1986Final results
1986 election for California Governor
Governor · California
George Deukmejian (R) won with 61.8% of the vote, defeating Tom Bradley (D) by 23.7 points.
George DeukmejianRepublican · winner
61.8%4,506,601
Tom BradleyDemocrat
38.2%2,781,714
7,288,315 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1986
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET