Meg Whitman recorded a landslide victory over Steve Poizner in the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday, earning the right to face Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown in the November election.

Whitman, a former eBay chief executive officer, had 64.3 percent of the vote, compared to 26.3 percent for Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner, with 31.1 percent of precincts partially or fully reporting, plus vote-by-mail ballots, according to figures released by the Secretary of State's Office.

Brown, the governor from 1975-1983, drew 83.9 percent of the vote to top six little-known candidates to win the Democratic nomination. The field included independent artist Lowell Darling, who also ran against Brown for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1978.

"I'm ready to give Jerry Brown the toughest election fight he's faced in his 40 years of politics,'' Whitman told supporters at the Hilton Universal City.

The 72-year-old Brown struck a populist and optimistic tone in his remarks at Club Nokia at LA Live.

"I'm here as the Democratic candidate for governor ... but I'm also here as a Californian that's disgusted with the awful mess in Sacramento and politicians and the Wall Street bankers that got us there,'' Brown said.

"The last thing on my mind at this stage of my life was running for governor of California. I reflected a long time on whether this was the right path. I looked at the partisan gridlock in Sacramento and the truth is I believe I can fix it. Not overnight -- took too long to get here -- though I believe if we pull together, we can fix things.''

Whitman said Brown's tenure as governor was filled with "disastrous results'' with state spending increased by 120 percent, and a $1 billion deficit when he left office.

"Overall, a record of higher and higher taxes, more and more spending and near record unemployment,'' said Whitman, who is making her first bid for public office. "In other words, a 40-year record of politics as usual.

"I say California can do better. Because while Jerry Brown's business is politics, my business is creating good new jobs.''

Brown said that when he was governor, "our schools were among the best, we had the country's strongest environmental laws, we pioneered development of alternative energy and California created 1.9 million new jobs.''

Brown criticized both Whitman and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with one comment.

"It's not enough for someone rich and restless to look in the mirror one morning and decide `Hey, it's time to be governor of California,''' Brown said.

"We tried that and it didn't work. Puffery, platitudes and promises won't balance our budget, won't fix our schools and it won't create any jobs. To fix anything, and to get anything done, we need a profound change in the way our government operates.''

Brown called for "an agenda of humility'' in both the campaign and government, "living within our means and a decent measure of self- discipline.''

"It's time for the politicians to grow up and face the fact we're in a crisis,'' Brown said. "The world has changed since our financial system hit the wall and almost collapsed. The only way forward now must be built on honesty, frugality and innovation.''

Whitman is California's first female Republican gubernatorial nominee. California has never elected a woman governor. Democrats have twice nominated women for the state's top position, Dianne Feinstein and Kathleen Brown, Jerry Brown's sister, but both lost to Pete Wilson.

Poizner, who suffered his second loss in three campaigns, called running for governor "one of the greatest experiences of my life.''

"Even though we were outspent four-to-one, I know this campaign was an overwhelming victory for our solutions, values and ideals,'' Poizner said at the Irvine Hilton.

Poizner said if Whitman "runs on conservative principles, she deserves our full support.''

The Republican campaign was the costliest gubernatorial primary campaign in state history and was described by Brown as "a billionaire's demolition derby.''

From New Year's Day through May 22, the Whitman campaign spent more than $61 million, while the Poizner campaign spent more than $20 million, according to figures from the Secretary of State's Office.

Whitman, a billionaire, has donated $68 million to her campaign since last year, while Poizner, a multimillionaire, donated $24 million to his.

Whitman and Poizner clashed on taxes, immigration and their conservative credentials.

Whitman focused on three issues -- creating jobs, cutting government spending and improving education.

Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner, proposed tax cuts to revitalize the state's economy and supported Arizona's illegal immigration law, SB 1070, and other steps seeking to eliminate illegal immigration.

Whitman opposes SB 1070, saying a better solution would be to first secure the border, put in place an "economic fence'' that would stop employers from hiring illegal immigrants, and prohibit cities from being "sanctuary cities,'' which do not enforce immigration laws.

Whitman also supports increasing penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, conducting workplace inspections of businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants and barring them from admittance to the University of California and California State University systems and community colleges. She opposes granting amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Poizner was seeking to be the state's second Jewish governor, joining Democrat Washington Bartlett, who died eight months after taking office in 1887.