The 1982 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1982. The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee, Attorney General

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also served ...

, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee,

Los Angeles Mayor The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all j ...

Tom Bradley. Incumbent

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...

did not seek reelection to a third term (although he was elected again much later in 2010 and

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Primary election summary

In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley easily defeated State Senator

John Garamendi John Raymond Garamendi (; born January 24, 1945) is an American businessman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who has represented areas of Northern California between San Francisco and Sacramento, including the cities of Fairfiel ...

and Mario G. Obledo. On the Republican side, it was a two-man race between Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb and Attorney General

. Deukmejian won the primary with nearly 55% of the vote.

General election

Early indications were that it would be a close race but as the campaign went on, Bradley slowly increased his lead in the polls. Despite this, the outcome was still in doubt as election night wore on. A large late surge of absentee ballots (many from conservative

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

and Deukmejian's home area of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

) helped tip the balance in his favor. The incorrect polling numbers led to the theory — later dubbed "the

Bradley effect The Bradley effect (less commonly the Wilder effect) is a theory concerning observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in some United States government elections where a white candidate and a non-white candidate run ...

" — that a statistically significant number of voters had given inaccurate responses when questioned by pollsters.

Results by county

References

* http://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1982-11-02
1982 Gubernatorial primary elections
{{DEFAULTSORT:California Gubernatorial Election, 1982

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

1982 1982 United States gubernatorial elections