1962 United States Senate election in California

1962 United States Senate election in California

November 6, 1962

Nominee Thomas Kuchel Richard Richards Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,180,483 2,452,839 Percentage 56.31% 43.43%

County results Kuchel:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Thomas Kuchel Republican Elected U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel Republican

The 1962 United States Senate election in California was held on November 6, 1962.

Incumbent Republican Thomas Kuchel was re-elected to a second full term in office, defeating Democratic State Senator Richard Richards. Kuchel carried every county in California and remains the most recent candidate for Senate to do so as of 2025.^[a] As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican was elected to the Class 3 Senate seat from California.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Thomas Kuchel, incumbent Senator since 1954
• Howard Jarvis, anti-tax activist, Los Angeles industrialist^[1]
• William H. Reinholz
• Loyd Wright, former American Bar Association President^[2]

Results

1962 Republican U.S. Senate primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.)	1,357,975	75.02%
	Republican	Loyd Wright	247,300	13.66%
	Republican	Howard Jarvis	180,768	9.99%
	Republican	William H. Reinholz	24,100	1.33%
Total votes			1,810,143	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

• J.F. Coleman
• Gabriel Green, photographer and UFO conspiracy theorist
• Richard Richards, State Senator from Los Angeles County

Results

1962 Democratic U.S. Senate primary^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Richards	1,674,563	82.58%
	Democratic	Gabriel Green	171,379	8.45%
	Democratic	J.F. Coleman	170,926	8.43%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.) (write-in)	10,927	0.54%
Total votes			2,027,795	100.00%

General election

Campaign

Write-in campaigns were launched for anti-tax activist Howard Jarvis, 1962 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and proponent of nuclear disarmament Linus Pauling, and Edward Brothers, but none made a significant impact on the race.

Results

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Republican — >15%
•   Republican — +12.5−15%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — >15%

1962 United States Senate election in California^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.)	3,180,483	56.31%	2.35
	Democratic	Richard Richards	2,452,839	43.43%	9.47
	Independent	Howard Jarvis (write-in)	9,963	0.18%	N/A
	Independent	Linus Pauling (write-in)	2,694	0.04%	N/A
	Independent	Edward Brothers (write-in)	284	0.00%	N/A
	Write-in	All others	1,689	0.02%	N/A
Total votes			5,647,952	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

References

1. Anderson, Totton J.; Lee, Eugene C. (1963). "The 1962 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 16 (2): 396–420. doi:10.2307/444953. ISSN 0043-4078. JSTOR 444953.
2. Anderson, Totton J.; Lee, Eugene C. (1963). "The 1962 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 16 (2): 396–420. doi:10.2307/444953. ISSN 0043-4078. JSTOR 444953.
3. "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 05, 1962". www.ourcampaigns.com.
4. "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race". www.ourcampaigns.com.
5. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1962" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 1963. Retrieved June 17, 2020.

1. Democrat Alan Cranston came very close in 1974, losing Inyo County by only 55 votes.