“The people have spoken—the bastards!”

Democratic politician and strategist Dick Tuck ran for the California State Senate in 1966, but finished second in a crowded field. When asked by a television newsman for his reaction, Tuck said:
 
“Well, the people have spoken—the bastards.”
 
The exact quotation does not appear to have been cited in print in 1966. “The people have spoken” was cited in 1972 and “the people have spoke” in 1973. Tuck’s quotation is still popular on election days.
 
“The people have spoken…and they must be punished” is a similar political saying.
   
     
Wikipedia: Dick Tuck
Dick Tuck (born January 25, 1924) is a former American political consultant, campaign strategist, advance man, and political prankster for the Democratic National Committee.
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Political career
In 1966, Tuck ran for the California State Senate. He opened his campaign with a press conference at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale claiming that just because people had died doesn’t mean they don’t still have (voting) rights.
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As the ballot totals piled against him on Election Night, the candidate was asked his reaction. Referring back to his cemetery speech, Tuck quipped, “Just wait till the dead vote comes in.” When defeat became inevitable, Tuck made the now notorious statement, “The people have spoken, the bastards.”
       
24 September 1972, Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), “Democratic jester has Nixon in his sights again” by Ed Zuckerman, pg. B8, col. 5:
uck placed second in the crowded field of candidates. As the result was becoming known, a television newsman asked his reaction. “The people have spoken, the bastards,” he said.
 
Google News Archive
23 November 1972, The Village Voice (New York, NY), “Ex-supreme humorist,” pg. 30, col. 3:
Tuck lost—and conceded defeat in typical Tuck tact: ‘The people have spoken—the bastards!”
 
Google News Archive
31 October 1973, The Times-News (Hendersonville, NC), “Nixon May Not Have Tuck To Kick Around Anymore” (AP), pg. 15, col. 4:
Perhaps, but then the last time Tuck turned serious was when he ran for California State Senate in 1966.
 
His seriousness lasted only until he lost.
 
Whereupon he conceded: “Well. the people have spoke, the bastards.”
 
Google News Archive
2 May 1992, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “The perils of punditry” by Michael McGough, pg. 9, col. 3:
The people have spoken, the bastards (as political prankster Dick Tuck once said in conceding defeat in a run for office in California).
 
Google Books
Labyrinths of Prosperity:
Economic Follies, Democratic Remedies
By Reuven Brenner
Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press
1994
Pg. 154:
The people have spoken — the bastards.
— Dick Tuck, loser in the 1966 California state senate race
 
Google News Archive
7 September 1998, Boca Raton (FL) News, “They don’t make politicians like they used to” by John Harris, pg. 2A, col. 1:
“What do you feel caused you to have such a poor showing in this election?” I asked.
 
“Well, all I can tell you,” he replied, “is that the people have spoken—the bastards!”
 
Google Books
Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations
Edited by Gyles Brandreth
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2013
Pg. 250:
The people have spoke—the bastards.
after being defeated in the California Senate primary c. 1962; usually quoted as ‘The people have spoken—the bastards’
. Dick Tuck 1924– American Democratic politician: in Time 13 August 1973
 
Twitter
John Wright
‏@docjohnwright
US Senator Dick Tuck famously said following electoral defeat:  “The people have spoken…......the bastards”.
4:05 AM - 25 Jun 2016