1978 California Governor Campaign
In 1978, Clark received some 377,960 votes, 5.46% of the popular vote, in a race for Governor of California. Although a member of the Libertarian Party, he appeared on the California ballot as an independent candidate.
According to a 1980 article in Mother Jones magazine, Clark's 1978 vote ran strongest in "wealthy Orange County, a long-time stronghold of right-wing sentiments; in the back country of the Sierra Nevada, where loggers, miners and developers rail against government restrictions on land use; in Berkeley and the gay neighborhoods of San Francisco, which share the Libertarians' antipathy for drug laws and vice squads; and in the cocaine-and-Perrier precincts of Marin County..."
Another factor leading to the unprecedented (for California) 5.46% vote total for Clark was his libertarian campaign occurring the same year as the successful Proposition 13 which limited property taxes, and the unsuccessful anti-gay Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6). Clark and the California Libertarian Party campaigned in support for Proposition 13 and in opposition to Proposition 6 both of which turned out people to the polls who might be more inclined to favor a libertarian candidate.
Clark lost the race to Jerry Brown, who was re-elected with 56% of the vote. Republican nominee Evelle J. Younger had 36.5% of the vote.
Read more about this topic: Ed Clark
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