1938 California gubernatorial election

1938 California gubernatorial election

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November 8, 1938

File:Culbert L. Olson at a convention for the California Federation of Democratic Women's Clubs (cropped).jpg File:Frank Finley Merriam (cropped).jpg Nominee Culbert Olson Frank Merriam Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,391,734 1,171,019 Percentage 52.49% 44.17%

250px County results Olson:      40–50%      50–60% Merriam:      40–50%      50–60%      70–80%

Governor before election Frank Merriam Republican Elected Governor Culbert Olson Democratic

The 1938 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. This was the first election since 1894 in which a Democrat was elected Governor of California, as well as the first election since 1882 in which a Democrat won with more than 50% of the vote. Culbert L. Olson had defeated John F. Dockweiler and James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor for the Democratic nomination, while Frank F. Merriam defeated George J. Hatfield for the Republican nomination.

General election results

1938 gubernatorial election, California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Culbert L. Olson	1,391,734	52.49	+14.74
	Republican	Frank F. Merriam (incumbent)	1,171,019	44.17	-4.70
	Progressive	Raymond L. Haight	64,418	2.43	-10.56
	Commonwealth Party	Robert Noble	23,787	0.90	N/A
Total votes			2,650,958	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

References

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