The 1968 Election in California

Abstract

ROBABLY the major highlight of the 1968 elections in California occurred in the primary and not in the final election. Max Rafferty, the outspoken educator, a conservative and cantankerous Republican in politics, simply was not expected to defeat the incumbent Republican United States Senator, Thomas Kuchel, whose liberal Republicanism appeared to be more in line with the current political thought than it had been in his previously successful elections. Several Democratic political leaders who did not think Kuchel could be defeated but who did not have the same high regard for Rafferty regretted that they had not been bold enough to make a bid for the nomination against an opponent, Alan Cranston, whom they thought vulnerable and unable to muster sufficient organizational and financial strength to wage a successful campaign. Rafferty defeated his primary opponent by a vote of 1,112,947 to 1,043,315 or by 51.7 percent of the total vote for this office. In the general election, however, he received only 47.6 percent of the vote cast for the two nominees. This result might have been somewhat unexpected, since this was generally a Republican election year in California. On the other hand, this state with its closed primary had approximately a 4 to 3 Democratic registration. Its conservative Democrats may be equated with the liberal or progressive Republicans, and if these Republicans had voted for the man on their ticket regardless of ideology, then the Republican nominee in this race would have won. This would especially be true with a strong liberal on the Democratic ticket. Many Republicans must have disliked Rafferty, especially in educational circles, while at the same time overlooking Cranston's solid liberalism, to have brought Cranston's victory in this race. Nixon's win in California, where the electorate votes for a slate of 40 presidential electors, also was very close, 3,467,664 to 3,244,318, or 51.7 percent of the two-party vote. This figure fell to 47.8 percent of the total vote. Two other slates of delegates were on the ballot, those of the American Independent party and the Peace and Freedom party. These received a total of 514,977, with 487,270 cast for the American Independent party. George Wallace's party received 6.7 percent of the total vote cast in the election for presidential electors and for write-in candidates.