1950 California gubernatorial election

The 1950 California gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1950. Incumbent Republican governor Earl Warren, in a surprising announcement revealed he would not run for re-election despite the overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats to do so. Many had already speculated he would run for the Presidency, but this choice only cemented the fact that the governor was looking to a higher executive office and planned to entirely focus on that goal. With a spot open up, Lieutenant Governor Goodwin Knight would choose to run and initially it seemed that he would be set to sweep the election thanks to his predecessors high approval ratings. That was until in another shocking announcement, Ronald Reagan the man who had recently resigned as President of the Screen Actors Guild due to heavy scrutiny by the FBI and the House of Un-American Activities alongside pressure from conservatives still furious at his campaigning for President Wallace, threw his hat into the ring against James Roosevelt in the primary for the Democratic Nomination.

When asked about his potential opponents early into the primary, Knight would brush off the former hollywood star, "Ronald Reagan, the actor? You must be kidding." At the time receiving a few chuckles from his colleagues. Reagan a New Deal Democrat who had arguably been the very man that secured President Wallace's victory in California, would go onto use that fact along with his own personal charisma and national appeal to win not only grassroots support but also the party establishment to clench a decently sized victory against his opponent. Despite this many saw the election as a hopeless one, but Reagan undeterred pledged that, "Everyman was beatable, just as proven by our president." And would go into the election with a passionate fury.

To contrast this, Knight would find himself unable to match his younger opponent's natural charisma and oratory skills which had made him so successful on-screen. Whether it be attempting to fire up crowds or speaking in interviews, while not terrible in comparison to Reagan's charm many voters found the man, "Droning on" And this would continue to be an issue for Knight's campaign the longer this race went on. The lead that had once projected a large victory for the lieutenant governor found itself slowly but surely evaporating week by week, not helped by the fact the current governor shockingly remained silent in the race. When pressed for comments after the primary, Governor Warren remained silent, only expressing his belief either choice would make a good successor. Later it would be learned that Reagan had met with Warren in an attempt to garner his endorsement, believing their policies were far more in tune with one another than the moderate Knight.

This would not happen, yet his silence still proved a valuable asset for Reagan as a large block of Warren supporters found themselves split among both candidates. Another factor likely contributing to Warren's silence would be Knight's growing anxiety over the deemed Liberalization of the party after Taft's defeat, with those such as Harold Stassen, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and even Warren himself driving the party back to the side of Wendell Willkie and Thomas Dewey. This would cause the two's professional relationship to noticeably sour months before Warren's decline to run again. But Knight would prove resourceful and as race tightened up he began to accuse Reagan of being a communist sympathiser using the man's history with President Wallace alongside his controversial exit as President of the Screen Actors Guild to turn the tables. For the first time in the race the actor found himself on the defensive as he defended his decision to refuse giving names of provide the names of actors associated with the Communist Party due to it not being a crime. Still this would lead to a noticeable drop in the polls going from edging Knight out to being nearly three points behind.

By the final days of the election, pollsters were unsure of just who would out on top. Goodwin in an effort to clench his victory would bring aboard popular House Representative Richard Nixon to help campaign for him, much to governor Warren's rage behind closed doors, and. Meanwhile Reagan would go on to call in an old favor and with the assistance of President Wallace, convince the Secretary of Commerce Harold Stassen to stop by and make the rounds across California for him against his own party's candidate.