The 2010 California gubernatorial election was held November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of California. The primary elections were held on June 8, 2010. Because constitutional office holders in California have been prohibited from serving more than two terms in the same office since November 6, 1990, incumbent Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits. Former Governor Jerry Brown, who served as the 34th governor of California from 1975 to 1983, to whom the term limits did not apply due to a grandfather clause, defeated Meg Whitman in the general election and was sworn into office on January 3, 2011. As of 2026, this remains the most recent time the governor's office in California has changed partisan control.
Primary election
Republican Party
Candidates
- Bill Chambers, railroad switchman
- Douglas Hughes, retired business owner
- Ken Miller, former broadcast manager
- Steven Mozena (write-in candidate)
- Lawrence Naritelli, accountant and controller
- Robert Newman, psychologist and farmer
- Steve Poizner, businessman and then-California Insurance Commissioner
- David Tully-Smith, primary care physician
- Meg Whitman, businesswoman, former CEO of eBay
Democratic party
Candidates
- Richard Aguirre, businessman
- Jerry Brown, incumbent California Attorney General and former Governor of California
- Lowell Darling, independent artist
- Vibert Greene, mechanical engineer and CEO
- Charles Pineda, parole board judge
- Peter Schurman, non-profit organization consultant who dropped out of the race
- Nadia Smalley (write-in candidate)
- Joe Symmon, president of a non-profit organization
- John Garamendi, incumbent California Lieutenant Governor and former California Insurance Commissioner (ran for U.S. Congress)
- Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco (ran for Lieutenant Governor)
- Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator
- Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles
American Independent primary
Candidates
- Chelene Nightingale, business owner
- Markham Robinson, owner of a software firm
Libertarian primary
Candidates
- Jordan Llamas, Doctor of Psychology and Political Science
- Dale Ogden, business consultant and actuary
Green primary
Candidates
- S. Deacon Alexander, student
- Laura Wells, financial systems consultant
Peace and Freedom primary
Candidates
- Stewart Alexander, political consultant and former vice presidential candidate for Socialist Party USA
- Carlos Alvarez, retail worker
- Mohammad Arif, businessman
General election
Campaign
Both Whitman and Brown were criticized for negative campaigning during the election. During their final debate at the 2010 Women's Conference a week before the election, moderator Matt Lauer asked both candidates to pull attack ads for the rest of the election, which elicited loud cheers from the audience. Brown agreed and picked one ad each of his and Whitman's that he thought, if Whitman would agree, should be the only ones run, but Whitman, who had been loudly cheered earlier as the prospective first woman governor of the state, was booed when she stated that she would keep "the ads that talk about where Gov. Brown stands on the issues."
The Los Angeles Times reported that nearly $250 million was spent on the Governor's race. At least two spending records were broken during the campaign. Whitman broke personal spending records by spending $140 million of her own money on the campaign, and independent expenditures exceeded $31.7 million, with almost $25 million of that spent in support of Brown.
In an interview with CNN, the reporter opined that Whitman was hurt most during the campaign by a matter involving Nicky Diaz, her former Mexican maid, whom Whitman fired after Diaz asked for help as she was an illegal immigrant.
As of 2024, this is the last time the American Independent Party ran in a California gubernatorial election.
Candidates' stances on issues
Jobs:
Meg Whitman
1. Eliminate small business start-up tax ($800 fee for new business start-ups)
2. Eliminate factory tax
3. Increase R&D tax credit (increase from 15% to 20%)
4. Promote investments in agriculture
5. Eliminate the state tax on capital gains
Jerry Brown
1. Stimulate clean energy jobs (build 12,000MW of localized electricity generation; build 8,000MW of large-scale renewables; appoint a Clean Energy Czar)
2. Invest in infrastructure/construction jobs (federal dollars for projects; prioritize water needs; high-speed rail; strengthen the port system; prioritize use of existing funds for job creation; infill development
3. Create strike team to focus on job retention
4. Cut regulations (speed up regulatory processes and eliminate duplicative functions; develop CEQA guidelines; fully utilize administrative law; update outdated technology systems
5. Increase manufacturing jobs
6. Deliver targeted workforce training programs
7. Invest in education
Education:
Meg Whitman
1. Direct more money to classroom
2. Reward outstanding teachers
3. Eliminate cap on charter schools
4. Grade public schools A-F
5. Establish fast-track parent process for charter school conversions
6. Invest $1 billion in UC and CSU University systems
7. Utilize alternative paths to the classroom to attract high quality teachers
Jerry Brown
1. Higher education (create new state master plan; focus on community colleges and transfer credits)
2. Overhaul state testing program
3. Change school funding formulas and consolidate the 62 existing categorical programs
4. Teacher recruitment and training
5. Simplify the Education Code and return more decision-making to local school districts
6. A more balanced and creative school curriculum (science, history, and humanities; experiment with online, etc.)
7. Place special emphasis on teaching science, technology, engineering, and math
8. Increase proficiency in English
9. Improve high school graduation rates
10. Charter schools
11. Magnet or theme schools
12. Citizenship and character
Polling
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Results
By county
- Alpine (largest municipality: Markleeville)
- Contra Costa (largest municipality: Concord)
- Del Norte (largest municipality: Crescent City)
- Humboldt (largest municipality: Eureka)
- Imperial (largest municipality: El Centro)
- Lake (largest municipality: Clearlake)
- Mendocino (largest municipality: Ukiah)
- Monterey (largest municipality: Salinas)
- Napa (largest municipality: Napa)
- Sacramento (largest municipality: Sacramento)
- San Benito (largest municipality: Hollister)
- San Joaquin (largest city: Stockton)
- Santa Barbara (largest municipality: Santa Barbara)
- Santa Clara (largest municipality: San Jose)
- Solano (largest municipality: Vallejo)
- Sonoma (largest municipality: Santa Rosa)
- Yolo (largest municipality: Davis)
By congressional district
Brown won 34 of 53 congressional districts, with the remaining 19 going to Whitman. Each candidate won a district that elected a representative of the other party.