The 2022 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

, with the statewide top-two primary election taking place on June 7, 2022. Incumbent Democratic Party Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

was re-elected to a second term after surviving a recall election in 2021, during his first term. The elections featured universal mail-in ballots; in-person voting was also available. All statewide elected offices are currently held by Democrats. Newsom won 61.9% of the vote in both the 2018 gubernatorial election and the 2021 recall election. He received 55.9% of the top-two primary vote and faced Republican Party

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Brian Dahle Brian Dwain Dahle (born September 20, 1965) is an American politician and farmer who served as a member of the California State Senate from the 1st district from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Republican Party, Dahle served as a member of the Ca ...

, who received 17.7% of the primary vote, in the general election. Newsom received 59.2% of the vote to Dahle's 40.8%, a smaller margin of victory than in 2018 and the smallest since

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Dahle flipped five counties that Newsom carried in 2018:

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 ...

Merced Merced (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

(which had previously voted to recall Newsom in 2021),

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

, and San Joaquin. Dahle also received 32% of the vote in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, the highest percentage received by a Republican in the state's most populous county since 2014. Additionally, Dahle managed to carry two congressional districts represented by Democrats:

CA-09 California's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. Josh Harder, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2023. Prior to redistricting by the California Citizens Redistricting Comm ...

and CA-47. This election marks the fourth consecutive California gubernatorial election in which a Democratic candidate won.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

, incumbent governor

Eliminated in primary

*Anthony Fanara, restaurant owner *Armando Perez-Serrato, businessman and candidate in the 2021 recall election *Joel Ventresca, former

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

committee member, retired airport analyst and perennial candidate

Republican Party

Advanced to general

from the 1st district and former Minority Leader of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

Eliminated in primary

*Ronald A. Anderson, contractor and businessman *Gurinder Bhangoo ''(write-in)'' *Shawn Collins,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

veteran and attorney *Ron Jones, former police officer *Jenny Rae Le Roux, entrepreneur and candidate in the 2021 recall election *David Lozano, attorney and candidate in the 2021 recall election *Daniel R. Mercuri, businessman, candidate in the 2021 recall election and for in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

*Cristian Raul Morales, manufacturing executive *Robert C. Newman, psychologist and candidate in the 2021 recall election *Lonnie Sortor, business owner *Anthony Trimino, entrepreneur and candidate in the 2021 recall election *Major Williams, entrepreneur and write-in candidate in the 2021 recall election *Leo S. Zacky, businessman, broadcaster, and candidate in the 2021 recall election

Declined

Larry Elder Laurence Allen Elder (born April 27, 1952) is an American conservative political commentator and talk radio host. He hosts ''The Larry Elder Show'', based in California. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio station KABC in 199 ...

, conservative talk show host, author, and candidate in the 2021 recall election *

Kevin Faulconer Kevin Lee Faulconer (born January 24, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Diego, from 2014 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Faulconer served as the member of the San Diego City Council for the 2nd dist ...

, former

mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

(2014–2020) and candidate in the 2021 recall election *

Kimberly Guilfoyle Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle ( ; born March 9, 1969) is an American television news personality and former prosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She served as an advisor and led the fundraising division of President Donald Trump's 2020 presid ...

, television personality, former advisor to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and ex-wife of

* Kevin Kiley, state assemblyman from the 6th district (2016–2022) and candidate in the 2021 recall election ''( running for CA-03)''

Green Party

Eliminated in primary

*Heather Collins, small business owner and candidate in the 2021 recall election * Luis J. Rodriguez, poet, novelist, and candidate for governor in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

American Independent Party

Eliminated in primary

*Jeff Scott ''(write-in)''

No party preference

Eliminated in primary

*Serge Fiankan, small business owner *James G. Hanink, former

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

philosophy professor and candidate in the 2021 recall election *Woodrow Sanders III, entrepreneur and engineer *Frederic C. Schultz, attorney *Reinette Senum, former mayor of Nevada City *

Michael Shellenberger Michael D. Shellenberger (born June 16, 1971) is an American author and journalist. He is the first endowed professor at the University of Austin, serving as CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship, and Free Speech. Considered a prominent heterodox t ...

, environmental policy writer and Democratic candidate for governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

*Bradley Zink, children's book author

Withdrew

* Adriel Hampton, digital media businessman and candidate for in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Endorsements

Primary election

The list of candidates was announced on Mar 31, 2022 by the secretary of state.

Polling

Results

General election

Predictions

Debates

Governor Gavin Newsom and State Senator Brian Dahle met on October 23 for their only debate.

Polling

Aggregate polls
Graphical summary
Gavin Newsom vs. Kevin Faulconer
Gavin Newsom vs. John Cox
Gavin Newsom vs. Larry Elder
Gavin Newsom vs. Kevin Kiley

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

(largest municipality: Clearlake) *

(largest municipality:

) *

(largest municipality:

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

) *

(largest municipality:

) * San Joaquin (largest municipality: Stockton)

By congressional district

Newsom won 38 of 52 congressional districts, with the remaining 14 going to Dahle, including two that elected Democrats.

By city

Notes

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Brian Dahle (R) for Governor

Gavin Newsom (D) for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022 California gubernatorial election California gubernatorial elections

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 ...

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 ...

Gavin Newsom

Candidates

Democratic Party

Advanced to general

Eliminated in primary

Republican Party

Advanced to general

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Green Party

Eliminated in primary

American Independent Party

Eliminated in primary

No party preference

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Endorsements

Primary election

Polling

Results

General election

Predictions

Debates

Polling

Results

By county

By congressional district

By city

Notes

See also

References

External links