The 1982 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1982. The Republican nominee, Attorney General George Deukmejian, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Incumbent Governor Jerry Brown did not seek reelection to a third consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 2010 and 2014.
This election was notable for Deukmejian's upset victory against Bradley, who had led the polls during the campaign. The incorrect polling therefore led to the theory called the "Bradley effect".
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 and Deukmejian's home area of Long Beach) helped tip the balance in his favor. The incorrect polling numbers led to the theory — later dubbed "the Bradley effect" — that a statistically significant number of voters had given inaccurate responses when questioned by pollsters.
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Alpine
- Amador
- Butte
- Calaveras
- Contra Costa
- El Dorado
- Fresno
- Kern
- Kings
- Lake
- Lassen
- Madera
- Marin
- Mariposa
- Merced
- Napa
- Nevada
- Orange
- Placer
- Plumas
- Riverside
- Sacramento
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- San Joaquin
- San Luis Obispo
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Siskiyou
- Solano
- Stanislaus
- Tehama
- Trinity
- Tuolumne
- Ventura
- Yuba