The 1879 California gubernatorial election was held on September 3, 1879, to elect the governor of California. George Clement Perkins won a plurality of votes, marking the fourth consecutive election in which the incumbent governor's party was defeated. Earlier that year, on May 7, 1879, voters in California approved a new constitution which, effective in 1880, moved the dates of elections to even-numbered years to coincide with elections for federal offices. Thus, the next election for governor would be held on November 7, 1882. As such, Perkins' term as governor would last only three years.
Results
Results by county County George C. PerkinsRepublican Hugh J. GlennDemocratic William F. WhiteWorkingmen's A. C. ClarkProhibition ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda5,17953.91%1,41814.76%3,00731.30%30.03%00.00%2,17222.61%9,607Alpine11162.01%5932.96%95.03%00.00%00.00%5229.05%179Amador1,03341.42%1,13645.55%32513.03%00.00%00.00%-103-4.13%2,494Butte1,71550.06%1,47743.11%2336.80%10.03%00.00%2386.95%3,426Calaveras77035.78%74834.76%63429.46%00.00%00.00%221.02%2,152Colusa65929.06%1,50666.40%1024.50%10.04%00.00%-847-37.35%2,268Contra Costa91944.76%57628.06%55827.18%00.00%00.00%34316.71%2,053Del Norte26948.47%10218.38%18433.15%00.00%00.00%8515.32%555El Dorado1,16343.22%1,12641.84%40214.94%00.00%00.00%371.37%2,691Fresno28521.11%95170.44%1148.44%00.00%00.00%-666-49.33%1,350Humboldt1,31743.77%36512.13%1,32744.10%00.00%00.00%-10-0.33%3,009Inyo25244.52%29552.12%193.36%00.00%00.00%-43-7.60%566Kern32828.20%77766.81%584.99%00.00%00.00%-449-38.61%1,163Lake34025.93%78960.18%18213.88%00.00%00.00%-449-34.25%1,311Lassen28739.10%42457.77%212.86%10.14%10.14%-137-18.66%734Los Angeles1,93028.42%2,74340.40%2,09330.82%240.35%00.00%-650-9.57%6,790Marin65848.13%32223.56%38728.31%00.00%00.00%27119.82%1,367Mariposa31731.14%61560.41%868.45%00.00%00.00%-298-29.27%1,018Mendocino75232.30%1,39860.05%1767.56%20.09%00.00%-646-27.75%2,328Merced34331.79%57353.10%16215.01%10.09%00.00%-230-21.32%1,079Modoc27232.11%56566.71%60.71%40.47%00.00%-293-34.59%847Mono78647.01%49429.55%39123.39%10.06%00.00%29217.46%1,672Monterey83935.61%75031.83%76732.56%00.00%00.00%723.06%2,356Napa96041.27%83335.81%52922.74%40.17%00.00%1275.46%2,326Nevada1,75543.06%82420.22%1,49636.70%10.02%00.00%2596.35%4,076Placer1,21343.32%75927.11%82829.57%00.00%00.00%38513.75%2,800Plumas70253.79%50038.31%1007.66%30.23%00.00%20215.48%1,305Sacramento3,50555.65%1,37021.75%1,42222.58%10.02%00.00%2,08333.07%6,298San Benito22720.71%62156.66%24722.54%00.00%10.09%-374-34.12%1,096San Bernardino50933.31%63641.62%38325.07%00.00%00.00%-127-8.31%1,528San Diego62744.37%67847.98%1087.64%00.00%00.00%-51-3.61%1,413San Francisco18,94445.71%3,9009.41%15,59344.86%70.02%00.00%3510.85%41,444San Joaquin2,07845.83%1,83840.54%60913.43%90.20%00.00%2405.29%4,534San Luis Obispo63132.44%64633.21%66534.19%30.15%00.00%-19-0.98%1,945San Mateo64740.62%42426.62%52232.77%00.00%00.00%1257.85%1,593Santa Barbara75537.01%68933.77%58628.73%100.49%00.00%663.24%2,040Santa Clara2,70344.90%1,32922.08%1,98833.02%00.00%00.00%71511.88%6,020Santa Cruz90136.76%80032.64%75030.60%00.00%00.00%1014.12%2,451Shasta57635.47%80849.75%24014.78%00.00%00.00%-232-14.29%1,624Sierra82654.70%45730.26%22514.90%20.13%00.00%36924.44%1,510Siskiyou66639.20%91753.97%1166.83%00.00%00.00%-251-14.77%1,699Solano1,62543.86%91824.78%1,16231.36%00.00%00.00%46312.50%3,705Sonoma1,61133.77%2,52352.88%62013.00%170.36%00.00%-912-19.12%4,771Stanislaus59335.64%99459.74%744.45%30.18%00.00%-401-24.10%1,664Sutter67052.92%47037.12%1219.56%50.39%00.00%20015.80%1,266Tehama51734.63%86457.87%1127.50%00.00%00.00%-347-23.24%1,493Trinity43047.62%30734.00%15216.83%141.55%00.00%12313.62%903Tulare61129.70%1,25961.21%1869.04%10.05%00.00%-648-31.50%2,057Tuolumne73842.98%57933.72%40023.30%00.00%00.00%1599.26%1,717Ventura32126.62%73761.11%14812.27%00.00%00.00%-416-34.49%1,206Yolo1,02740.71%1,16446.14%33213.16%00.00%00.00%-137-5.43%2,523Yuba1,07348.93%59427.09%52523.94%10.05%00.00%47921.84%2,193Total67,96542.42%47,64729.74%44,48227.76%1190.07%20.00%20,31812.68%160,215
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Alameda Butte Calaveras Del Norte El Dorado Marin Monterey Napa Nevada Plumas Sacramento San Francisco Santa Barbara Santa Clara Santa Cruz Solano Sutter Trinity Tuolumne Yuba
Counties that flipped from Independent to Republican Alpine Mono Sierra
Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic Lassen
Counties that flipped from Republican to Workingmen's Humboldt
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Workingmen's San Luis Obispo
Notes
References