California Secretary of State election, 2014
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June 3, 2014 |
November 4, 2014 |
Alex Padilla  |
Debra Bowen |
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TheCalifornia Secretary of State election took place onNovember 4, 2014. IncumbentDebra Bowen (D) was first elected in 2006 and could not seek re-election in2014 due to term limits. The race to replace Bowen featured Democratic candidateAlex Padilla and Republican candidatePete Peterson. Padillawon election to a four-year term.
California uses atop-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[1][2]
Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections.
As of October 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system for some or all statewide primaries.See here for more information.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, seethis article.
Candidates
General election
Pete Peterson - Executive director of Pepperdine University's Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership[3][4]Alex Padilla
-State Senator District 20[5]
Lost in the primary
Roy Allmond[6]Derek Cressman - Political Reform Activist[7][8]Jeff Drobman - Software developer[9][10]
No Party Preference,Dan Schnur - Professor, former GOP political strategist[11]
David Scott Curtis -2010Green Party candidate forGovernor of Nevada[12]Leland Yee - Ex-state Senator(Yee remained on the ballot but is no longer an active candidate)
Results
General election
| Secretary of State of California, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Alex Padilla | 53.6% | 3,799,711 | |
| Republican | Pete Peterson | 46.4% | 3,285,334 | |
| Total Votes | 7,085,045 | |||
| Election results viaCalifornia Secretary of State | ||||
Primary election
| California Secretary of State, Blanket Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Alex Padilla | 30.2% | 1,217,371 | |
| Republican | Pete Peterson | 29.7% | 1,194,715 | |
| Democratic | Leland Yee | 9.4% | 380,361 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dan Schnur | 9.2% | 369,898 | |
| Democratic | Derek Cressman | 7.6% | 306,375 | |
| Republican | Roy Allmond | 6.4% | 256,668 | |
| Democratic | Jeff Drobman | 4.4% | 178,521 | |
| Green | David Curtis | 3% | 121,618 | |
| Total Votes | 4,025,527 | |||
| Election resultsCalifornia Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
Primary election
Stances on top-two primary system
One of the key issues of the 2014 secretary of state primary was the signature and filing requirements for minor party candidates under California's top-two primary system. Under new qualifications implemented with thetop-two primary system, minor party candidates must collect 10,000 signatures to waive a filing fee equal to 2 percent of the first year's salary for state offices or 1 percent for members of Congress. Prior to implementing the top-two system, the number of signatures required to waive that fee was 150, so most minor parties opted to file petitions.
After launching their campaigns forCalifornia Secretary of State,California State SenatorAlex Padilla (D) and ex-state Sen.Leland Yee (D), who later withdrew from the race following his arrest in March 2014, expressed concerns aboutballot access limitations for minor parties under thetop-two primary system. Yee opposed the top-two system during his time in theCalifornia State Senate and Senator Padilla said his office was looking into legislative solutions.[13][14]Green Party candidateDavid Scott Curtis campaigned against the top-two system while independent candidateDan Schnur, who was designated "no party preference" on the ballot since California’s Proposition 14 took away candidates' "independent" label option, was in favor of the system.DemocratDerek Cressman opposed the system but did not focus on the issue during his campaign.
Also in the race, DemocratJeff Drobman and two Republicans,Pete Peterson andRoy Allmond, did not made their stances on the top-two system known prior to the primary.
Candidates not involved in debate
California non-profit association the Sacramento Press Club faced criticism from Green Party candidateDavid Scott Curtis after not inviting him and two other 2014 secretary of state candidates to participate in an April 23 debate.[15] With seven candidates in the running, the Sacramento Press Club said they wanted to restrict the size of the event by only including "top contenders in a crowded field," whom they determined to bePete Peterson (R), state Sen. Alex Padilla (D),Dan Schnur (I) andDerek Cressman (D). By the time Curtis learned of his exclusion, back-to-backField Polls had been released showing Curtis ahead of both Schnur and Cressman. In response, Curtis expressed his objection on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, arguing that the decision reflected political bias by a tax-exempt organization. Curtis also filed an IRS investigation request related to the group's tax-exempt status.[16] A press club representative said Curtis's actions were a "tirade of insulting and threatening social media posts" against the organization. The Green Party candidate questioned what such selectivity meant for the state of journalism, arguing that it highlighted the broader implications of the exclusion. Curtis also noted that some of the major-party candidates had existing relationships with the media. Schnur, for example, was known for regularly providing content to the Capitol press, whose members make up a large portion of the Sacramento Press Club. Although trailing Curtis in the polls, Schnur was among the candidates invited to the debate. Joe Mathews, the California editor at Zócalo Public Square, wrote, “Of course, I’m for Dan Schnur for Secretary of State. I’m in the media, and he’s our candidate...He’s the favored candidate of our state’s political media, which feeds us polls and old, bogus narratives about the state.”[15] Northern California's chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists honored Leland Yee with its Public Official Award shortly before Yee's arrest forced him to exit the race.[15]
Yee Arrest
On March 26, 2014, Democratic candidateLeland Yee was arraigned on seven charges of corruption and firearms trafficking. Yee, along with 25 others, was involved in an FBI operation to uncover those suspected of illegal activities involving drugs, guns and arranging murder for hire. Yee's alleged illegal activities stemmed from his debt acquired in a failed run for San Francisco mayor in 2011 and money raised for the Secretary of State race. Authorities believed Yee accepted money for official actions performed while in office. These actions included asking an agency to accept a software contract from a specific vendor in exchange for $10,000, writing a Senate proclamation to honor the Chee Kung Tong group for $6,800 and introducing a medical marijuana businessman to state legislators working on the issue for $21,000. Unknown to Yee, all of these paying contacts were undercover agents. In other attempts to raise money, Yee allegedly promised to help other undercover agents obtain illegal guns from an international arms dealer.[17]
Despite no longer being in the race, Yee's name remained on the primary ballot.
Polls
Primary
| California Secretary of State | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Derek Cressman (D) | Alex Padilla (D) | Pete Peterson (R) | Dan Schnur (NPP) | David Scott Curtis (G) | Leland Yee (D) | Other | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||
| The Field Poll (without Yee) March 18-April 5, 2014 | 2% | 17% | 30% | 4% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 41% | +/-5.5 | 292 | |||||||||
| The Field Poll (with Yee) March 18-April 5, 2014 | 3% | 10% | 27% | 4% | 4% | 8% | 1% | 44% | +/-6.5 | 212 | |||||||||
| AVERAGES | 2.5% | 13.5% | 28.5% | 4% | 4.5% | 4% | 0.5% | 42.5% | +/-6 | 252 | |||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email toeditor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Past elections
2010
| 2010 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[18] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  aDebra Bowen | 53.2% | |
| Republican Party | Damon Dunn | 38.4% | |
| Green Party | Ann Menasche | 3.0% | |
| Libertarian Party | Christina M. Tobin | 2.2% | |
| American Independent Party | Merton D. Short | 1.6% | |
| Peace and Freedom Party | Marylou Cabral | 1.6% | |
| Total Votes | 9,336,900 | ||
2006
| 2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | aDebra Bowen | 48.1% | |
| Republican Party | Bruce McPherson | 45.0% | |
| Green Party | Forrest Hill | 2.2% | |
| Write-In | 4.7% | ||
| Total Votes | 8,385,573 | ||
Campaign finance
Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of$5,626,080 during the election. This information was last updated on February 5, 2015.[20]
| Campaign Contribution Totals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| Alex Padilla | California Secretary of State |  | $2,825,613 | |
| Leland Yee | California Secretary of State |  | $1,225,692 | |
| Dan Schnur | California Secretary of State | | $669,009 | |
| Derek Cressman | California Secretary of State | | $503,829 | |
| Pete Peterson | California Secretary of State | | $387,805 | |
| Roy Allmond | California Secretary of State | | $7,751 | |
| David Curtis | California Secretary of State | | $6,381 | |
| Jeff Drobman | California Secretary of State | | $0 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $5,626,080 | |||
Key deadlines
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| February 20, 2014 | Deadline for candidates to file signatures in lieu of a filing fee |
| March 7, 2014 | Candidate filing deadline if paying fee for ballot access |
| June 3, 2014 | Primary election |
| November 4, 2014 | General election |
| November 6-December 2, 2014 | State Canvassing Board meeting to certify election results |
| January 5, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials in general election |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "California + Secretary + State + Election + 2014"
See also
- California Secretary of State
- California state executive official elections, 2014
- State executive official elections, 2014
External links
Footnotes
- ↑California Legislative Information, "California Constitution, Article II, Section 5," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑Pete Peterson for Secretary of State 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑The Sacramento Bee, "Republican leader of policy institute to run for secretary of state," April 23, 2013
- ↑Alex Padilla for Secretary of State 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑Roy Allmond for Secretary of State 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedAugust15candidates - ↑Derek Cressman for Secretary of State 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed September 11, 2013
- ↑Jeff Drobman for California Secretary of State, "Facebook Timeline," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑California Secretary of State, "Voter Guide: Voluntary Campaign Spending Limits for Candidates for Statewide Elective Office," accessed March 28, 2014(dead link)
- ↑Dan Schnur for Secretary of State 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 28, 2014
- ↑David Curtis for Secretary of State 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed September 11, 2013
- ↑CalNewsroom.com, "Padilla, Yee looking at 3rd party ballot access issues," February 20, 2014
- ↑Calnewsroom.com, "In statewide debut, top-two primary blocks third parties from June ballot," February 14, 2014
- ↑15.015.115.2CalNewsroom.com, "Sacramento Press Club excludes Green Party candidate from Secretary of State debate," April 20, 2014
- ↑CalNewsroom.com, " Re: Exclusion of Green Party Candidate from Secretary of State Debate," April 20, 2014
- ↑The Sacramento Bee, "FBI: California Sen. Leland Yee took bribes, trafficked guns," March 27, 2014
- ↑New York Times, "2010 General Election Results" 2 Nov. 2010
- ↑California Secretary of State - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑Follow the Money, "Overview of California 2014 elections," accessed February 5, 2015
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