1934 California gubernatorial election
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← 1930 |
November 6, 1934 |
1938 → |
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Results by county
Merriam: 30-40% 40–50% 50–60 60-70% 80-90%
Sinclair: 30-40% 40–50%
Haight: 30-40%
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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The 1934 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Held in the midst of the Great Depression, the 1934 election was amongst the most controversial in the state's political history, pitting conservative Republican Frank Merriam against former Socialist Party member turned Democrat Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. A strong third party challenge came from Progressive Raymond L. Haight, a Los Angeles lawyer campaigning for the political center. Much of the campaign's emphasis was directed at Sinclair's EPIC movement, proposing interventionist reforms to cure the state's ailing economy. Merriam, who had recently assumed the governorship following the death of James Rolph, characterized Sinclair's proposal as a step towards communism.
Negative campaigning funded by the film industry was used against Sinclair to favor the Merriam campaign, as briefly depicted in the 2020 American biographical drama film Mank.[1]
Democratic primary
California Democratic Primary, 1934[2] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
|
Democratic |
Upton Sinclair |
436,220 |
51.68% |
|
Democratic |
George Creel |
288,106 |
34.13% |
|
Democratic |
Justus S. Wardell |
48,965 |
5.80% |
|
Democratic |
Milton K. Young |
41,609 |
4.93% |
|
Democratic |
James E. Waddell |
12,515 |
1.48% |
|
Democratic |
Z. T. Malaby |
4,476 |
0.53% |
|
Democratic |
Forest Dowey |
4,260 |
0.51% |
|
Democratic |
W. J. McNichols |
3,616 |
0.43% |
|
Democratic |
William H. Evans |
2,433 |
0.29% |
|
Republican |
Frank F. Merriam (incumbent) (write-in) |
1,035 |
0.12% |
|
Republican |
Raymond L. Haight (write-in) |
882 |
0.10% |
Total votes |
844,117 |
100% |
Republican primary
General election results
Results by county
County |
Merriam |
Votes |
Sinclair |
Votes |
Haight |
Votes |
Others |
Votes |
Kings |
41.18% |
3,633 |
26.37% |
2,326 |
32.28% |
2,848 |
0.17% |
17 |
Alpine |
87.29% |
158 |
7.18% |
13 |
5.52% |
10 |
0.00% |
0 |
Mono |
63.11% |
520 |
28.40% |
234 |
7.77% |
64 |
0.00% |
0 |
Orange |
53.72% |
27,099 |
27.94% |
14,092 |
18.13% |
9,142 |
0.21% |
105 |
Inyo |
57.39% |
1,514 |
33.24% |
877 |
8.79% |
232 |
0.57% |
15 |
Lake |
56.54% |
2,317 |
32.65% |
1,338 |
10.57% |
433 |
0.24% |
10 |
Del Norte |
49.39% |
1,221 |
44.74% |
1,106 |
5.22% |
129 |
0.65% |
16 |
San Benito |
65.25% |
2,931 |
27.85% |
1,251 |
6.59% |
296 |
0.31% |
14 |
Sonoma |
57.41% |
15,329 |
30.58% |
8,164 |
11.50% |
3,070 |
0.51% |
136 |
San Diego |
50.76% |
44,422 |
36.65% |
32,073 |
18.13% |
9,142 |
0.29% |
254 |
Santa Cruz |
63.17% |
10,905 |
29.86% |
5,155 |
6.48% |
1,119 |
0.50% |
85 |
Marin |
54.50% |
9,756 |
36.28% |
6,494 |
8.69% |
1,555 |
0.54% |
97 |
Santa Clara |
60.06% |
37,156 |
31.17% |
19,281 |
8.43% |
5,215 |
0.33% |
209 |
Humboldt |
50.95% |
9,179 |
35.79% |
6,448 |
12.61% |
2,271 |
0.65% |
117 |
Riverside |
62.33% |
19,892 |
31.01% |
9,896 |
6.49% |
2,072 |
0.18% |
55 |
San Mateo |
52.29% |
18,448 |
36.91% |
13,022 |
10.40% |
3,669 |
0.39% |
138 |
Santa Barbara |
60.29% |
14,429 |
32.32% |
7,735 |
11.80% |
1,702 |
0.28% |
66 |
Mariposa |
46.80% |
1,089 |
37.17% |
865 |
15.21% |
354 |
0.55% |
19 |
Napa |
58.96% |
5,750 |
28.77% |
2,806 |
12.05% |
1,175 |
0.22% |
22 |
Mendocino |
62.87% |
6,178 |
28.12% |
2,763 |
8.08% |
794 |
0.93% |
92 |
Monterey |
61.53% |
11,083 |
31.01% |
5,585 |
7.13% |
1,285 |
0.33% |
60 |
Tehama |
44.34% |
2,865 |
28.10% |
1,816 |
27.28% |
1,763 |
0.28% |
28 |
Butte |
47.82% |
8,041 |
35.28% |
5,932 |
16.62% |
2,795 |
0.28% |
47 |
San Bernardino |
56.76% |
30,285 |
35.90% |
19,157 |
7.07% |
3,774 |
0.27% |
143 |
San Luis Obispo |
47.11% |
6,422 |
37.36% |
5,093 |
15.13% |
2,063 |
0.39% |
53 |
Imperial |
52.01% |
7,253 |
40.42% |
5,637 |
7.18% |
1,001 |
0.39% |
55 |
Sutter |
47.01% |
2,872 |
32.41% |
1,980 |
20.36% |
1,244 |
0.21% |
13 |
Colusa |
55.70% |
2,584 |
42.24% |
1,709 |
18.56% |
861 |
0.32% |
15 |
Glenn |
46.00% |
2,342 |
28.60% |
1,456 |
25.26% |
1,286 |
0.14% |
7 |
Los Angeles |
47.45% |
457,755 |
42.02% |
405,331 |
10.20% |
98,348 |
0.33% |
3,202 |
Nevada |
45.33% |
3,163 |
31.03% |
2,165 |
22.96% |
1,602 |
0.67% |
47 |
San Joaquin |
46.64% |
17,612 |
36.33% |
13,720 |
16.56% |
6,255 |
0.47% |
174 |
San Francisco |
50.91% |
115,047 |
38.88% |
87,850 |
9.51% |
21,499 |
0.69% |
1,581 |
El Dorado |
33.37% |
1,744 |
32.17% |
1,681 |
33.79% |
1,766 |
0.67% |
35 |
Modoc |
49.39% |
1,452 |
28.44% |
836 |
21.67% |
637 |
0.51% |
15 |
Tulare |
37.46% |
9,850 |
26.12% |
6,867 |
36.18% |
9,512 |
0.24% |
65 |
Calaveras |
45.83% |
1,524 |
37.05% |
1,232 |
16.63% |
553 |
0.48% |
16 |
Ventura |
54.07% |
11,015 |
32.20% |
6,560 |
13.45% |
2,740 |
0.27% |
55 |
Siskiyou |
39.19% |
4,202 |
32.77% |
3,514 |
27.54% |
2,953 |
0.50% |
53 |
Kern |
48.59% |
14,798 |
37.26% |
11,348 |
13.78% |
4,197 |
0.37% |
111 |
Contra Costa |
45.52% |
15,540 |
45.67% |
15,591 |
8.48% |
2,894 |
0.33% |
115 |
Stanislaus |
34.46% |
7,853 |
27.47% |
6,260 |
37.70% |
8,592 |
0.36% |
83 |
Alameda |
52.69% |
102,328 |
37.70% |
73,233 |
9.14% |
17,758 |
0.47% |
913 |
Yolo |
46.44% |
4,087 |
18.70% |
1,646 |
34.56% |
3,041 |
0.30% |
26 |
Sacramento |
35.75% |
19,360 |
33.81% |
18,310 |
30.09% |
16,291 |
0.35% |
187 |
Yuba |
49.81% |
2,603 |
30.64% |
1,601 |
19.19% |
1,003 |
0.37% |
19 |
Trinity |
40.21% |
889 |
44.91% |
993 |
13.93% |
308 |
0.95% |
21 |
Sierra |
45.19% |
676 |
31.48% |
471 |
22.66% |
339 |
0.67% |
10 |
Fresno |
30.46% |
15,338 |
30.80% |
15,509 |
38.33% |
19,296 |
0.40% |
204 |
Solano |
44.57% |
6,728 |
33.87% |
5,112 |
21.24% |
3,206 |
0.32% |
48 |
Merced |
35.21% |
4,123 |
31.83% |
3,727 |
31.83% |
3,727 |
1.13% |
132 |
Tuolumne |
36.63% |
1,580 |
44.96% |
1,940 |
18.19% |
785 |
0.23% |
10 |
Placer |
34.23% |
3,337 |
31.93% |
3,113 |
33.55% |
3,271 |
0.29% |
29 |
Madera |
32.11% |
2,204 |
35.56% |
2,441 |
29.76% |
2,043 |
2.57% |
176 |
Amador |
52.00% |
1,946 |
26.22% |
981 |
21.43% |
802 |
0.35% |
13 |
Lassen |
33.09% |
1,697 |
39.44% |
2,023 |
26.94% |
1,382 |
0.53% |
27 |
Shasta |
42.75% |
3,283 |
36.71% |
2,819 |
20.09% |
1,543 |
0.45% |
35 |
Plumas |
36.63% |
1,213 |
37.03% |
1,226 |
25.91% |
858 |
0.42% |
14 |
References
Further reading
- Antognini, Richard. "The Role of A.P. Giannini in the 1934 California Gubernatorial Election." Southern California Quarterly 57.1 (1975): 53–86. online
- Barger, Bob. "Raymond L. Haight and the Commonwealth Progressive Campaign of 1934" California Historical Society Quarterly 43 (September, 1964), pp 219–30. online
- Hill, Patricia Lucy. "Upton Sinclair and the 1934 California gubernatorial election." (MS thesis, Portland State University, 1978) online.
- Larsen, Charles E. "The Epic Campaign of 1934." Pacific Historical Review 27.2 (1958): 127–147. online
- Mitchell, Greg. The campaign of the century: Upton Sinclair's race for governor of California and the birth of media politics (Random House, 1992).
- Rising, George G. "An EPIC Endeavor: Upton Sinclair's 1934 California Gubernatorial Campaign." Southern California Quarterly 79.1 (1997): 101–124. online
- Singer, Donald L. "Upton Sinclair and the California Gubernatorial Campaign of 1934." Southern California Quarterly 56.4 (1974): 375–406. online
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