1974 Arizona gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1974 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1974 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Governor Jack Williams decided not to run for a fourth term as governor. Former United States Ambassador to Bolivia Raúl Héctor Castro, who was the Democratic nominee in 1970, won the Democratic nomination again in 1974, and narrowly won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Russell Williams by 0.85%. Castro was sworn into his first and only term as governor on January 6, 1975.

1974 Arizona gubernatorial election

← 1970 November 5, 1974 1978 →

Nominee Raúl Héctor Castro Russell Williams Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 278,375 273,674 Percentage 50.4% 49.6%

County results Castro:      50–60%      60–70% Williams:      50–60%

Governor before election Jack Williams Republican Elected Governor Raúl Héctor Castro Democratic

Prior to the election, there was a recall effort led by Cesar Chavez against incumbent Governor Jack Williams, with 180,000 signatures submitted. Many of the signatures were invalidated by the Attorney General Gary Nelson, but this was eventually overturned. By the time this occurred, however, it was meaningless due to the close proximity of the 1974 gubernatorial election, and thus a recall election did not occur.^[1]

Approximately two years into his term as governor, Castro would resign to become United States Ambassador to Argentina.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Russell Williams, member of the Arizona Corporation Commission
• Evan Mecham, former state senator, former nominee for U.S. Senate
• William C. Jacquin, President of the State Senate
• John D. Driggs, Mayor of Phoenix
• Milton H. Graham, former Mayor of Phoenix

Results

Republican primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Russell Williams	53,132	35.57%
	Republican	Evan Mecham	30,266	20.26%
	Republican	William C. Jacquin	27,138	18.17%
	Republican	John D. Driggs	23,519	15.75%
	Republican	Milton H. Graham	15,315	10.25%
Total votes			149,370	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Raúl Héctor Castro, former United States Ambassador to Bolivia, Democratic nominee for governor in 1970
• Jack Ross, car dealer
• Dave Moss, real estate broker
• Walter "Denver" Caudill, Tubac Country Club golf professional

Results

Democratic primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Raúl Héctor Castro	115,268	67.21%
	Democratic	Jack Ross	31,250	18.22%
	Democratic	Dave Moss	19,143	11.16%
	Democratic	Walter "Denver" Caudill	5,843	3.41%
Total votes			171,504	100.00%

General election

Results

Arizona gubernatorial election, 1974^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raúl Héctor Castro	278,375	50.41%	+1.30%
	Republican	Russell Williams	273,674	49.56%	−1.33%
	Independent	Russell Shaw (write-in)	149	0.03%
	Independent	Harold Bates (write-in)	4	0.00%
Majority			4,701	0.85%
Total votes			552,202	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	+2.63%

Results by county

County	Raúl Héctor Castro Democratic		Russell Williams Republican		Russell Shaw Write-in		Harold Bates Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast[3]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Apache	4,482	69.11%	2,003	30.89%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	2,479	38.23%	6,485
Cochise	8,779	53.28%	7,695	46.70%	2	0.01%	0	0.00%	1,084	6.58%	16,476
Coconino	9,601	59.69%	6,483	40.30%	1	0.01%	0	0.00%	3,118	19.38%	16,085
Gila	5,056	55.73%	4,015	44.26%	1	0.01%	0	0.00%	1,041	11,47%	9,072
Graham	2,379	46.19%	2,772	53.81%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	-393	-7.63%	5,151
Greenlee	2,262	61.82%	1,397	38.18%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	865	23.64%	3,659
Maricopa	139,222	44.84%	171,111	55.11%	135	0.04%	4	0.00%	-31,889	-10.27%	310,472
Mohave	4,623	50.92%	4,449	49.00%	7	0.08%	0	0.00%	174	1.92%	9,079
Navajo	6,440	56.80%	4,899	43.20%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	1,541	13.59%	11,339
Pima	70,919	61.73%	43,962	38.27%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	26,957	23.47%	114,881
Pinal	9,405	56.52%	7,235	43.48%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	2,170	13.04%	16,640
Santa Cruz	2,238	66.37%	1,134	33.63%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	1,104	32.74%	3,372
Yavapai	7,148	43.10%	9,432	56.88%	3	0.02%	0	0.00%	-2,284	-13.77%	16,583
Yuma	5,821	45.10%	7,087	54.90%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	-1,266	-9.81%	12,908
Totals	278,375	50.41%	273,674	49.56%	149	0.03%	4	0.00%	4,701	0.85%	552,202

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Apache
• Mohave
• Navajo

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Graham
• Yuma