The 1910 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1910. Incumbent Republican governor James Gillett opted not to seek re-election to a second term in office. Hiram Johnson defeated Theodore Arlington Bell and J. Stitt Wilson to win the open race.
Primary elections were held on August 16. Johnson won the Republican nomination over three conservative opponents. Bell won the Democratic nomination for a second consecutive race over Thomas J. Geary.
Johnson won the election with 45.9 percent of the popular vote. This was the first gubernatorial election in which Fresno, Modoc, San Benito, Stanislaus, and Tulare counties voted for a Republican candidate. These Republican gains foreshadowed the party's future dominance of California elections, which would persist through 1954 with only one interruption.
Background
Incumbent governor James Gillett was elected on the Republican ticket in 1906. Gillett's nomination at the party convention was controversial, and during the general election campaign he was consistently accused of being in the pocket of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Despite this, he had been successful as governor, leading in the creation of the state's highway system and developing parole guidelines. However, he was suffering financially and decided not to seek a second term. He instead opted to pursue private legal practice.
His intentions were made clear on January 30, when he announced through a published letter to the California Republican Party that he would not seek the nomination because, "It is for the best interest of myself and family that I should again resume the practice of my profession, and I can not well afford to continue in the office of governor for another, period of four years."
This was the first election held following the adoption of new primary election laws, which established closed primaries for both major parties.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Alden Anderson, former lieutenant governor and Speaker of the California State Assembly
- Charles F. Curry, Secretary of State of California since 1899
- Nathaniel Ellery
- Hiram Johnson, San Francisco attorney and reform activist
- Phillip A. Stanton, speaker of the California State Assembly
Withdrew
- Charles M. Belshaw, former assemblyman from Contra Costa County (endorsed Johnson)
- Frank K. Mott, mayor of Oakland (endorsed Johnson)
Declined
- William Rude Davis, former mayor of Oakland
- James Gillett, incumbent governor since 1907 (declined January 30, 1910)
- Francis J. Heney, prosecutor in the San Francisco graft trials
- Chester Rowell, mayor of Fresno
Campaign
After Gillett's announcement, there were multiple candidates contending for the Republican nomination. The most prominent was Charles F. Curry, the secretary of state for California and early favorite. Curry was so confident of victory that he predicted he would be the next governor on the same day that Gillett's announcement was made. Oakland mayor Frank K. Mott and Francis J. Heney, who had led the San Francisco graft prosecutions of 1906–08, considered runs. Hiram Johnson, Chester Rowell, and William R. Davis all announced that they were not seeking the nomination.
Lincoln–Roosevelt League endorsement
The Lincoln–Roosevelt League, a faction representing progressive elements of the Republican Party, struggled to find a candidate. The league initially tried to draft Hiram Johnson, but he rejected their support, and the League split between supporters of Charles M. Belshaw or former Oakland mayor William Rude Davis. In early February, it was reported that the League was instead split between Belshaw and Davis's successor, Frank K. Mott.
On February 20, Hiram Johnson announced that he would run under the banner of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League. He stated,
"It seems to be my turn to make the sacrifice and I am going to make it. For two months, the utmost pressure has been brought to bear upon me. I had steadfastly refused to become a candidate, but it was placed before me in such a fashion that I was forced to fail in my duty or accept. So I am going ahead, making the fight as a progressive Republican on the Roosevelt lines. I am going to make this fight an endeavor to return the government of California to the people and take it away from the political bureau of the Southern Pacific railway company. If nothing else can be accomplished, we can teach the people the lesson talked by our last president and that is being talked today to the people of the United States by [Wisconsin senator Robert] La Follette."
Shortly after Johnson's announcement, former governor George Pardee endorsed him.
Johnson campaign against conservatives
Having secured the support of the progressive faction, Johnson faced three leading opponents (Curry, Alden Anderson, and Phillip A. Stanton) from the conservative wing of the party.
One major obstacle to the Johnson campaign was the state's new primary law; although popular primaries were a progressive reform, the closed nature of the party primary required voters to register with a party in order to cast a ballot. Johnson supporters worked to convince independents to register as Republicans in order to cast a ballot for him.
Johnson began making plans for a tour of California in late February, intending to visit every part of the state. He launched his campaign in Southern California, where he visited Long Beach, inspected Los Angeles Harbor and hosted an informal Los Angeles reception. Albert Joseph Wallace, the former chair of the Los Angeles City Council committee on finance, was chosen as Johnson's running mate.
On March 20, the Asiatic Exclusion League hosted a candidate forum on the "Japanese question." Curry strongly declared his support, while Anderson and Johnson declined the invitation with regrets.
The conservative faction of the Republican Party was not popular, and the League campaigned on a challenge to the status quo. Johnson's barnstorming tour pulled in huge crowds across the state, while his opponents struggled to consolidate the conservative vote and gain momentum. Johnson received support from some Hispanic Americans and was endorsed by Alfonso E. Garcia, president of the Hispano-American Republican League.
By the time of the primary election, newspapers across the state considered Johnson the likely nominee.
Results
Johnson won the nomination.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Theodore Arlington Bell, former U.S. representative from St. Helena and nominee in 1906
- Thomas J. Geary, former U.S. representative from Santa Rosa
- John B. Sanford, state senator from Ukiah
The three main candidates for the Democratic nomination were former runner up and congressman Theodore Arlington Bell, former congressman Thomas J. Geary, and State Senator John B. Sanford.
On March 10, Theodore Bell announced his candidacy for governor in San Francisco. Bell ran on an anti-railroad platform. On May 28, he visited the town of Hanford, California, where he was interviewed by a reporter. In the interview he blamed the Independence Party and William Langdon for splitting the Democratic vote in his loss of the 1906 California gubernatorial election. He also stated he did not believe that anyone would seriously challenge him for the Democratic nomination. Bell was proven correct when it was reported that the California Democratic Committee was not seeing any contests for the major state nominations.
During the primary, Bell was the only candidate who attended the Asiatic Exclusion League candidate forum on March 30 without expressing his support for immigration exclusion.
Results
Bell won the primary, and Timothy Spellacy was nominated for lieutenant governor.
General election
Candidates
- Theodore Arlington Bell, former U.S. representative from St. Helena and nominee in 1906 (Democratic)
- Hiram Johnson, San Francisco attorney and reform activist (Republican)
- Simone P. Meads, Oakland schoolteacher and author (Prohibition)
- J. Stitt Wilson, Christian socialist activist and orator (Socialist)
Simone P. Meads of the Prohibition Party ran on a platform supporting the public ownership of utilities, women's suffrage, and the implementation of referendum, reform, and recall ballot measures.
Campaign
After both the August 16 primaries, Bell and Johnson emerged as the top two choices for the governorship. Both candidates agreed on the primary issue in the campaign, which was opposition to the Southern Pacific railroad corporation and its influence on politics. Johnson's victory undermined Bell's message, which had been aimed at the incumbent Gillett administration and Johnson's primary opponents. Newspapers across California favored Johnson.
Bell and Johnson were challenged by Christian socialist J. Stitt Wilson, who travelled the state in a red automobile nicknamed the "Red Special", a direct reference to the train that party leader Eugene V. Debs had traveled on during the 1908 presidential election. Wilson ran a vigorous campaign relying on his reputation for oratory, and he challenged the other candidates to debate. Debs also visited the state and campaigned for Wilson over two weeks.
Both candidates also agreed on the prevention of Japanese and Chinese immigration. During the primaries, Johnson had declined a request to attend a candidate forum hosted by the Asiatic Exclusion League, expressing regret over his absence. Bell had been the lone candidate in either party to attend but decline to declare his support for the League. Bell made his position clear on the topic during a speech in Watsonville, stating that he wanted to "prevent the invasion of the yellow, brown and Hindu hordes." Bell continued,
"I shall also stand for a state law to prevent Asiatics from gaining ownership of land in this state and, thirdly, I propose to make it impossible for Asiatics to sit in the same schools with your child and my child. I don't care whether it loses me a vote or not, but I'm against the whole bunch of them. I want to see this country for white men and populated by people willing to go out and fight for our flag."
Johnson later proposed and signed the California Alien Land Law of 1913, introducing such restrictions on foreign ownership of California land into law.
Towards the end of the campaign, Bell and Johnson attacked each other for their respective prior relationships with the Southern Pacific and other corporate entities. Days before the election, Johnson supporters alleged that the Southern Pacific had ordered employees to vote for Bell, supporting their claim that Bell would be lenient on the railroad and its allies.
In the final days of the campaign, newspapers predicted that Hiram Johnson would win the election.
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Butte
- Fresno
- Lassen
- Modoc
- Nevada
- Plumas
- San Benito
- San Joaquin
- Luis Obispo
- Santa Cruz
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Stanislaus
- Sutter
- Tulare
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Counties that flipped from Independence to Democratic