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 2024. As of 2024, 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
• William H. Reinholz
• Loyd Wright

Results

1962 Republican U.S. Senate primary results

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

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

1962 United States Senate election in California

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