Primary preview: California state executive elections, 2014
June 3, 2014
| June 3, 2014 Election Preview |
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Sacramento, California: Eight state executive positions are up for election in 2014 in the state of California: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, state controller, superintendent of public instruction and insurance commissioner.
Going into the 2014 electoral cycle, all seven of the partisan positions are held by Democrats; The office of California State Superintendent of Schools is technically nonpartisan, though incumbent Superintendent Tom Torlakson has long been affiliated with the Democratic Party. Torlakson is one of five state executive incumbents seeking re-election in 2014, including Governor Jerry Brown, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.[1]
The three remaining incumbents - Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Controller John Chiang - are barred by term limits from running for a third term in their respective positions in 2014. Unlike his term-limited contemporaries, Chiang has chosen to seek a different office over retirement. He is pursuing the open treasurer's seat this year.
On June 3, California voters will nominate two candidates from each of the eight contested primary fields to send to the November 4 general election.[2] California uses a top-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.[3][4]
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 June 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system. See here for more information.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Below, Ballotpedia has put together a preview of those upcoming elections.
All polls in California are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time.[5]
California Governor
- See also: California Gubernatorial election, 2014
Democratic incumbent Governor Jerry Brown is running for re-election in 2014. He has been previously been elected governor three times.
Primary Election Candidates
Jerry Brown - Incumbent- Akinyemi Agbede
Richard Aguirre- Alma Marie Winston
- Tim Donnelly
- Glenn Champ
- Neel Kashkari
Luis Rodriguez
(No Party Preference) Robert Newman- (No Party Preference), Janel Hyeshia Buycks
- (No Party Preference), "Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz
- (No Party Preference), Rakesh Kumar Christian
- Joe Leicht
Peace and Freedom Party, Cindy L. Sheehan
Democratic incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown was elected to a record-breaking fourth non-consecutive term in the office.[6]
Including Brown, 15 candidates filed for the June 3 California gubernatorial primary election. Laguna Hills Mayor Andrew Blount (R) withdrew from the race one month before the primary due to health issues. Bount's exit left a total of 14 candidates.[7]
Throughout the primary campaign season, polls underscored projections that Brown would win another four-year term as California's chief executive in 2014. A Field Poll released in early April put Brown ahead of Tim Donnelly by a 40 percent margin. Brown drew 57 percent to Donnelly's 17 percent, with ex-candidate Blount at 3 percent and Kashkari at 2 percent. The final poll before the primary conducted for USC and the Los Angeles Times had Kashkari second place overall at 18 percent, with Donnelly at 13 percent and Brown at 50 percent.[8]
The California gubernatorial race was rated by the Cook Political Report as "Solid Democratic." Brown defeated Republican challenger Neel Kashkari in the November 4 general election by an 18 percent margin.[9]
General election
| Governor of California | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Jerry Brown * (D) | Neel Kashkari (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23 | 55% | 37% | 9% | +/-2 | 7,463 | ||||||||||||||
| 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 to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Primary and hypothetical match-ups
| Governor of California | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Jerry Brown* (D) | Tim Donnelly (R) | Neel Kashkari (R) (Not included in Poll 1 or 3) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| USC/LA Times Poll May 21-28, 2014 | 50% | 13% | 18% | 10% | +/-4.4 | 671 | |||||||||||||
| Survey USA/KABC/KFSN/KGTV/KPIX May 16-19, 2014 | 57% | 18% | 11% | 10% | +/-4.0 | 610 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California May 8-16, 2014 | 48% | 15% | 10% | 27% | +/-3.6 | 1,702 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California April 8-15, 2014 | 46% | 9% | 2% | 38% | +/-5.1 | 944 | |||||||||||||
| The Field Poll March 18-April 5, 2014 | 57% | 17% | 2% | 20% | +/-4.5 | 504 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California March 11-18, 2014 | 47% | 10% | 2% | 36% | +/-4.7 | 936 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California January 14-21, 2014 | 53% | 17% | 0% | 28% | +/-3.8 | 1,151 | |||||||||||||
| The Field Poll November 15-December 3, 2014 | 52% | 9% | 3% | 25% | +/-3.5 | 836 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California November 12-19, 2013 | 46% | 16% | 0% | 29% | +/-4.5 | 1,081 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 50.67% | 13.78% | 5.33% | 24.78% | +/-4.23 | 937.22 | |||||||||||||
| 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 to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent status.
California Lieutenant Governor
Democratic incumbent Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom is running for a second term in 2014.
Primary Election Candidates
- Gavin Newsom - Incumbent
- Eric Korevaar
- Ron Nehring
- David Fennell
- George Yang
- Jena Goodman
- Amos Johnson
- Americans Elect, Alan Reynolds
Attorney General of California
Democratic incumbent Attorney General Kamala Harris is running for a second term in 2014.
Primary Election Candidates
- Kamala D. Harris - Incumbent
- Ronald Gold
- John Haggerty
- David King (California)
- Phil Wyman
Jonathan Jaech- No Party Preference, Orly Taitz
California Secretary of State
Outgoing California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D) was prevented by term limits from running for re-election in 2014.
Primary Election Candidates
- Roy Allmond
- Derek Cressman
- Jeff Drobman
- Alex Padilla
- Pete Peterson
- No Party Preference, Dan Schnur
- David Scott Curtis
- Leland Yee (Yee is no longer an active candidate but his name will still appear on the ballot)
Seven candidates filed for race to replace Bowen as California's chief elections official in 2014. One of the key issues of the election thus far has been the signature and filing requirements for minor party candidates under California's top-two primary system. Under new qualifications implemented with the top-two primary system, minor party candidates must collect 10,000 signatures to waive a filing fee equal to two percent of the first year's salary for state offices or one 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 for California Secretary of State, California State Senator Alex Padilla (D) and ex-state Sen. Leland Yee, who ultimately had to withdraw from the race after he was arrested in March 2014, expressed concerns about ballot access limitations for minor parties under the top-two primary system. Then-Senator Yee opposed the top-two system since it was originally proposed on the ballot, and Senator Padilla said his office was looking into legislative solutions.[10][11] Green Party candidate David Scott Curtis has campaigned against the top-two system while independent candidate Dan Schnur, who will be designated "no party preference" on the ballot since California’s Proposition 14 took away candidates' "independent" label option, is in favor of it. Democrat Derek Cressman openly opposes the system but did not focus on the issue during his primary campaign.
On March 26, 2014, Democratic candidate Leland 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. If convicted, Yee would face up to 20 years in a federal prison. 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 believe Yee accepted money for official actions performed while in office. These actions included urging 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.[12] Despite no longer being in the race, Yee's name will remain on the primary ballot. This is due to an election rule--scarcely seen outside California--barring candidates from withdrawing their names from the ballot after they file.
A California nonprofit association called the Sacramento Press Club incited the ire of Green Party candidate David Scott Curtis for failing to invite him and two other 2014 secretary of state candidates to participate in an April 23 debate.[13] 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 be Pete Peterson (R), state Sen. Alex Padilla (D), Dan Schnur (I) and Derek Cressman (D). By the time Curtis learned of his exclusion, back-to-back Field Polls had been released showing Curtis ahead of both Schnur and Cressman, two of these presumed "top contenders." Absent an immediate explanation and/or apology from the Sacramento Press Club, Curtis used social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to broadcast his outrage over what he considered a conspicuous display of political bias by the tax-exempt organization, into which Curtis subsequently filed an IRS investigation request.[14] Amid what a press club representative characterized as Curtis' "tirade of insulting and threatening social media posts" against the organization, the Green Party hopeful questioned what such demonstrable selectivity means for the state of 'journalism,' thus prompting recognition of his snub's contextual significance. At this stage of the primary election season, political media-affiliated individuals and organizations were already cited for their marked presence and potential influence in the secretary of state open seat race. For example, Schnur is known for furnishing the Capitol press, whose members make up a large portion of the Sacramento Press Club, with sound bites and other material. Schnur was one of the two candidates to receive invitations to the debate hosted by the press club despite trailing Curtis in the polls. Joe Mathews, the California editor at Zocalo 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.”[13] Meanwhile, Northern California's chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists honored disgraced ex-candidate and state Sen. Leland Yee with its Public Official Award shortly before Yee's arrest forced him to exit the 2014 secretary of state race.[13]
California State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is running for re-election.
Primary Election Candidates
- Tom Torlakson - Incumbent
- Marshall Tuck
- Lydia Gutierrez
California Treasurer
Democratic incumbent Bill Lockyer is term-limited from running for re-election.
Primary Election Candidates
California Controller
Democratic incumbent controller John Chiang is term-limited from seeking re-election as controller in 2014 and has opted to run for the open state treasurer's seat.
Primary Election Candidates
California Insurance Commissioner
Democratic incumbent commissioner Dave Jones is running for re-election.
Primary Election Candidates
- Dave Jones - Incumbent
- Ted Gaines
- Peace and Freedom Party, Nathalie Hrizi
See also
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- California elections, 2014
- California Gubernatorial election, 2014
- California Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014
- California attorney general election, 2014
- California secretary of state election, 2014
- California down ballot state executive elections, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ California Constitution, "Article 2, Section 6," accessed June 27, 2011
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed August 13, 2024
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed August 13, 2024
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Elections FAQ," accessed January 3, 2014
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Gov. Jerry Brown to become the longest-serving governor in California history," October 5, 2013
- ↑ The Orange County Register, "Laguna Hills mayor drops out of governor's race," April 29, 2014
- ↑ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, "New University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll," May 21-28, 2014
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 Governors Race Ratings," May 16, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "FBI: California Sen. Leland Yee took bribes, trafficked guns," March 27, 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 CalNewsroom.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
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