The 1958 California gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 4. Incumbent governor Goodwin Knight initially ran for re-election to a third term, but eventually withdrew and ran for election to the Senate. Incumbent senator William Knowland switched places with Knight to run for governor, but was defeated in a landslide by Democratic Attorney General Pat Brown, who won the first of his two terms as governor of California.
Knowland's decision to run for governor came in spite of strong opposition from Knight, who had wanted to run for re-election rather than for the Senate. Knowland's use of heavy-handed tactics to force Knight from the race, along with labor mobilization against Proposition 18, was a major factor in the Democratic landslide in California in 1958.
Primary elections
Primary elections were held on June 3, 1958.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, incumbent Attorney General of California
- Donald Donaldson
- William F. Knowland, incumbent U.S. Senator (cross-filing)
Republican primary
Candidates
- Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, incumbent Attorney General of California (cross-filing)
- William F. Knowland, incumbent U.S. Senator
General election results
California was considered a Republican stronghold in the post-World War II era, electing Republican governors Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight, as well as senators Richard Nixon, Knowland, and Thomas Kuchel. Knowland was a prestigious two-term Senator who had served as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader. His seat was considered safe going into the 1958 midterm elections, but he stunned everyone when he announced his intention to run for governor instead of re-election to the Senate. This was especially surprising because California had a relatively popular Republican governor in Goodwin Knight who was also expected to be re-elected. Knowland coerced Knight into a "backroom deal" in which Knowland and Knight would "trade places", with Knight running for Knowland's Senate seat. Knight really had no desire to be Senator and in later years lamented how Knowland "strongarmed" him into the switch. Knowland thought being governor would enhance his chances of challenging another Californian, Richard Nixon, for the 1960 Republican presidential nomination. For their part, the Democrats nominated popular state Attorney General Pat Brown, who was the only Democrat that held a statewide office in a Republican leaning state. As it turned out, the Knowland-Knight switch was not popular with California voters. Brown steadily gained in the polls and defeated Knowland for governor, and Knight lost to Congressman Clair Engle in the Senate race.
Results by county
Brown's landslide victory ended many streaks of Republican dominance in various counties throughout the state. Brown was the first Democrat to ever win Imperial County and Riverside County in a gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, this was the first election since 1859 in which Humboldt County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1882 in which Marin County and San Mateo County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1902 in which Monterey County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1906 in which Nevada County, San Benito County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Cruz County, and Sutter County voted for a Democratic candidate; and the first since 1910 in which Calaveras County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lake County, Mendocino County, Napa County, Sonoma County, Tehama County voted for a Democratic candidate. Brown also won the largest share for a Democrat in Alpine County since 1882 and in Orange County since the latter's establishment in 1889. Those two counties, along with Mono County and Santa Barbara County were the most historically reliably Republican counties that Brown failed to flip.
Conversely, as of 2024, this election is also the last time that a Democrat has carried Glenn County, Inyo County, Sutter County, and Tulare County. Moreover, a Democratic candidate has only carried Butte County, Calaveras County, and Mariposa County in one election since 1958.
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Butte
- Calaveras
- Colusa
- Contra Costa
- Del Norte
- El Dorado
- Glenn
- Humboldt
- Imperial
- Inyo
- Kern
- Lake
- Los Angeles
- Marin
- Mariposa
- Mendocino
- Modoc
- Monterey
- Napa
- Nevada
- Riverside
- San Benito
- San Bernardino
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Joaquin
- San Luis Obispo
- San Mateo
- Santa Clara
- Santa Cruz
- Siskiyou
- Sonoma
- Stanislaus
- Sutter
- Tehama
- Tulare
- Ventura
Statistics
- Compiled by Frank M. Jordan, Secretary of State. State of California. Statement of Vote. Direct Primary Election June 3, 1958.
- Compiled by Frank M. Jordan, Secretary of State. State of California. Statement of Vote. General Election November 4, 1958.
- Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.