California — 1948 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1948 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentTrumanD+0.4
How it voted
Share of the 1948 vote
| Harry S. Truman ✓Democratic | 47.6% | 1,913,134 |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas E. DeweyRepublican | 47.1% | 1,895,269 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 5.3% | 213,135 |
1948presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1948 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 25 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+1.2 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+58.7 |
| Amador County, CA | Democratic | D+18.6 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+3.7 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Democratic | D+2.7 |
| Colusa County, CA | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+14.6 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+13.0 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Democratic | D+8.9 |
| Fresno County, CA | Democratic | D+21.3 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+4.4 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+1.2 |
| Imperial County, CA | Republican | R+7.8 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+15.6 |
| Kern County, CA | Democratic | D+14.6 |
| Kings County, CA | Democratic | D+22.7 |
| Lake County, CA | Republican | R+19.8 |
| Lassen County, CA | Democratic | D+29.0 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+0.5 |
| Madera County, CA | Democratic | D+20.2 |
| Marin County, CA | Republican | R+18.9 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+16.0 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Republican | R+6.5 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+12.3 |
| Modoc County, CA | Democratic | D+4.0 |
| Mono County, CA | Republican | R+34.3 |
| Monterey County, CA | Republican | R+4.5 |
| Napa County, CA | Republican | R+9.2 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+0.04 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+24.5 |
| Placer County, CA | Democratic | D+21.6 |
| Plumas County, CA | Democratic | D+29.0 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+15.4 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+20.6 |
| San Benito County, CA | Republican | R+13.6 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Republican | R+0.9 |
| San Diego County, CA | Republican | R+1.6 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+2.2 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Republican | R+2.1 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Republican | R+11.3 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Republican | R+17.0 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Republican | R+20.1 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Republican | R+11.1 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Republican | R+20.7 |
| Shasta County, CA | Democratic | D+17.2 |
| Sierra County, CA | Democratic | D+9.1 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Democratic | D+11.5 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+29.8 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Republican | R+15.1 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Republican | R+0.6 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+7.4 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+6.6 |
| Trinity County, CA | Democratic | D+3.6 |
| Tulare County, CA | Democratic | D+3.2 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+1.4 |
| Ventura County, CA | Democratic | D+12.6 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+8.6 |
| Yuba County, CA | Democratic | D+2.8 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Harry S. Truman+3,961 | 154,54947.8% | 150,58846.6% | 18,1945.6% | 323,331 |
| Alpine County | Thomas E. Dewey+81 | 2518.1% | 10676.8% | 75.1% | 138 |
| Amador County | Harry S. Truman+756 | 2,33457.4% | 1,57838.8% | 1513.7% | 4,063 |
| Butte County | Thomas E. Dewey+815 | 10,13345.7% | 10,94849.4% | 1,1005.0% | 22,181 |
| Calaveras County | Harry S. Truman+107 | 1,99549.4% | 1,88846.8% | 1543.8% | 4,037 |
| Colusa County | Harry S. Truman+217 | 2,02051.8% | 1,80346.2% | 782.0% | 3,901 |
| Contra Costa County | Harry S. Truman+13,319 | 50,27755.0% | 36,95840.4% | 4,1414.5% | 91,376 |
| Del Norte County | Thomas E. Dewey+369 | 1,17241.3% | 1,54154.3% | 1274.5% | 2,840 |
| El Dorado County | Harry S. Truman+599 | 3,49351.9% | 2,89443.0% | 3375.0% | 6,724 |
| Fresno County | Harry S. Truman+17,383 | 47,76258.5% | 30,37937.2% | 3,5244.3% | 81,665 |
| Glenn County | Thomas E. Dewey+241 | 2,57846.6% | 2,81951.0% | 1312.4% | 5,528 |
| Humboldt County | Harry S. Truman+289 | 11,26848.4% | 10,97947.2% | 1,0194.4% | 23,266 |
| Imperial County | Thomas E. Dewey+916 | 5,30144.9% | 6,21752.6% | 2922.5% | 11,810 |
| Inyo County | Thomas E. Dewey+596 | 1,53940.2% | 2,13555.8% | 1534.0% | 3,827 |
| Kern County | Harry S. Truman+8,565 | 33,02956.2% | 24,46441.6% | 1,3182.2% | 58,811 |
| Kings County | Harry S. Truman+2,620 | 6,90960.0% | 4,28937.2% | 3232.8% | 11,521 |
| Lake County | Thomas E. Dewey+1,055 | 1,99937.5% | 3,05457.3% | 2805.3% | 5,333 |
| Lassen County | Harry S. Truman+1,672 | 3,63262.9% | 1,96034.0% | 1813.1% | 5,773 |
| Los Angeles County | Harry S. Truman+8,458 | 812,69047.0% | 804,23246.5% | 112,1606.5% | 1,729,082 |
| Madera County | Harry S. Truman+1,810 | 5,22658.2% | 3,41638.0% | 3403.8% | 8,982 |
| Marin County | Thomas E. Dewey+6,207 | 12,54038.2% | 18,74757.1% | 1,5684.8% | 32,855 |
| Mariposa County | Thomas E. Dewey+395 | 98339.8% | 1,37855.9% | 1064.3% | 2,467 |
| Mendocino County | Thomas E. Dewey+815 | 5,55344.1% | 6,36850.5% | 6825.4% | 12,603 |
| Merced County | Harry S. Truman+2,238 | 9,95954.9% | 7,72142.6% | 4442.4% | 18,124 |
| Modoc County | Harry S. Truman+127 | 1,60750.5% | 1,48046.5% | 932.9% | 3,180 |
| Mono County | Thomas E. Dewey+286 | 25530.5% | 54164.8% | 394.7% | 835 |
| Monterey County | Thomas E. Dewey+1,529 | 15,70446.1% | 17,23350.6% | 1,1263.3% | 34,063 |
| Napa County | Thomas E. Dewey+1,517 | 7,20743.6% | 8,72452.8% | 5853.5% | 16,516 |
| Nevada County | Thomas E. Dewey+3 | 3,91447.0% | 3,91747.0% | 4955.9% | 8,326 |
| Orange County | Thomas E. Dewey+19,569 | 29,01836.4% | 48,58760.9% | 2,2092.8% | 79,814 |
| Placer County | Harry S. Truman+3,267 | 8,83758.5% | 5,57036.9% | 7024.6% | 15,109 |
| Plumas County | Harry S. Truman+1,468 | 3,12561.8% | 1,65732.8% | 2765.5% | 5,058 |
| Riverside County | Thomas E. Dewey+8,904 | 23,30540.3% | 32,20955.7% | 2,3504.1% | 57,864 |
| Sacramento County | Harry S. Truman+19,123 | 54,19758.4% | 35,07437.8% | 3,5713.8% | 92,842 |
| San Benito County | Thomas E. Dewey+679 | 2,09642.0% | 2,77555.6% | 1162.3% | 4,987 |
| San Bernardino County | Thomas E. Dewey+879 | 45,69147.7% | 46,57048.6% | 3,5773.7% | 95,838 |
| San Diego County | Thomas E. Dewey+3,335 | 98,21747.8% | 101,55249.4% | 5,6902.8% | 205,459 |
| San Francisco County | Harry S. Truman+7,591 | 167,72647.8% | 160,13545.7% | 22,8486.5% | 350,709 |
| San Joaquin County | Thomas E. Dewey+1,227 | 27,90847.0% | 29,13549.1% | 2,3183.9% | 59,361 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Thomas E. Dewey+2,190 | 8,13542.1% | 10,32553.5% | 8444.4% | 19,304 |
| San Mateo County | Thomas E. Dewey+14,694 | 34,21539.7% | 48,90956.7% | 3,1483.6% | 86,272 |
| Santa Barbara County | Thomas E. Dewey+6,913 | 13,08538.0% | 19,99858.1% | 1,3173.8% | 34,400 |
| Santa Clara County | Thomas E. Dewey+11,077 | 41,90542.1% | 52,98253.2% | 4,6154.6% | 99,502 |
| Santa Cruz County | Thomas E. Dewey+5,533 | 9,86237.0% | 15,39557.7% | 1,4335.4% | 26,690 |
| Shasta County | Harry S. Truman+2,167 | 7,17756.9% | 5,01039.7% | 4363.5% | 12,623 |
| Sierra County | Harry S. Truman+114 | 66052.5% | 54643.4% | 524.1% | 1,258 |
| Siskiyou County | Harry S. Truman+1,434 | 6,74954.0% | 5,31542.5% | 4343.5% | 12,498 |
| Solano County | Harry S. Truman+10,912 | 23,25763.5% | 12,34533.7% | 1,0222.8% | 36,624 |
| Sonoma County | Thomas E. Dewey+6,051 | 16,02640.1% | 22,07755.2% | 1,8814.7% | 39,984 |
| Stanislaus County | Thomas E. Dewey+214 | 18,35047.8% | 18,56448.4% | 1,4573.8% | 38,371 |
| Sutter County | Thomas E. Dewey+551 | 3,36245.1% | 3,91352.5% | 1832.5% | 7,458 |
| Tehama County | Thomas E. Dewey+428 | 2,92044.7% | 3,34851.3% | 2624.0% | 6,530 |
| Trinity County | Harry S. Truman+78 | 1,05348.7% | 97545.1% | 1356.2% | 2,163 |
| Tulare County | Harry S. Truman+1,267 | 19,68150.2% | 18,41447.0% | 1,0972.8% | 39,192 |
| Tuolumne County | Thomas E. Dewey+78 | 2,56146.8% | 2,63948.2% | 2745.0% | 5,474 |
| Ventura County | Harry S. Truman+4,170 | 18,10054.8% | 13,93042.1% | 1,0193.1% | 33,049 |
| Yolo County | Harry S. Truman+1,095 | 6,65552.5% | 5,56043.8% | 4693.7% | 12,684 |
| Yuba County | Harry S. Truman+205 | 3,60849.7% | 3,40346.9% | 2523.5% | 7,263 |
Nominees: Harry S. Truman (D) · Thomas E. Dewey (R) · Strom Thurmond (States' Rights Democratic)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1948 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Source. Compiled historical county records — 1948 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.