JoinCalifornia: Election History for the State of California

Information Home Elected Offices Elections by Decade Longest Service Shortest Service Most & Fewest Votes Uncontested Races Closest Contests Redistricting Recalls
Elections 2024 General 2024 CD-20 Special 2023 US Senate Appt 2022 General Prior 2020s Elections Elections by Decade
Other Stuff Advanced Search CA Constitution CA in Congress Line of Succession Highest Ranking SCOTUS Cases

[search tips] [advanced search]

Searching tips

  • Enter a candidate's name to find a candidate
  • Enter the name of a political party to find the party and all candidates
  • Enter a date to find an election
  • Enter a year to find all elections within that year

James Rolph Jr.

Republican

Picture of James Rolph Jr.
CA Blue Book (2000)
Date Party Office Votes Result
11-05-1918 Write-in Governor 20605 Loss
11-04-1930 Republican Governor 999393 Win
 

Candidate Biography:

Born: August 23, 1869 in San Francisco, CA
Married: Annie Marshall Reid (in 1900)
Family: Brother of Thomas Rolph
Died: June 2, 1934 at Riverside Farm in Santa Clara County, CA

1912-1931: Mayor, City of San Francisco
1918: Primary Candidate for Governor (Won, but disqualified)*
1933-1934: Chair, National Governors Association

  • Rolph was disqualified by California Supreme Court because although he won the Democratic primary, he was a registered Republican at the time. 
  • PLACENAME: The town of Rolph (in Humbolt County) was named after a ship-building plant that Rolph founded.
  • PLACENAME: The "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge" is also officially named the "James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Bridge". - Source: cahighways.org
  • PLACENAME: The James Rolph Jr Playground is located in San Francisco.
  • PLACENAME: The James Rolph Grove (of redwoods) is located at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. 
  • Prior to being elected Mayor of San Francisco, Rolph owned a ship-building company. One of their ships, the James Rolph, a schooner from San Francisco, ran aground at Point San Pedro on August 2, 1910.
  • James Rolph III was a Republican primary candidate for Lt. Governor in 1942. He came in third (of three candidates) lost the primary to Frederick F. Houser.

Source: "National Governors Association" on Wikipedia