The 1994 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, in the midst of that year's

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of ...

. Incumbent Republican

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...

easily won re-election over his main challenger, Democratic State Treasurer

Kathleen Brown Kathleen Lynn Brown (born September 25, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 29th Treasurer of California from 1991 to 1995. Brown unsuccessfully ran for Governor of California in the 1994 election. Early life and e ...

, the daughter of Pat Brown and younger sister of

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 S ...

, both of whom had previously served as governor. Although Wilson initially trailed Brown in the polls as a result of the state's faltering economy, his signature opposition to affirmative action and state services for illegal immigrants (with the associated

Proposition 187 California Proposition 187 (also known as the ''Save Our State'' (SOS) initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public ed ...

) eventually led to his win. Wilson won 25% of the African American vote and 15% of the Latino vote, which was the lowest for an incumbent Republican governor, because of his opposition to illegal immigration in the United States.

Primary elections

They were held on June 3, 1994.

Democratic

Candidates

, Incumbent Treasurer, sister of former Governor

and daughter of former Governor Pat Brown * John Garamendi, Incumbent Insurance Commissioner, candidate for Governor in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, and Controller in 1986 *

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring t ...

, State Senator, Activist, former President of SDS, and candidate for Senate in 1976 * Charles Pineda, Jr. * Jonathan Trip * Mark Calney

Republican

Candidates

, Incumbent * Ron K. Unz, Businessman * Jim Hart * Louis D'Arrigo

General election

Polling

Results

Final results from the

Secretary of State of California The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeh ...

Results by county

References

External links

Statement of vote '94
{{DEFAULTSORT:California Gubernatorial Election, 1994

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 politica ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1994 United States gubernatorial elections