2014 California Secretary of State election

none February 2026 September 2023 2014 California Secretary of State election California presidential no 2010 California Secretary of State election 2010 2018 California Secretary of State election 2018 November 4, 2014 File:Alex Padilla official (cropped).jpg 150x150px Alex Padilla Democratic Party (United States) 3,799,711 53.63% 3x4.svg Pete Peterson Republican Party (United States) 3,285,334 46.37% 2014 California Secretary of State election results map by county.svg 300px County results Padilla: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Peterson: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% Secretary of State Debra Bowen Democratic Party (United States) Alex Padilla Democratic Party (United States) 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. 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 by 7.2 percentage points. As a result, it was the closest statewide race in California that year. As of , this election, alongside the concurrent state controller election, is also the last time in which a statewide California race between a Democrat and a Republican was decided by single digits; and in which Mono, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura Counties voted for the Republican in a statewide race. Primary election Candidates Democratic Party Declared Derek Cressman, political reform and anti-dark money activist and former vice president of Common Causehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/derek-cressman_n_4897784.html Derek Cressman Aims To Take The Citizens United Fight Inside Government The Huffington Post Paul Blumenthal March 5, 2014 March 8, 2014 Jeffrey H. Drobman, computer scientist and engineerhttp://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/statewide-elections/2014-primary/certified-list.pdf Official certified list of candidates Secretary of State California Secretary of State 26 May 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140514004322/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/statewide-elections/2014-primary/certified-list.pdf 2014-05-14 dead Alex Padilla, state senatorhttps://www.latimes.com/politics/la-xpm-2013-apr-11-la-me-pc-padilla-candidate-20130411-story.html Sen. Alex Padilla announces run for California secretary of state Los Angeles Times Patrick McGreevy April 11, 2013 April 4, 2014 Withdrew Leland Yee, state senatorhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-california-yee-idUSBREA2Q2F820140327 Indicted California state senator ends Secretary of State campaign Reuters Mar 27, 2014 March 28, 2014 Republican Party Declared Roy Allmond, California state employee Pete Peterson, executive director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement at Pepperdine Universityhttp://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-secretary-state-20140305,0,4326466.story Secretary of state candidates make their case at L.A. forum Los Angeles Times Jean Merl March 4, 2014 March 8, 2014 Green Party Declared David S. Curtis, architectural designerhttp://ivn.us/2013/09/12/candidate-for-california-secretary-of-state-david-curtis-talks-green-politics/ California Secretary of State Candidate David Curtis Talks Green Politics IVN January 10, 2014 March 8, 2014http://www.calnewsroom.com/2014/04/20/sacramento-press-club-excludes-green-party-candidate-from-secretary-of-state-debate/ David Curtis Excluded from Sacramento Press Club Debate Cal Newsroom April 20, 2014 April 20, 2014http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-can-a-green-party-candidate-break-the-political-glass-ceiling-20140423,0,619214.story#axzz300HnYbsH/ Can a Green Party candidate break the glass ceiling? Los Angeles Times April 20, 2014 April 20, 2014 Independent Declared Daniel Schnur, former chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission and former Republican strategisthttp://www.scpr.org/news/2014/01/10/41502/dan-schnur-running-for-california-secretary-of-sta/ Dan Schnur running for California Secretary of State SCPR Alex Gauthier September 12, 2013 March 8, 2014 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DerekCressman (D) DavidCurtis (G) AlexPadilla (D) PetePeterson (R) DanielSchnur (I) LelandYee (D) Other UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA May 16–19, 2014 610 ±4% — — 48% 32% — — 9% 11%Field PollField 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 California Secretary of State primary election, 2014http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2014-primary/pdf/2014-complete-sov.pdf Statement of Vote June 3, 2014, Statewide Direct Primary Election California Secretary of State September 25, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140804045652/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2014-primary/pdf/2014-complete-sov.pdf 2014-08-04 dead California Democratic Party Alex Padilla 1,217,371 30.24 California Republican Party Pete Peterson 1,194,715 29.68 California Democratic Party Leland Yee 380,361 9.45 No party preference Daniel Schnur 369,898 9.19 California Democratic Party Derek Cressman 306,375 7.61 California Republican Party Roy Allmond 256,668 6.38 California Democratic Party Jeffrey H. Drobman 178,521 4.44 Green Party of California David S. Curtis 121,618 3.02 4,025,527 100 13.63 General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror AlexPadilla (D) PetePeterson (R) UndecidedGQR/American ViewpointGQR/American Viewpoint October 22–29, 2014 1,162 ± 3.3% 45% 41% 14%Field PollField Poll October 15–28, 2014 941 ± 3.4% 44% 37% 19%Field PollField Poll August 14–28, 2014 467 ± 4.8% 43% 36% 21%Gravis MarketingGravis Marketing July 22–24, 2014 580 ± 4% 34% 37% 28% Results 2014 California Secretary of State electionhttps://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2014-general/pdf/2014-complete-sov.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20260516032821/https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2014-general/pdf/2014-complete-sov.pdf 2026-05-16 live Complete Statement of Vote Bowen Debra Debra Bowen December 12, 2014 Secretary of State of California May 19, 2026 Democratic Party (United States) Alex Padilla 3,799,711 53.63 Republican Party (United States) Pete Peterson 3,285,334 46.37 7,085,045 100.00 Democratic Party (United States) By county Countyhttps://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2014-general/pdf/25-secretary-of-state.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20250524015047/https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2014-general/pdf/25-secretary-of-state.pdf 2025-05-24 live Secretary of State by County Bowen Debra Debra Bowen December 12, 2014 Secretary of State of California May 19, 2026 Alex PadillaDemocratic Pete PetersonRepublican Margin Total votes cast # % # % # %Alameda256,28074.49%87,78625.51%168,49448.97%344,066Alpine26257.84%19142.16%7115.67%453Amador4,70837.74%7,76862.26%-3,060-24.53%12,476Butte25,23842.03%34,80357.97%-9,565-15.93%60,041Calaveras5,66437.35%9,50062.65%-3,836-25.30%15,164Colusa1,33932.88%2,73367.12%-1,394-34.23%4,072Contra Costa144,61058.88%101,00641.12%43,60417.75%245,616Del Norte2,91143.35%3,80456.65%-893-13.30%6,715El Dorado21,76036.56%37,75963.44%-15,999-26.88%59,519Fresno66,15642.22%90,53557.78%-24,379-15.56%156,691Glenn1,59727.36%4,24172.64%-2,644-45.29%5,838Humboldt21,88260.67%14,18339.33%7,69921.35%36,065Imperial12,65360.94%8,11139.06%4,54221.87%20,764Inyo2,10639.58%3,21560.42%-1,109-20.84%5,321Kern47,00835.55%85,22564.45%-38,217-28.90%132,233Kings7,78435.39%14,21264.61%-6,428-29.22%21,996Lake9,35854.90%7,68645.10%1,6729.81%17,044Lassen1,75726.01%4,99973.99%-3,242-47.99%6,756Los Angeles880,93962.50%528,63037.50%352,30924.99%1,409,569Madera9,03334.27%17,32865.73%-8,295-31.47%26,361Marin58,35870.27%24,68529.73%33,67340.55%83,043Mariposa2,31936.16%4,09563.84%-1,776-27.69%6,414Mendocino15,40465.55%8,09534.45%7,30931.10%23,499Merced16,47545.91%19,40854.09%-2,933-8.17%35,883Modoc72325.78%2,08274.22%-1,359-48.45%2,805Mono1,39446.14%1,62753.86%-233-7.71%3,021Monterey42,79359.59%29,01440.41%13,77919.19%71,807Napa21,33658.60%15,07441.40%6,26217.20%36,410Nevada17,53847.17%19,63952.83%-2,101-5.65%37,177Orange234,60438.70%371,65361.30%-137,049-22.61%606,257Placer39,64736.02%70,43663.98%-30,789-27.97%110,083Plumas2,50136.05%4,43663.95%-1,935-27.89%6,937Riverside153,34144.44%191,72155.56%-38,380-11.12%345,062Sacramento170,62754.16%144,38845.84%26,2398.33%315,015San Benito7,32755.43%5,89244.57%1,43510.86%13,219San Bernardino127,57545.24%154,42554.76%-26,850-9.52%282,000San Diego301,06045.99%353,50354.01%-52,443-8.01%654,563San Francisco162,57578.50%44,53721.50%118,03856.99%207,112San Joaquin54,11847.48%59,86852.52%-5,750-5.04%113,986San Luis Obispo38,80246.63%44,40353.37%-5,601-6.73%83,205San Mateo101,37965.75%52,79834.25%48,58131.51%154,177Santa Barbara56,45852.73%50,61247.27%5,8465.46%107,070Santa Clara230,45261.07%146,92038.93%83,53222.14%377,372Santa Cruz49,33770.43%20,71229.57%28,62540.86%70,049Shasta17,53631.63%37,90068.37%-20,364-36.73%55,436Sierra52735.58%95464.42%-427-28.83%1,481Siskiyou5,38740.03%8,07059.97%-2,683-19.94%13,457Solano50,19557.56%37,01642.44%13,17915.11%87,211Sonoma92,36966.80%45,91333.20%46,45633.60%138,282Stanislaus38,00443.09%50,20356.91%-12,199-13.83%88,207Sutter6,72133.87%13,12366.13%-6,402-32.26%19,844Tehama4,51629.82%10,62970.18%-6,113-40.36%15,145Trinity1,65743.65%2,13956.35%-482-12.70%3,796Tulare20,71333.82%40,52866.18%-19,815-32.36%61,241Tuolumne6,25637.74%10,32162.26%-4,065-24.52%16,577Ventura95,11348.74%100,02551.26%-4,912-2.52%195,138Yolo27,26961.94%16,75738.06%10,51223.88%44,026Yuba4,26034.70%8,01865.30%-3,758-30.61%12,278Total3,799,71153.63%3,285,33446.37%514,3777.26%7,085,045 References External links 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 Secretary of State Category:California Secretary of State elections Category:November 2014 in the United States California