1986 California gubernatorial election
1986 California gubernatorial election
County results Congressional district results Deukmejian: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Bradley: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
The 1986 California gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican George Deukmejian won easily in this rematch over the Democratic challenger, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley . This was the largest gubernatorial victory since that of Earl Warren in 1946 , who won 91.64% of the vote. To date, this was the most recent California gubernatorial election in which both major party candidates are now deceased.
Primary election
Both major party candidates from 1982 were renominated with only token opposition.
Republican Party
Democratic Party
American Independent Party
Libertarian Party
Peace and Freedom Party
General election results
Results by county
George Deukmejian carried all but two counties. As of 2024, this is most recent election in which a Republican gubernatorial candidate won Marin County , San Mateo County , and Santa Cruz County .
County
George Deukmejian Republican
Tom Bradley Democratic
Joseph Fuhrig Libertarian
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz Peace & Freedom
Gary V. Miller American Independent
Margin
Total votes cast[ a] [ 2]
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alameda
174,555
47.79%
181,445
49.68%
3,164
0.87%
3,783
1.04%
2,280
0.62%
-6,890
-1.89%
365,227
Alpine
280
64.22%
128
29.36%
0
0.00%
16
3.67%
12
2.75%
152
34.86%
436
Amador
7,357
74.43%
2,319
23.46%
60
0.61%
56
0.57%
93
0.94%
5,038
50.97%
9,885
Butte
40,546
70.81%
15,518
27.10%
398
0.70%
348
0.61%
448
0.78%
25,028
43.71%
57,258
Calaveras
8,221
74.77%
2,531
23.02%
73
0.66%
75
0.68%
95
0.86%
5,690
51.75%
10,995
Colusa
3,729
79.49%
882
18.80%
16
0.34%
24
0.51%
40
0.85%
2,847
60.69%
4,691
Contra Costa
159,105
63.31%
87,117
34.67%
1,491
0.59%
1,644
0.65%
1,951
0.78%
71,998
28.65%
251,308
Del Norte
4,213
65.80%
2,026
31.64%
42
0.66%
51
0.80%
71
1.11%
2,187
34.16%
6,403
El Dorado
26,068
73.57%
8,605
24.29%
206
0.58%
193
0.54%
361
1.02%
17,463
49.28%
35,433
Fresno
96,959
66.28%
47,071
32.17%
546
0.37%
927
0.63%
795
0.54%
49,888
34.10%
146,298
Glenn
5,728
80.45%
1,246
17.50%
38
0.53%
26
0.37%
82
1.15%
4,482
62.95%
7,120
Humboldt
22,534
54.58%
17,608
42.65%
293
0.71%
491
1.19%
363
0.88%
4,926
11.93%
41,289
Imperial
11,479
61.19%
6,915
36.86%
38
0.20%
214
1.14%
113
0.60%
4,564
24.33%
18.759
Inyo
4,862
71.79%
1,753
25.88%
63
0.93%
45
0.66%
50
0.74%
3,109
45.90%
6,773
Kern
86,547
68.23%
37,973
29.93%
716
0.56%
610
0.48%
1,007
0.79%
48,574
38.29%
126,853
Kings
12,256
69.07%
5,205
29.33%
45
0.25%
125
0.70%
113
0.64%
7,051
39.74%
17,744
Lake
10,994
67.42%
4,904
30.07%
99
0.61%
110
0.67%
199
1.22%
6,090
37.35%
16,306
Lassen
5,154
68.96%
2,067
27.66%
45
0.60%
61
0.82%
147
1.97%
3,087
41.30%
7,474
Los Angeles
1,090,138
52.96%
930,576
45.21%
12,862
0.62%
13,158
0.64%
11,514
0.56%
159,562
7.75%
2,058,248
Madera
12,939
70.55%
4,951
27.00%
54
0.29%
165
0.90%
230
1.25%
7,988
43.56%
18,339
Marin
51,693
56.47%
37,686
41.17%
1,001
1.09%
781
0.85%
379
0.41%
14,007
15.30%
91,450
Mariposa
3,844
70.06%
1,513
27.57%
26
0.47%
45
0.82%
59
1.08%
2,331
42.48%
5,487
Mendocino
13,710
55.96%
10,054
41.04%
209
0.85%
349
1.42%
177
0.72%
3,656
14.92%
24,499
Merced
21,426
68.86%
9,105
29.26%
99
0.32%
199
0.64%
286
0.92%
12,321
39.60%
31,115
Modoc
2,641
74.69%
810
22.91%
25
0.71%
20
0.57%
40
1.13%
1,831
51.78%
3,536
Mono
1,847
70.66%
722
27.62%
15
0.57%
15
0.57%
15
0.57%
1,125
43.04%
2,614
Monterey
46,195
63.30%
25,408
34.81%
414
0.57%
544
0.75%
421
0.58%
20,787
28.48%
72,982
Napa
26,445
68.14%
11,456
29.52%
251
0.65%
282
0.73%
375
0.97%
14,989
38.62%
38,809
Nevada
20,599
73.12%
6,928
24.59%
228
0.81%
182
0.65%
234
0.83%
13,671
48.53%
28,171
Orange
468,092
71.89%
172,782
26.54%
3,445
0.53%
2,821
0.43%
3,956
0.61%
295,310
45.36%
651,096
Placer
37,288
73.31%
12,542
24.66%
372
0.73%
280
0.55%
382
0.75%
24,746
48.65%
50,864
Plumas
4,827
68.19%
2,096
29.61%
36
0.51%
78
1.10%
42
0.59%
2,731
38.58%
7,079
Riverside
155,318
65.10%
78,891
33.06%
947
0.40%
1,092
0.46%
2,350
0.98%
76,427
32.03%
238,598
Sacramento
207,086
68.05%
91,660
30.12%
1,592
0.52%
1,974
0.65%
2,014
0.66%
115,426
37.93%
304,326
San Benito
5,284
66.42%
2,520
31.68%
46
0.58%
60
0.75%
45
0.57%
2,764
34.75%
7,955
San Bernardino
166,483
63.76%
89,584
34.31%
1,206
0.46%
1,336
0.51%
2,490
0.95%
76,899
29.45%
261,099
San Diego
381,094
65.17%
184,395
31.53%
8,769
1.50%
5,390
0.92%
5,126
0.88%
196,699
33.64%
584,774
San Francisco
83,741
37.42%
134,738
60.20%
1,682
0.75%
2,743
1.23%
900
0.40%
-50,997
-22.79%
223,804
San Joaquin
76,297
71.32%
28,817
26.94%
452
0.42%
623
0.58%
793
0.74%
47,480
44.38%
106,982
San Luis Obispo
41,893
67.12%
19,281
30.89%
391
0.63%
382
0.61%
472
0.76%
22,612
36.23%
62,419
San Mateo
121,910
61.84%
71,329
36.18%
1,498
0.76%
1,421
0.72%
987
0.50%
50,581
25.66%
197,145
Santa Barbara
67,852
62.84%
38,046
35.23%
617
0.57%
1,015
0.94%
451
0.42%
29,806
27.60%
107,981
Santa Clara
227,285
59.87%
142,907
37.64%
3,894
1.03%
2,920
0.77%
2,650
0.70%
84,378
22.22%
379,656
Santa Cruz
37,525
50.54%
34,831
46.91%
615
0.83%
839
1.13%
434
0.58%
2,694
3.63%
74,244
Shasta
29,447
71.01%
11,149
26.89%
289
0.70%
206
0.50%
378
0.91%
18,298
44.12%
41,469
Sierra
1,053
66.98%
474
30.15%
7
0.45%
13
0.83%
25
1.59%
579
36.83%
1,572
Siskiyou
10,515
67.95%
4,584
29.62%
103
0.67%
96
0.62%
176
1.14%
5,931
38.33%
15,474
Solano
47,396
63.51%
25,382
34.01%
746
1.00%
513
0.69%
587
0.79%
22,014
29.50%
74,624
Sonoma
75,003
59.43%
47,859
37.92%
1,015
0.80%
1,242
0.98%
1,091
0.86%
27,144
21.51%
126,210
Stanislaus
53,505
71.05%
20,481
27.20%
342
0.45%
417
0.55%
556
0.74%
33,024
43.86%
75,301
Sutter
12,616
78.67%
2,946
18.37%
136
0.85%
75
0.47%
263
1.64%
9,670
60.30%
16,036
Tehama
10,463
71.10%
3,932
26.72%
83
0.56%
75
0.51%
163
1.11%
6,531
44.38%
14,716
Trinity
3,720
66.48%
1,661
29.68%
72
1.29%
59
1.05%
84
1.50%
2,059
36.79%
5,596
Tulare
44,335
71.72%
16,287
26.35%
344
0.56%
334
0.54%
519
0.84%
28,048
45.37%
61,819
Tuolumne
11,121
71.29%
4,237
27.16%
67
0.43%
82
0.53%
92
0.59%
6,884
44.13%
15,599
Ventura
118,640
67.20%
54,893
31.09%
966
0.55%
960
0.54%
1,098
0.62%
63,747
36.11%
176,557
Yolo
26,154
60.79%
15,906
36.97%
308
0.72%
370
0.86%
285
0.66%
10,248
23.82%
43,023
Yuba
8,594
72.37%
2,982
25.11%
71
0.60%
40
0.34%
188
1.58%
5,612
47.26%
11,875
Total
4,506,601
60.54%
2,781,714
37.37%
52,628
0.71%
51,995
0.70%
50,547
0.68%
1,724,887
23.17%
7,443,551
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
See also
Notes
^ County totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement Of Vote
References