Governor elections in California
● In officeGavin NewsomDemocratic
Elections won
R 25 · D 21 · Other 349 gubernatorial elections since 1849
Last decided by
18.4 pts2022, Gavin Newsom over Brian Dahle
Closest ever
0.33 pts1886, Washington Bartlett over John Franklin Swift
Longest streak
5 in a rowRepublican, 1918–1934
Next election
2026Tuesday, November 3, 2026
California's governor is Democrat Gavin Newsom; Newsom won the most recent race by 18.4 points in 2022. Newsom has held the office since 2018. The 2022 race put Newsom ahead of Brian Dahle, 18.4 points clear. Across 49 elections since 1849, Republicans have won 25 and Democrats 21, with 3 going to other parties. Of those, the closest was 1886, decided by 0.33 points; the widest 1946, by 84.6 points.
Gavin Newsom D 6,470,104 · Brian Dahle R 4,462,914
Gavin Newsom D 7,721,410 · John H. Cox R 4,742,825
Jerry Brown D 4,388,368 · Neel Kashkari R 2,929,213
Jerry Brown D 5,428,149 · Meg Whitman R 4,127,391
Arnold Schwarzenegger R 4,850,157 · Phil Angelides D 3,376,732
Gray Davis D 4,860,702 · Dan Lungren R 3,218,030
Pete Wilson R 4,781,766 · Kathleen Brown D 3,519,799
Pete Wilson R 3,791,904 · Dianne Feinstein D 3,525,197
George Deukmejian R 4,505,601 · Tom Bradley D 2,781,714
George Deukmejian R 3,881,014 · Tom Bradley D 3,787,669
Jerry Brown D 3,131,648 · Houston Flournoy R 2,952,954
Ronald Reagan R 3,439,174 · Jesse Unruh D 2,938,607
Ronald Reagan R 3,742,913 · Pat Brown D 2,749,174
Pat Brown D 3,037,109 · Richard Nixon R 2,740,351
Pat Brown D 3,140,076 · William Knowland R 2,110,911
Goodwin Knight R 2,290,519 · Richard Graves D 1,739,368
Earl Warren R 2,461,754 · James Roosevelt D 1,333,856
Earl Warren R 2,344,542 · Henry R. Schmidt P 180,579
Earl Warren R 1,275,287 · Culbert Olson D 932,995
Culbert Olson D 1,391,734 · Frank Merriam R 1,171,019
James Rolph R 999,393 · Milton K. Young D 333,973
C. C. Young R 814,815 · Justus S. Wardell D 282,451
Friend William Richardson R 576,445 · Thomas Lee Woolwine D 347,530
William Stephens R 387,547 · Theodore Arlington Bell I 251,189
Hiram Johnson P 460,495 · John D. Fredericks R 271,990
James Gillett R 125,887 · Theodore Arlington Bell D 117,645
George Pardee R 146,332 · Franklin Knight Lane D 143,783
Henry Gage R 148,354 · James G Maguire D 129,261
Henry Markham R 125,129 · Edward B. Pond D 117,184
George Stoneman D 90,694 · Morris M. Estee R 67,175
Newton Booth R 61,819 · Henry Huntly Haight D 56,800
Henry Huntly Haight D 49,905 · George Congdon Gorham N 40,359
Frederick Low N 64,283 · John G. Downey D 44,622
J. Neely Johnson K 51,157 · John Bigler D 46,220
John Bigler D 38,940 · William Waldo W 37,454
John Bigler D 23,175 · Pierson B. Reading W 22,735
Peter Hardeman Burnett D 6,783 · Winfield S. Sherwood D 3,220