1934 California gubernatorial election

The 1934 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Held in the midst of the Great Depression, the 1934 election was amongst the most controversial in the state's political history, pitting conservative Republican Frank Merriam against former Socialist Party member turned Democratic politician Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. A strong third party challenge came from Progressive Raymond L. Haight, a Los Angeles lawyer campaigning for the political center. Much of the campaign's emphasis was directed at Sinclair's EPIC movement, proposing interventionist reforms to cure the state's ailing economy. Merriam, who had recently assumed the governorship following the death of James Rolph, characterized Sinclair's proposal as a step towards communism.

Candidates

 * George Creel, investigative journalist
 * Forest Dowey
 * William H. Evans
 * Z. T. Malaby
 * W. J. McNichols
 * Upton Sinclair, author and perennial Socialist Party candidate
 * James E. Waddell
 * Justus S. Wardell, nominee for Governor in 1926
 * Milton K. Young, nominee for Governor in 1930

Results
Sinclair won the Democratic nomination in what was considered a political upset.

Candidates

 * Raymond L. Haight, Los Angeles attorney
 * Frank Merriam, incumbent Governor since June 1934
 * John R. Quinn, member, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
 * C. C. Young, former Governor (1927–31)

Campaign
Negative campaigning funded by the film industry was used against Sinclair to favor the Merriam campaign, as depicted in the 2020 American biographical drama film Mank. Hollywood studio bosses unanimously opposed Sinclair and their involvement in the campaign has been described as Hollywood's first intervention in electoral politics. They pressured their employees to assist and vote for Merriam's campaign, and made false propaganda films attacking Sinclair, giving him no opportunity to respond. Joseph M. Schenck threatened to move Twentieth Century Fox to Florida should Sinclair be elected.

Louis B. Mayer's MGM and other film studios deducted a days pay from their employees to raise an anti-Sinclair fund that amounted to $500,000. Irving Thalberg was to lead MGM's anti-Sinclair campaign and the studio recruited Carey Wilson to create a series of anti-Sinclair propaganda films. These films, directed by Felix E. Feist, included fake newsreels of Sinclair supporters who were portrayed as bums and criminals. They were shown in Californian movie theaters, with one episode featuring hired actors as Sinclair supporters speaking with foreign accents.

Big corporations in California were strongly opposed to Sinclair. Both Standard Oil of California and Pacific Mutual sent out a letter to their stockholders encouraging them to oppose Sinclair. Various corporations created front organisations to oppose his campaign, for instance the California Real Estate Association formed the 'Merriam for Governor Committee'.

Upton Sinclair later stated that there was a "campaign of lying" against him during the campaign which was "ordered by the biggest businessmen in California and paid for with millions of dollars" that was carried out by newspapers, politicians, advertisers, and the film industry. One survey of over 500 Californian newspapers found that over 90% supported Merriam, 5% supported Raymond Haight and the rest made no endorsement. The only newspaper surveyed which endorsed Sinclair was his own outlet Epic News.

Although Sinclair did have some support from public figures. For instance the 'Author's League for Sinclair' was founded by Dorothy Thompson and Gene Fowler. Progressives like Charlie Chaplin, Dorothy Parker, Donald Ogden Stewart, Lillian Hellman and Groucho Marx were also Sinclair supporters.

Candidates

 * Sam Darcy, organizer of the Marine Workers Industrial Union and 1934 waterfront strike (Communist)
 * Milen C. Dempster (Socialist)
 * Raymond L. Haight, Los Angeles attorney (Commonwealth-Progressive)
 * Frank F. Merriam, incumbent Governor since June 1934 (Republican)
 * Upton Sinclair, author and perennial Socialist Party candidate (Democratic)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Contra Costa
 * Lassen
 * Madera
 * Plumas
 * Trinity
 * Tuolumne

Counties that flipped from Republican to Progressive

 * El Dorado
 * Fresno
 * Stanislaus