigned with great zeal and effort. During the campaign, Nixon accused Brown of being weak on communism and crime. Brown alleged that Nixon was only interested in holding the governorship in order to utilize it as a steppingstone to the presidency.[11] Nixon's wife Pat campaigned with him.[15]
Two weeks after the Republican primary, Shell endorsed Nixon's candidacy.[5] Shell had conditioned an endorsement of Nixon on Nixon agreeing to make $200 million in cuts to the state budget and giving conservatives a share of the California delegates to the 1964 Republican National Convention.[3]
Harold J. Powers, who had dropped out of the Republican primary, endorsed Brown in the general election.[3]
Earl Warren, a Republican serving as Chief Justice of the United States and former governor of California, had long had a political feud with Nixon, despite Nixon and Warren being from the same state and the same party. Warren posed for photos with Brown, and told the press what a great job Brown was doing. Warren also had his son, Earl Jr., stump across the state for Brown and against Nixon.[16]
Nixon had a lead in the polls early on, but Brown lessened the margin as time went on, and pre-election polls showed Brown winning.[3]