The 1990 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. The Republican candidate,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

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

, defeated the Democratic candidate, former

San Francisco mayor The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

. Feinstein won the Democratic nomination against opponents including

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

John Van de Kamp. Wilson faced minimal opposition in his bid for the Republican nomination. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Feinstein was elected to Wilson's former Senate seat and served in the Senate until her death in September 2023.

Republican primary

Candidates

*Donald L. Bullock *Jeffrey T. Greene *David M. Williams *

, incumbent U.S. Senator and former mayor of San Diego

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

*John Hancock Abbott *Eileen Anderson *Lydon Byrne *Mark Calney *

, mayor of San Francisco *Franklin Geraty *Charles A. Mahon III *Charles Pineda Jr. *Frank L. Thomas * John van de Kamp, California Attorney General *F. Frank Wong

Results

Minor party primaries

American Independent Party

Libertarian Party

Peace and Freedom Party

General election results

Candidates

, mayor of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(Democratic) *Jerome McCready (American Independent) *Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (Peace and Freedom) *Dennis Thompson (Libertarian) *

, U.S. Senator (Republican)

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Contra Costa *

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

* Marin * Mendocino *

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

* Napa * San Benito * San Mateo * Santa Clara * Santa Cruz * Solano * Sonoma * Yolo

By congressional district

Pete Wilson won 25 of California's 45 congressional districts including 8 districts that were won by Democrats and Dianne Feinstein won 20 of California's 45 congressional districts including 2 districts that were won by Republicans.

Notes

References

{{California gubernatorial elections

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

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Dianne Feinstein