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1918 California gubernatorial election

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Field	Value
election_name	1918 California gubernatorial election
country	California
type	presidential
ongoing	no
flag_image	Flag of California (1911–1924).pngborder
previous_election	1914 California gubernatorial election
previous_year	1914
next_election	1922 California gubernatorial election
next_year	1922
election_date	November 5, 1918
image1	William Dennison Stephens (1859–1944) portrait circa 1917 (cropped).jpg
nominee1	William Stephens
party1	Republican Party (United States)
alliance1	Prohibition
Progressive
popular_vote1	387,547
percentage1	56.27%
image2	Theodore A. Bell LCCN2014693255 (cropped 2).jpg
nominee2	Theodore Arlington Bell
party2	Independent (United States)
popular_vote2	251,189
percentage2	36.47%
map_image	1918 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
map_size	x250px
map_caption	County results
Stephens:
Bell:
title	Governor
before_election	William Stephens
before_party	Republican Party (United States)
after_election	William Stephens
after_party	Republican Party (United States)

Progressive

Stephens:
Bell:
The 1918 California gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1918. Incumbent governor William Stephens was re-elected over independent Theodore Arlington Bell. The 1918 election is notable for its invocation of the Hawson amendment, a law designed to prevent a candidate from winning the nomination of another party via cross-filing; after Republican mayor of San Francisco James Rolph won the Democratic primary, the Democratic Party was left without a nominee.

In the Republican primary, Stephens defeated Rolph by approximately 23,000 votes. He also won the Prohibition and Progressive primaries. Rolph won the Democratic primary by 14,000 votes over famed prosecutors Francis J. Heney and Thomas L. Woolwine and received the most combined votes of any candidate across all primaries. However, under the Hawson amendment passed the year prior, Rolph was unable to accept the Democratic nomination because he had not won his own party's nomination. As a result, the Democratic Party was left without a nominee in the general election.

In the general election, Stephens defeated Theodore Arlington Bell, who had been the Democratic nominee in 1908 and 1910 and entered the race after the primary as their de facto candidate, by over 130,000 votes. Stephens was the first governor elected with an absolute majority of the vote since Henry Gage in 1898 and won the highest share of the vote since Frederick Low in 1863.

Primary election

San Francisco mayor James Rolph, a Republican, cross-filed in both the Republican and Democratic primaries, won the Democratic primary, and received the most overall votes of any candidate in the primary election across all parties. However, because he failed to win his own party's nomination, he was barred from receiving the Democratic nomination thanks to the 1917 Hawson amendment to California electoral law, leaving the Democratic Party without a candidate. Incumbent Republican governor William Stephens won the Republican, Prohibition, and Progressive nominations. The only other primary candidate to advance to the general election was Socialist Henry H. Roser, running unopposed.

After the Democrats were left without a nominee, Theodore Arlington Bell, who had been the Democratic nominee for governor in 1906 and 1910, entered the race as an independent. His second-place finish in the general election indicated that Democrats regarded him as their de facto candidate.

General election results

Results by county

County	William D. Stephens
Republican	Theodore A. Bell
Independent	Henry H. Roser
Socialist	James Rolph
Write-in	Scattering
Write-in	Margin	Total votes cast	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total	387,547	56.27%	251,189	36.47%	29,003	4.21%	20,605	2.99%	326	0.05%	136,358	19.80%	688,670
	Alameda		42,276		56.72%		27,332		36.67%		4,288		5.75%		619		0.83%		18		0.02%		14,944		20.05%		74,533
	Alpine		56		82.35%		9		13.24%		3		4.41%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		47		69.12%		68
	Amador		933		46.39%		887		44.11%		45		2.24%		146		7.26%		0		0.00%		46		2.29%		2,011
	Butte		3,637		55.01%		1,496		22.63%		236		3.57%		1,235		18.68%		7		0.11%		2,141		32.39%		6,611
	Calaveras		905		55.52%		650		39.88%		56		3.44%		0		0.00%		19		1.17%		255		15.64%		1,630
	Colusa		1,200		54.05%		722		32.52%		51		2.30%		247		11.13%		0		0.00%		478		21.53%		2,220
	Contra Costa		4,539		50.69%		3,778		42.19%		534		5.96%		103		1.15%		0		0.00%		761		8.50%		8,954
	Del Norte		585		64.36%		268		29.48%		52		5.72%		0		0.00%		4		0.44%		317		34.87%		909
	El Dorado		950		41.36%		681		29.65%		75		3.27%		591		25.73%		0		0.00%		269		11.71%		2,297
	Fresno		15,607		66.99%		6,679		28.67%		944		4.05%		67		0.29%		0		0.00%		8,928		38.32%		23,297
	Glenn		1,685		59.06%		757		26.53%		77		2.70%		331		11.60%		3		0.11%		928		32.53%		2,853
	Humboldt		5,974		65.25%		2,317		25.31%		467		5.10%		389		4.25%		9		0.10%		3,657		39.94%		9,156
	Imperial		2,748		68.61%		1,066		26.62%		188		4.69%		0		0.00%		3		0.07%		1,682		42.00%		4,005
	Inyo		744		64.64%		315		27.37%		88		7.65%		0		0.00%		4		0.35%		429		37.27%		1,151
	Kern		5,894		52.58%		4,897		43.68%		413		3.68%		0		0.00%		6		0.05%		997		8.89%		11,210
	Kings		3,286		67.93%		1,375		28.43%		162		3.35%		13		0.27%		1		0.02%		1,911		39.51%		4,837
	Lake		1,032		58.80%		619		35.27%		87		4.96%		0		0.00%		17		0.97%		413		23.53%		1,755
	Lassen		1,068		56.18%		444		23.36%		82		4.31%		307		16.15%		0		0.00%		624		32.82%		1,901
	Los Angeles		106,198		63.78%		54,031		32.45%		6,094		3.66%		63		0.04%		121		0.07%		52,167		31.33%		166,507
	Madera		1,763		60.50%		994		34.11%		138		4.74%		17		0.58%		2		0.07%		769		26.39%		2,914
	Marin		2,811		46.59%		2,961		49.08%		261		4.33%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		-150		-2.49%		6,033
	Mariposa		605		54.65%		439		39.66%		58		5.24%		5		0.45%		0		0.00%		166		15.00%		1,107
	Mendocino		2,780		52.17%		2,281		42.80%		268		5.03%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		499		9.36%		5,329
	Merced		2,751		63.62%		1,337		30.92%		208		4.81%		28		0.65%		0		0.00%		1,414		32.70%		4,324
	Modoc		930		60.74%		428		27.96%		54		3.53%		115		7.51%		4		0.26%		502		32.79%		1,531
	Mono		114		56.44%		67		33.17%		20		9.90%		1		0.50%		0		0.00%		47		23.27%		202
	Monterey		3,739		62.97%		1,954		32.91%		188		3.17%		57		0.96%		0		0.00%		1,785		30.06%		5,938
	Napa		1,805		32.31%		3,511		62.84%		165		2.95%		106		1.90%		0		0.00%		-1,706		-30.54%		5,587
	Nevada		1,899		52.23%		875		24.06%		135		3.71%		727		19.99%		0		0.00%		1,024		28.16%		3,636
	Orange		9,192		73.17%		2,985		23.76%		384		3.06%		0		0.00%		2		0.02%		6,207		49.41%		12,563
	Placer		1,978		44.23%		937		20.95%		121		2.71%		1,436		32.11%		0		0.00%		542		12.12%		4,472
	Plumas		540		51.28%		251		23.84%		50		4.75%		212		20.13%		0		0.00%		289		27.45%		1,053
	Riverside		7,181		74.71%		2,021		21.03%		410		4.27%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		5,160		53.68%		9,612
	Sacramento		9,004		43.64%		5,517		26.74%		438		2.12%		5,675		27.50%		0		0.00%		3,329		16.13%		20,634
	San Benito		1,227		56.94%		858		39.81%		55		2.55%		14		0.65%		1		0.05%		369		17.12%		2,155
	San Bernardino		9,899		69.56%		3,909		27.47%		422		2.97%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		5,990		42.09%		14,230
	San Diego		16,333		65.07%		7,618		30.35%		1,132		4.51%		12		0.05%		5		0.02%		8,715		34.72%		25,100
	San Francisco		36,099		35.96%		56,726		56.51%		5,249		5.23%		2,302		2.29%		6		0.01%		-20,627		-20.55%		100,382
	San Joaquin		9,475		57.10%		5,776		34.81%		713		4.30%		630		3.80%		0		0.00%		3,699		22.29%		16,594
	San Luis Obispo		3,128		59.21%		1,806		34.19%		349		6.61%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		1,322		25.02%		5,283
	San Mateo		3,909		47.16%		3,817		46.05%		422		5.09%		138		1.66%		3		0.04%		92		1.11%		8,289
	Santa Barbara		4,699		67.32%		1,915		27.44%		351		5.03%		0		0.00%		15		0.21%		2,784		39.89%		6,980
	Santa Clara		13,167		59.53%		8,077		36.52%		699		3.16%		155		0.70%		19		0.09%		5,090		23.01%		22,117
	Santa Cruz		4,014		61.83%		1,863		28.70%		216		3.33%		399		6.15%		0		0.00%		2,151		33.13%		6,492
	Shasta		1,949		55.35%		937		26.61%		178		5.06%		450		12.78%		7		0.20%		1,012		28.74%		3,521
	Sierra		379		54.38%		181		25.97%		22		3.16%		113		16.21%		2		0.29%		198		28.41%		697
	Siskiyou		2,196		48.49%		1,360		30.03%		216		4.77%		757		16.71%		0		0.00%		836		18.46%		4,529
	Solano		3,254		43.88%		3,497		47.15%		235		3.17%		430		5.80%		0		0.00%		-243		-3.28%		7,416
	Sonoma		5,258		41.77%		6,696		53.20%		366		2.91%		258		2.05%		9		0.07%		-1,438		-11.42%		12,587
	Stanislaus		6,459		66.92%		2,795		28.96%		346		3.58%		48		0.50%		4		0.04%		3,664		37.96%		9,652
	Sutter		1,093		50.37%		495		22.81%		56		2.58%		526		24.24%		0		0.00%		567		26.13%		2,170
	Tehama		1,963		61.73%		731		22.99%		124		3.90%		362		11.38%		0		0.00%		1,232		38.74%		3,180
	Trinity		475		52.37%		245		27.01%		60		6.62%		127		14.00%		0		0.00%		230		25.36%		907
	Tulare		8,927		71.46%		3,025		24.21%		511		4.09%		0		0.00%		30		0.24%		5,902		47.24%		12,493
	Tuolumne		1,263		56.18%		827		36.79%		157		6.98%		1		0.04%		0		0.00%		436		19.40%		2,248
	Ventura		3,243		66.59%		1,465		30.08%		157		3.22%		0		0.00%		5		0.10%		1,778		36.51%		4,870
	Yolo		1,765		47.07%		1,238		33.01%		71		1.89%		676		18.03%		0		0.00%		527		14.05%		3,750
	Yuba		964		44.06%		451		20.61%		56		2.56%		717		32.77%		0		0.00%		247		11.29%		2,188

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Independent

Marin
Napa
San Francisco
Solano
Sonoma

Notes

References

Our Campaigns

References

California Secretary of State. "Statement of Vote at Primary Election held on August 27, 1918 in the State of California". State Printing Office.
Melendy, H. Brett. (1964). "California's Cross-Filing Nightmare: The 1918 Gubernatorial Election". [[University of California Press]].
California Secretary of State. "Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 5, 1918 in the State of California". State Printing Office.

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