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 2025, 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.
Results.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em" |%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
References.
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External links.
Official campaign websites