California gubernatorial election, 2014

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png
 California's 2014 elections
U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • Other executive offices • State Senate • State Assembly • State ballot measures • School boards • Judicial • Candidate ballot access
Flag of California.png



StateExecLogo.png

California Gubernatorial Election
Primary Date:
June 3, 2014
General Election Date:
November 4, 2014
November 4 Election Winner:
Jerry Brown Democratic Party
Incumbent prior to election:
Jerry Brown Democratic Party
Jerry Brown 1.jpg
California State Executive Elections
Top Ballot
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General
Down Ballot
Treasurer, Controller, Superintendent, Insurance Commissioner
Current trifecta for Democrats
WhoRunsTheStates Badge.jpg
State executive offices in California
Flag of California.png

The California gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Jerry Brown (D) ran successfully for re-election against Republican candidate Neel Kashkari in 2014. Brown won another four-year term by defeating Kashkari.[1]

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.[2][3]

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 August 2024, 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.

Candidates

General election

Democratic Party Jerry Brown - Incumbent Green check mark transparent.png[4]
Republican Party Neel Kashkari - Former Assistant U.S. Treasury Secretary, Investment Firm Executive[5]

Lost in the primary

Democratic Party Akinyemi Agbede - Mathematician[6]
Republican Party Richard Aguirre - Economist, 2010 candidate[7]
Republican Party Alma Marie Winston - CEO of project funding company[6]
Republican Party Glenn Champ - Contractor[6][8]
Republican Party Tim Donnelly - Member of the California State Assembly, representing District 33.[9]
Green Party Luis Rodriguez - Author, journalist and political activist[10]
Grey.png (No Party Preference) Robert Newman - Psychologist, Farmer, perennial candidate[11]
Grey.png (No Party Preference), Janel Hyeshia Buycks - Minister[6]
Grey.png (No Party Preference), "Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz - Businessman[12][6]
Grey.png (No Party Preference), Rakesh Kumar Christian - 2010 candidate[13][14]
Grey.png Joe Leicht - Golf course manager[15][6]
Pink.png Peace and Freedom Party, Cindy L. Sheehan - Activist, perennial candidate[13][16]

Top-two primary system

Since California implemented the top-two primary system, minor party and no party preference candidates have had a harder time making it onto the ballot. In 2012, minor parties put 21 candidates on the ballot in California. For the 10 years prior to that election, they averaged a combined 133 candidates on the ballot.[17] Additionally, in the 111 elections for federal or state office in which a minor party did place a candidate on the primary ballot against at least two major party candidates in a top-two primary system, no minor party candidate has placed first or second in order to move on to the general election.[18][19]

Results

General election

Governor of California, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJerry Brown Incumbent 60% 4,388,368
     Republican Neel Kashkari 40% 2,929,213
Total Votes 7,317,581
Election results California Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed April 6, 2017

Primary election

Governor of California, Blanket Primary, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJerry Brown Incumbent 54.3% 2,354,769
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngNeel Kashkari 19.4% 839,767
     Republican Tim Donnelly 14.8% 643,236
     Republican Andrew Blount 2.1% 89,749
     Republican Glenn Champ 1.8% 76,066
     Green Luis Rodriguez 1.5% 66,876
     Peace and Freedom Cindy L. Sheehan 1.2% 52,707
     Republican Alma Marie Winston 1.1% 46,042
     Nonpartisan Robert Newman 1% 44,120
     Democratic Akinyemi Agbede 0.9% 37,024
     Republican Richard Aguirre 0.8% 35,125
     Nonpartisan "Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz 0.3% 14,929
     Nonpartisan Janel Hyeshia Buycks 0.3% 12,136
     Nonpartisan Rakesh Kumar Christian 0.3% 11,142
     Nonpartisan Joe Leicht 0.2% 9,307
Total Votes 4,332,995
Election results California Secretary of State


Race background

Democratic incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown was elected to a record-breaking fourth non-consecutive term in the office.[20]

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 hopefuls, few with the political connections or money to provide a substantial general election challenge. California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R) and former Treasury official Neel Kashkari (R) proved to be formidable campaigners in the primary, though Brown was favored for re-election.[21]

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, who then appeared to be his biggest competitor, 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 foreshadowed Donnelly's demise, pushing Kashkari into second place overall at 18 percent, with Donnelly at 13 percent and Brown holding tight at 50 percent.[22]

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.[23]

Polls

General election

Governor of California
Poll Jerry Brown * (D) Neel Kashkari (R)Undecided/OtherMargin of errorSample size
New York Times/CBS News/YouGov
October 16-23		 55%37%9%+/-27,463
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 [email protected].

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)UndecidedMargin of errorSample size
USC/LA Times Poll
May 21-28, 2014		 50%13%18%10%+/-4.4671
Survey USA/KABC/KFSN/KGTV/KPIX
May 16-19, 2014		 57%18%11%10%+/-4.0610
Public Policy Institute of California
May 8-16, 2014		 48%15%10%27%+/-3.61,702
Public Policy Institute of California
April 8-15, 2014		 46%9%2%38%+/-5.1944
The Field Poll
March 18-April 5, 2014		 57%17%2%20%+/-4.5504
Public Policy Institute of California
March 11-18, 2014		 47%10%2%36%+/-4.7936
Public Policy Institute of California
January 14-21, 2014		 53%17%0%28%+/-3.81,151
The Field Poll
November 15-December 3, 2014		 52%9%3%25%+/-3.5836
Public Policy Institute of California
November 12-19, 2013		 46%16%0%29%+/-4.51,081
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 [email protected].

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent status.

Past elections

2010

2010 Race for Governor - General Election
Party Candidate Vote Percentage
     Democratic Party Approveda Jerry Brown 53.4%
     Republican Party Meg Whitman 41.5%
     American Independent Party Chelene Nightengale 1.6%
     Libertarian Party Dale Ogden 1.5%
     Green Party Laura Wells 1.2%
     Peace and Freedom Party Carlos Alvarez 0.8%
Total Votes 8,085,908

Voter turnout

Political scientist Michael McDonald's United States Elections Project studied voter turnout in the 2014 election by looking at the percentage of eligible voters who headed to the polls. McDonald used voting-eligible population (VEP), or the number of eligible voters independent of their current registration status, to calculate turnout rates in each state on November 4. He also incorporated ballots cast for the highest office in each state into his calculation. He estimated that 81,687,059 ballots were cast in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, representing 35.9 percent of the VEP.[24] By comparison, 61.6 percent of VEP voted in the 2008 presidential election and 58.2 percent of VEP voted in the 2012 presidential election.[25]

Quick facts

  • According to PBS Newshour, voter turnout in the 2014 midterms was the lowest since the 1942 midterms, which took place during the nation's involvement in World War II.[26]
  • Forty-three states and the District of Columbia failed to surpass 50 percent turnout in McDonald's analysis.
  • The three states with the lowest turnout according to McDonald's analysis were Texas (28.3 percent), Tennessee (28.6 percent), and Indiana (28.8 percent).
  • Maine (58.5 percent), Wisconsin (56.5 percent), and Colorado (54.5 percent) were the three states with the highest turnout.
  • There were only 12 states that increased voter turnout in 2014 compared to the 2010 midterm elections.[27]

Note: Information from the United States Elections Project was last updated on December 16, 2014.

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 $27,894,562 during the election. This information was last updated on February 5, 2015.[28]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate Office Result Contributions
Jerry Brown Democratic Party California Governor Won $19,841,412
Neel Kashkari Republican Party California Governor Defeated $6,976,748
Tim Donnelly Republican Party California Governor Defeated $963,040
Robert Newman Grey.png California Governor Defeated $33,692
Luis Rodriguez Green Party California Governor Defeated $24,415
Cindy L. Sheehan Peace and Freedom Party California Governor Defeated $20,651
Andrew Blount Republican Party California Governor Defeated $17,000
Janel Hyeshia Buycks Grey.png California Governor Defeated $6,376
Joe Leicht Grey.png California Governor Defeated $6,292
"Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz Grey.png California Governor Defeated $3,510
Akinyemi Agbede Democratic Party California Governor Defeated $1,401
Richard Aguirre Republican Party California Governor Defeated $25
Glenn Champ Republican Party California Governor Defeated $0
Rakesh Kumar Christian Grey.png California Governor Defeated $0
Alma Marie Winston Republican Party California Governor Defeated $0
Grand Total Raised $27,894,562

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 + Governor + elections"

California Gubernatorial Election News Feed

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance:Statement of Intention," accessed November 27, 2012
  2. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed August 13, 2024
  3. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed August 13, 2024
  4. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance:Statement of Intention," accessed November 27, 2012
  5. ↑ Neel Kashkari for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed February 2, 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 VOLUNTARY CAMPAIGN SPENDING LIMITS FOR CANDIDATES FOR STATEWIDE ELECTIVE OFFICE," March 10, 2014 (dead link)
  7. ↑ Richard Aguirre for Governor 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed September 11, 2013
  8. ↑ Glenn Champ for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 26, 2014
  9. ↑ Tim Donnelly for Governor, accessed July 8, 2013
  10. ↑ Green Party Watch, "Luis Rodriguez announces Green campaign for Governor of California," accessed August 14, 2013
  11. ↑ Robert Newman for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed January 20, 2014
  12. ↑ "Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 26, 2014
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Aug15candidates
  14. ↑ American Public Party Official Website, "A New Foundation for Development and Progress," accessed September 11, 2013
  15. ↑ Joe Leicht for Governor of California 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 26, 2014
  16. ↑ Cindy Sheehan for Governor 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed September 11, 2013
  17. ↑ Calnewsroom.com, "In statewide debut, top-two primary blocks third parties from June ballot," February 14, 2014
  18. ↑ Ballot Access News, "California Special Election Returns, State Senate District 23," March 26, 2014
  19. ↑ Ballot Access News, "Top-Two System Again Excludes All Minor Parties from General Election Campaign if At Least Two Major Party Members Ran," June 4, 2014
  20. ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Gov. Jerry Brown to become the longest-serving governor in California history," October 5, 2013
  21. ↑ The Orange County Register, "Laguna Hills mayor drops out of governor's race," April 29, 2014
  22. ↑ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, "New University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll," May 21-28, 2014
  23. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 Governors Race Ratings," May 16, 2014
  24. ↑ United States Elections Project, "2014 November General Election Turnout Rates," November 7, 2014
  25. ↑ TIME, "Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections Hits 72-Year Low," November 10, 2014
  26. ↑ PBS, "2014 midterm election turnout lowest in 70 years," November 10, 2014
  27. ↑ U.S. News & World Report, "Midterm Turnout Down in 2014," November 5, 2014
  28. ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of California 2014 elections," accessed February 5, 2015
v • e
2014 state executive official elections
GovernorStateExecLogo.png
Lieutenant Governor
Secretary of State
Attorney General
Down ballot offices
Election information
Flag of California
v • e
State of California
Sacramento (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Regierung

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=California_gubernatorial_election,_2014&oldid=8057918"