1970 California Attorney General election

1970 California Attorney General election

November 3, 1970

Nominee Evelle J. Younger Charles A. O'Brien Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,140,087 3,053,916 Percentage 49.3% 47.9%

County results Younger:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% O'Brien:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Attorney General before election Thomas C. Lynch Democratic Elected Attorney General Evelle J. Younger Republican

The 1970 California Attorney General election was held on November 3, 1970. Republican nominee Evelle J. Younger defeated Democratic nominee Charles A. O'Brien with 49.28% of the vote.

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 9, 1970.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Charles A. O'Brien, attorney
• Walter Culpepper

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles A. O'Brien	1,858,459	85.05
	Democratic	Walter Culpepper	326,748	14.95
Total votes			2,185,207	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Evelle J. Younger, Los Angeles County District Attorney
• John L. Harmer, State Senator
• Spencer Mortimer Williams, former Secretary of the California State Human Relations Agency
• George Deukmejian, State Senator

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Evelle J. Younger	1,110,632	55.72
	Republican	John L. Harmer	424,659	21.31
	Republican	Spencer Mortimer Williams	245,803	12.33
	Republican	George Deukmejian	212,189	10.65
Total votes			1,993,283	100.00

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Evelle J. Younger, Republican
• Charles A. O'Brien, Democratic

Other candidate's

• Marguerite M. "Marge" Buckley, Peace and Freedom

Results

1970 California Attorney General election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Evelle J. Younger	3,140,087	49.28%
	Democratic	Charles A. O'Brien	3,053,916	47.93%
	Peace and Freedom	Marguerite M. "Marge" Buckley	177,716	2.79%
Majority			86,171
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing