The 1974 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Governor Jack Williams decided not to run for a fourth term as governor. Former

United States Ambassador to Bolivia The following is a list of envoys, ministers, and ambassadors that the United States has sent to Bolivia. As a point of note, the first Ambassador of the United States to Bolivia was John Appleton, who served as the ''charge d'Affaires'' fr ...

Raúl Héctor Castro Raúl Héctor Castro (; June 12, 1916 – April 10, 2015) was a Mexican American politician, diplomat and judge. In 1964, Castro was selected to be U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, a position he held until 1968 when he was appointed U.S. Ambass ...

, who was the Democratic nominee in 1970, won the Democratic nomination again in 1974, and narrowly won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Russell Williams by 0.85%. Castro was sworn into his first and only term as governor on January 6, 1975. Prior to the election, there was a recall effort led by

Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...

against incumbent Governor Jack Williams, with 180,000 signatures submitted. Many of the signatures were invalidated by the Attorney General Gary Nelson, but this was eventually overturned. By the time this occurred, however, it was meaningless due to the close proximity of the 1974 gubernatorial election, and thus a recall election did not occur. Approximately two years into his term as governor, Castro would resign to become

United States Ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revolution ...

Republican primary

Candidates

* Russell Williams, member of the

Arizona Corporation Commission The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commissioners. The Arizona Constitution exp ...

Evan Mecham Evan Mecham ( ; May 12, 1924 – February 21, 2008) was an American businessman and the 17th governor of Arizona, serving from January 5, 1987, until his impeachment conviction on April 4, 1988. A decorated veteran of World War II, Mecham was a ...

, former state senator, former nominee for U.S. Senate * William C. Jacquin, President of the State Senate * John D. Driggs, Mayor of Phoenix * Milton H. Graham, former Mayor of Phoenix

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former United States Ambassador to Bolivia, Democratic nominee for governor in 1970 * Jack Ross, car dealer * Dave Moss, real estate broker * Walter "Denver" Caudill, Tubac Country Club golf professional

Results

General election

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona Gubernatorial Election, 1974

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1974 United States gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

November 1974 events in the United States