United States Senate election in California, 1982

← 1976 November 2, 1982 1988 →

Nominee Pete Wilson Jerry Brown Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,022,565 3,494,968 Percentage 51.4% 44.8%

County Results Wilson:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Senator before election S. I. Hayakawa Republican Elected U.S. Senator Pete Wilson Republican

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The 1982 United States Senate election in California took place on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator S. I. Hayakawa decided to retire after one term. Republican Pete Wilson won the open seat.

Major candidates[edit]

Democratic[edit]

• 
  Jerry Brown, governor since 1975 and former California Secretary of State from 1971 to 1975


• 
  Gore Vidal, writer and public intellectual

Republican[edit]

• 
  Pete Wilson, Mayor of San Diego and former Assemblyman


• 
  Barry Goldwater, Jr., congressman and son of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater
  


• 
  Maureen Reagan, daughter of President Ronald Reagan
  

Campaign[edit]

Wilson was known as a fiscal conservative who supported Proposition 13, although Wilson had opposed the measure while mayor of San Diego. However, Brown ran on his gubernatorial record of building the largest state budget surpluses in California history. Both Wilson and Brown were moderate-to-liberal on social issues, including support for abortion rights. The election was expected to be close, with Brown holding a slim lead in most of the polls leading up to Election Day. Wilson hammered away at Brown's appointment of California Chief Justice Rose Bird, using this to portray himself as tougher on crime than Brown was. Brown's late entry into the 1980 Democratic presidential primary, after promising not to run, was also an issue. President Ronald Reagan made a number of visits to California late in the race to campaign for Wilson. Reagan quipped that the last thing he wanted to see was both of his home state's U.S. Senate seats falling into Democrats' hands, especially to be occupied by the man who succeeded him as governor. Despite exit polls indicating a narrow Brown victory, Wilson won by a wide margin.

Results[edit]

See also[edit]

• United States Senate elections, 1982 and 1983

References[edit]

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