The landslide that broke centuries of Republican county dominance

Countries & Cities · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1978, Jerry Brown didn't just win a governorship; he shattered long-standing political lineages. His landslide victory flipped counties that had remained loyal to a single party for over a century, fundamentally redrawing the map of California's political geography in a single night.

The 1978 California gubernatorial election served as a seismic shift for the state's political landscape. Having served since 1975, the Democratic seat-holder Jerry Brown won a clear triumph against Evelle J. Younger, the Republican Attorney General. The independent Ed Clark was a younger challenger. While the primary season was dominated by the passage of Proposition 13—a landmark initiative to overhaul the state property tax formula—the general election proved to be a historic realignment of voter loyalty.

Brown's victory was notable for its geographical reach, specifically in breaking deep-seated partisan streaks. He became the first Democrat to carry Alpine County since its establishment in 1864. Similarly, he flipped Orange County, which had supported Republican candidates exclusively since its founding in 1889. In Santa Barbara County, Brown broke a Democratic drought that had lasted since 1882. These shifts were significant because they ended three of the four remaining long-term streaks of Republican dominance in California counties.

The election also highlighted the remaining bastions of old-guard politics. Following the 1978 results, Mono County stood as the sole county with a long history of Republican backing, having never voted Democratic since its founding in 1861; it would not flip until 1998. Furthermore, the results marked the most recent Democratic victories for a vast array of other counties, including Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Tuolumne, and Yuba. This landslide effectively signaled a transition in the state's political identity.

The mechanics of the win were also influenced by campaign finance. The primary battle left the Republican nominee, Younger, with a shortage of funds, while Brown entered the general election with a significantly larger campaign war chest. This disparity, combined with the shifting political tides of the late 1970s, allowed Brown to solidify his position as a transformative figure in California history.

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