The 2010 California gubernatorial election was held November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of California. The primary elections were held on June 8, 2010. Because constitutional office holders in California have been prohibited from serving more than two terms in the same office since November 6, 1990, incumbent Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was term-limited and thus was ineligible to run for re-election to a third term. Former Governor Jerry Brown, to whom the term limits did not apply due to a grandfather clause, defeated Meg Whitman in the general election. Brown was sworn into office on January 3, 2011. As of 2023, this is the last time the Governor’s office in California changed partisan control. Republican primary Candidates Bill Chambers, railroad switchman Douglas Hughes, retired business owner Ken Miller, former broadcast manager Steven Mozena (write-in candidate) Lawrence Naritelli, accountant and controller Robert Newman, psychologist and farmer Steve Poizner, businessman and then-California Insurance Commissioner David Tully-Smith, primary care physician Meg Whitman, businesswoman, former CEO of eBay Polling Results Democratic primary Candidates Declared Richard Aguirre, businessman Jerry Brown, incumbent California Attorney General and former Governor of California Lowell Darling, independent artist Vibert Greene, mechanical engineer and CEO Charles Pineda, parole board judge Peter Schurman, non-profit organization consultant who dropped out of the race Nadia Smalley (write-in candidate) Joe Symmon, president of a non-profit organization Declined Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco (ran for Lieutenant Governor) Polling Results American Independent primary Candidates Chelene Nightingale, business owner Markham Robinson, owner of a software firm Results Green primary Candidates S. Deacon Alexander, student Laura Wells, financial systems consultant Results Libertarian primary Candidates Jordan Llamas, Doctor of Psychology and Political Science Dale Ogden, business consultant and actuary Results Peace and Freedom primary Candidates Stewart Alexander, political consultant and former vice presidential candidate for Socialist Party USA Carlos Alvarez, retail worker Mohammad Arif, businessman Results General election Campaign Both Whitman and Brown were criticized for negative campaigning during the election. During their final debate at the 2010 Women's Conference a week before the election, moderator Matt Lauer asked both candidates to pull attack ads for the rest of the election, which elicited loud cheers from the audience. Brown agreed and picked one ad each of his and Whitman's that he thought, if Whitman would agree, should be the only ones run, but Whitman, who had been loudly cheered earlier as the prospective first