1990 California gubernatorial election
1990 California gubernatorial election
County resultsWilson : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Feinstein : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
The 1990 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. The Republican candidate, Senator Pete Wilson , defeated the Democratic candidate, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein .
Feinstein won the Democratic nomination against opponents including California Attorney General John Van de Kamp . Wilson faced minimal opposition in his bid for the Republican nomination.
In 1992 , Feinstein was elected to Wilson's former Senate seat and served in the Senate until her death in September 2023.
Republican primary
Candidates
Donald L. Bullock
Jeffrey T. Greene
David M. Williams
Pete Wilson , incumbent U.S. Senator and former mayor of San Diego
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
John Hancock Abbott
Eileen Anderson
Lydon Byrne
Mark Calney
Dianne Feinstein , mayor of San Francisco
Franklin Geraty
Charles A. Mahon III
Charles Pineda Jr.
Frank L. Thomas
John van de Kamp , California Attorney General
F. Frank Wong
Results
Minor party primaries
American Independent Party
Libertarian Party
Peace and Freedom Party
General election results
Candidates
Dianne Feinstein , mayor of San Francisco (Democratic)
Jerome McCready (American Independent)
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (Peace and Freedom)
Dennis Thompson (Libertarian)
Pete Wilson , U.S. Senator (Republican)
Results
Results by county
County
Pete Wilson Republican
Dianne Feinstein Democratic
Dennis Thompson Libertarian
Jerome McCready American Independent
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz Peace & Freedom
All Others Write-in
Margin
Total votes cast[2]
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alameda
117,107
31.64%
237,345
64.12%
6,261
1.69%
4,049
1.09%
5,405
1.46%
11[a]
0.00%
-120,238
-32.48%
370,178
Alpine
242
52.72%
174
37.91%
14
3.05%
16
3.49%
13
2.83%
0
0.00%
68
14.81%
459
Amador
6,469
53.99%
4,797
40.04%
261
2.18%
336
2.80%
118
0.98%
0
0.00%
1,672
13.96%
11,981
Butte
35,048
54.93%
25,422
39.85%
1,458
2.29%
1,264
1.98%
607
0.95%
2[b]
0.00%
9,626
15.09%
63,801
Calaveras
7,071
52.99%
5,422
40.63%
391
2.93%
322
2.41%
139
1.04%
0
0.00%
1,649
12.36%
13,345
Colusa
2,798
62.37%
1,455
32.43%
93
2.07%
103
2.30%
37
0.82%
0
0.00%
1,343
29.94%
4,486
Contra Costa
119,901
43.94%
144,268
52.87%
3,703
1.36%
2,759
1.01%
2,235
0.82%
17[c]
0.01%
-24,367
-8.93%
272,883
Del Norte
3,615
53.21%
2,717
39.99%
140
2.06%
219
3.22%
103
1.52%
0
0.00%
898
13.22%
6,794
El Dorado
26,452
55.81%
18,390
38.80%
780
1.65%
1,339
2.83%
432
0.91%
3[d]
0.01%
8,062
17.01%
47,396
Fresno
77,693
52.57%
63,523
42.98%
2,176
1.47%
2,772
1.88%
1,618
1.09%
0
0.00%
14,170
9.59%
147,782
Glenn
4,190
61.06%
2,182
31.80%
185
2.70%
257
3.75%
48
0.70%
0
0.00%
2,008
29.26%
6,862
Humboldt
22,943
46.81%
22,823
46.57%
951
1.94%
1,042
2.13%
1,249
2.55%
0
0.00%
120
0.24%
49,008
Imperial
9,422
52.22%
7,463
41.36%
249
1.38%
297
1.65%
613
3.40%
0
0.00%
1,959
10.86%
18,044
Inyo
4,566
62.97%
2,369
32.67%
114
1.57%
119
1.64%
83
1.14%
0
0.00%
2,197
30.30%
7,251
Kern
73,065
60.08%
41,763
34.34%
2,359
1.94%
2,857
2.35%
1,568
1.29%
1[e]
0.00%
31,302
25.74%
121,613
Kings
9,771
56.09%
6,731
38.64%
225
1.29%
393
2.26%
299
1.72%
0
0.00%
3,040
17.45%
17,419
Lake
8,344
47.11%
8,475
47.85%
436
2.46%
277
1.56%
178
1.01%
0
0.00%
-131
-0.74%
17,710
Lassen
4,790
56.23%
3,152
37.00%
180
2.11%
311
3.65%
86
1.01%
0
0.00%
1,638
19.23%
8,519
Los Angeles
867,781
46.61%
911,413
48.95%
30,157
1.62%
27,931
1.50%
24,560
1.32%
51[f]
0.00%
-43,632
-2.34%
1,861,893
Madera
11,216
56.50%
7,431
37.44%
323
1.63%
651
3.28%
229
1.15%
0
0.00%
3,785
19.07%
19,850
Marin
35,563
36.77%
57,255
59.20%
1,750
1.81%
875
0.90%
1,277
1.32%
0
0.00%
-21,692
-22.43%
96,720
Mariposa
3,336
51.88%
2,634
40.96%
146
2.27%
250
3.89%
64
1.00%
0
0.00%
702
10.92%
6,430
Mendocino
11,723
40.86%
14,515
50.60%
700
2.44%
696
2.43%
1,054
3.67%
0
0.00%
-2,792
-9.73%
28,688
Merced
17,054
50.64%
15,004
44.55%
514
1.53%
688
2.04%
419
1.24%
0
0.00%
2,050
6.09%
33,679
Modoc
2,115
57.35%
1,320
35.79%
83
2.25%
123
3.34%
47
1.27%
0
0.00%
795
21.56%
3,688
Mono
1,776
57.46%
1,124
36.36%
78
2.52%
64
2.07%
49
1.59%
0
0.00%
652
21.09%
3,091
Monterey
34,932
42.66%
42,371
51.74%
1,554
1.90%
1,810
2.21%
1,222
1.49%
4[g]
0.00%
-7,439
-9.08%
81,893
Napa
18,931
47.24%
19,017
47.45%
935
2.33%
717
1.79%
473
1.18%
2[h]
0.00%
-86
-0.21%
40,075
Nevada
18,458
54.20%
13,588
39.90%
845
2.48%
818
2.40%
349
1.02%
0
0.00%
4,870
14.30%
34,058
Orange
425,025
63.72%
208,886
31.32%
13,589
2.04%
13,156
1.97%
6,367
0.95%
7[i]
0.00%
216,139
32.40%
667,030
Placer
36,397
56.53%
24,577
38.17%
1,171
1.82%
1,593
2.47%
641
1.00%
3[j]
0.00%
11,820
18.36%
64,382
Plumas
4,243
51.87%
3,477
42.51%
176
2.15%
205
2.51%
78
0.95%
1[k]
0.01%
766
9.36%
8,180
Riverside
157,214
57.26%
102,847
37.46%
5,064
1.84%
6,809
2.48%
2,620
0.95%
1[l]
0.00%
54,367
19.80%
274,555
Sacramento
167,982
50.32%
149,215
44.70%
5,381
1.61%
7,248
2.17%
3,997
1.20%
25[m]
0.01%
18,767
5.62%
333,848
San Benito
4,120
45.23%
4,445
48.80%
185
2.03%
171
1.88%
187
2.05%
0
0.00%
-325
-3.57%
9,108
San Bernardino
169,028
55.99%
114,764
38.02%
6,612
2.19%
7,536
2.50%
3,894
1.29%
39[n]
0.01%
54,264
17.98%
301,873
San Diego
383,959
57.09%
244,759
36.39%
18,217
2.71%
16,963
2.52%
8,624
1.28%
15[o]
0.00%
139,200
20.70%
672,537
San Francisco
56,652
25.00%
161,626
71.32%
2,938
1.30%
1,456
0.64%
3,952
1.74%
3[p]
0.00%
-104,974
-46.32%
226,627
San Joaquin
62,249
54.98%
46,653
41.21%
1,488
1.31%
1,916
1.69%
904
0.80%
3[q]
0.00%
15,596
13.78%
113,213
San Luis Obispo
38,909
53.54%
30,140
41.47%
1,513
2.08%
1,208
1.66%
900
1.24%
3[r]
0.00%
8,769
12.07%
72,673
San Mateo
80,253
40.45%
109,963
55.43%
3,347
1.69%
2,537
1.28%
2,290
1.15%
6[s]
0.00%
-29,710
-14.98%
198,396
Santa Barbara
58,677
53.11%
46,977
42.52%
1,667
1.51%
1,403
1.27%
1,746
1.58%
4[t]
0.00%
11,700
10.59%
110,474
Santa Clara
178,310
42.57%
218,843
52.24%
9,987
2.38%
6,544
1.56%
5,195
1.24%
13[u]
0.00%
-40,533
-9.68%
418,892
Santa Cruz
26,797
33.11%
48,530
59.96%
2,180
2.69%
1,694
2.09%
1,739
2.15%
1[v]
0.00%
-21,733
-26.85%
80,941
Shasta
28,322
57.85%
17,795
36.35%
1,195
2.44%
1,344
2.75%
305
0.62%
0
0.00%
10,527
21.50%
48,961
Sierra
813
51.04%
671
42.12%
34
2.13%
54
3.39%
21
1.32%
0
0.00%
142
8.91%
1,593
Siskiyou
8,320
52.61%
6,346
40.13%
446
2.82%
559
3.54%
142
0.90%
0
0.00%
1,974
12.48%
15,813
Solano
36,755
42.50%
44,969
52.00%
1,753
2.03%
2,020
2.34%
970
1.12%
15[w]
0.02%
-8,214
-9.50%
86,482
Sonoma
54,706
38.60%
79,093
55.81%
2,982
2.10%
2,436
1.72%
2,505
1.77%
1[x]
0.00%
-24,387
-17.21%
141,723
Stanislaus
47,275
53.49%
37,182
42.07%
1,187
1.34%
1,980
2.24%
757
0.86%
1[y]
0.00%
10,093
11.42%
88,382
Sutter
12,647
65.45%
5,796
30.00%
318
1.65%
399
2.06%
163
0.84%
0
0.00%
6,851
35.46%
19,323
Tehama
9,415
56.94%
5,915
35.77%
621
3.76%
498
3.01%
87
0.53%
0
0.00%
3,500
21.17%
16,536
Trinity
2,908
51.73%
2,250
40.02%
208
3.70%
176
3.13%
80
1.42%
0
0.00%
658
11.70%
5,622
Tulare
41,186
62.76%
21,670
33.02%
940
1.43%
1,058
1.61%
775
1.18%
0
0.00%
19,516
29.74%
65,629
Tuolumne
10,465
52.91%
8,294
41.93%
390
1.97%
464
2.35%
167
0.84%
0
0.00%
2,171
10.98%
19,780
Ventura
106,234
57.58%
68,139
36.93%
3,962
2.15%
3,770
2.04%
2,398
1.30%
2[z]
0.00%
38,095
20.65%
184,505
Yolo
19,316
43.53%
22,890
51.59%
756
1.70%
772
1.74%
638
1.44%
1[aa]
0.00%
-3,574
-8.05%
44,373
Yuba
7,355
59.22%
4,342
34.96%
260
2.09%
337
2.71%
126
1.01%
0
0.00%
3,013
24.26%
12,420
Total
3,791,904
49.25%
3,525,197
45.78%
145,628
1.89%
139,661
1.81%
96,842
1.26%
235
0.00%
266,707
3.46%
7,699,467
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
By congressional district
Pete Wilson won 25 of California's 45 congressional districts including 8 districts that were won by Democrats and Dianne Feinstein won 20 of California's 45 congressional districts including 2 districts that were won by Republicans.[3]
Notes
^ 9 for Britton, 1 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
^ 2 for Mahon
^ 4 for Britton, 11 for Mahon, 2 for Geraty
^ 3 for Mahon
^ 1 for Mahon
^ 41 for Britton, 4 for Mahon, 2 for Geraty, 4 for Solomon
^ 1 for Britton, 3 for Mahon
^ 1 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
^ 3 for Britton, 3 for Mahon, 1 for Solomon
^ 1 for Britton, 2 for Geraty
^ 1 for Mahon
^ 1 for Mahon
^ 1 for Britton, 12 for Mahon, 10 for Geraty, 2 for Solomon
^ 10 for Britton, 15 for Mahon, 9 for Geraty, 5 for Solomon
^ 13 for Britton, 2 for Mahon
^ 2 for Britton, 1 for Geraty
^ 3 for Mahon
^ 2 for Britton, 1 for Mahon
^ 3 for Britton, 2 for Mahon, 1 for Geraty
^ 2 for Britton, 2 for Geraty
^ 3 for Britton, 7 for Mahon, 3 for Geraty
^ 1 for Britton
^ 15 for Mahon
^ 1 for Britton
^ 1 for Mahon
^ 1 for Britton, 1 for Mahon
^ 1 for Mahon
References