2014 California Secretary of State election

Summary

The 2014 California Secretary of State election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the secretary of state of California. Incumbent Democratic secretary of state Debra Bowen was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election to a third term in office.

2014 California Secretary of State election

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Nominee Alex Padilla Pete Peterson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 3,799,711 3,285,334
Percentage 53.6% 46.4%

County results
Padilla:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Peterson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Secretary of State before election

Debra Bowen
Democratic

Elected Secretary of State

Alex Padilla
Democratic

A primary election was held on June 3, 2014. Under California's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to the general election in November, even if a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election. Washington is the only other state with this system, a so-called "top two primary" (Louisiana has a similar "jungle primary").

Democrat Alex Padilla and Republican Pete Peterson finished first and second, respectively, and contested the general election, which Padilla won.

Primary election edit

Candidates edit

Democratic Party edit

Declared edit
Withdrew edit

Republican Party edit

Declared edit
  • Roy Allmond, California state employee[2]
  • Pete Peterson, executive director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement at Pepperdine University[5]

Green Party edit

Declared edit
  • David S. Curtis, architectural designer[6][7][8]

Independent edit

Declared edit

Polling edit

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Derek
Cressman (D)
David
Curtis (G)
Alex
Padilla (D)
Pete
Peterson (R)
Daniel
Schnur (I)
Leland
Yee (D)
Other Undecided
SurveyUSA May 16–19, 2014 610 ±4% 48% 32% 9% 11%
Field Poll March 18–April 5, 2014 504 ±4.5% 3% 5% 17% 30% 4% <0.5% 41%
2% 4% 10% 27% 4% 8% 1% 44%

Results edit

California Secretary of State primary election, 2014[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Alex Padilla 1,217,371 30.24
Republican Pete Peterson 1,194,715 29.68
Democratic Leland Yee 380,361 9.45
No party preference Daniel Schnur 369,898 9.19
Democratic Derek Cressman 306,375 7.61
Republican Roy Allmond 256,668 6.38
Democratic Jeffrey H. Drobman 178,521 4.44
Green David S. Curtis 121,618 3.02
Total votes 4,025,527 100
Turnout {{{votes}}} 13.63

General election edit

Polling edit

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Alex
Padilla (D)
Pete
Peterson (R)
Undecided
GQR/American Viewpoint October 22–29, 2014 1,162 ± 3.3% 45% 41% 14%
Field Poll October 15–28, 2014 941 ± 3.4% 44% 37% 19%
Field Poll August 14–28, 2014 467 ± 4.8% 43% 36% 21%
Gravis Marketing July 22–24, 2014 580 ± 4% 34% 37% 28%

Results edit

California Secretary of State general election, 2014[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Alex Padilla 3,799,711 53.63
Republican Pete Peterson 3,285,334 46.37
Total votes 7,085,045 100
Democratic hold

References edit

  1. ^ Paul Blumenthal (March 5, 2014). "Derek Cressman Aims To Take The Citizens United Fight Inside Government". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Official certified list of candidates" (PDF). Secretary of State. California Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  3. ^ Patrick McGreevy (April 11, 2013). "Sen. Alex Padilla announces run for California secretary of state". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  4. ^ "Indicted California state senator ends Secretary of State campaign". Reuters. March 27, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  5. ^ Jean Merl (March 4, 2014). "Secretary of state candidates make their case at L.A. forum". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  6. ^ "California Secretary of State Candidate David Curtis Talks Green Politics". IVN. January 10, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  7. ^ "David Curtis Excluded from Sacramento Press Club Debate". Cal Newsroom. April 20, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  8. ^ "Can a Green Party candidate break the glass ceiling?". Los Angeles Times. April 20, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  9. ^ Alex Gauthier (September 12, 2013). "Dan Schnur running for California Secretary of State". SCPR. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "Statement of Vote June 3, 2014, Statewide Direct Primary Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 4, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  11. ^ "Statement of Vote November 4, 2014, General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved December 30, 2014.

External links edit

  • California Secretary of State election, 2014 at Ballotpedia
  • Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
Official campaign websites
  • Derek Cressman for Secretary of State
  • David S. Curtis for Secretary of State
  • Alex Padilla for Secretary of State
  • Pete Peterson for Secretary of State
  • Daniel Schnur for Secretary of State
  • Leland Yee for Secretary of State