California gubernatorial election, 2014

California gubernatorial election, 2014

November 4, 2014
Turnout	30.94%
Nominee Jerry Brown Neel Kashkari Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 4,388,368 2,929,213 Percentage 60.0% 40.0%
County results
Governor before election Jerry Brown Democratic Elected Governor Jerry Brown Democratic

The 2014 California gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of California, concurrently with elections for the rest of California's executive branch, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Jerry Brown ran for re-election to a second consecutive and fourth overall term in office. Although Governors are limited to lifetime service of two terms in office, Brown previously served as Governor from 1975 to 1983 and the law only affects terms served after 1990.

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"). Brown and Republican Neel Kashkari finished first and second, respectively, and contested in the general election, which Brown won. He won the largest gubernatorial victory since 1986, "despite running a virtually nonexistent campaign."

Primary election

A certified list of candidates was released by the Secretary of State on March 27, 2014. The primary election took place on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, from 7am to 8pm.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

• Akinyemi Agbede, candidate for Mayor of Orange County, Florida in 2010
• Jerry Brown, incumbent Governor of California

Withdrew

• Geby Espinosa, gym owner
• Hanala Sagal, author and fitness personality
• Michael Strimling, attorney

Declined

• Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California (ran for re-election)
• Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California (ran for re-election)
• Hilda Solis, former United States Secretary of Labor and former U.S. Representative (ran for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors)
• Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles

Republican Party

Declared

• Richard Aguirre, real estate investor and Democratic candidate for Governor in 2010
• Glenn Champ, businessman and engineer
• Tim Donnelly, State Assemblyman and Minuteman founder
• Neel Kashkari, former Acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
• Alma Marie Winston

Withdrew

• Andrew Blount, Mayor of Laguna Hills
• Dennis Jackson, manufacturer
• Abel Maldonado, former Lieutenant Governor of California

Declined

• Kevin McCarthy, U.S. Representative and House Majority Whip
• John Moorlach, Orange County Supervisor
• Steve Poizner, former Insurance Commissioner of California and candidate for Governor in 2010
• George Radanovich, former U.S. Representative
• Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, former CEO of eBay and nominee for Governor in 2010

Libertarian Party

Declined

• James P. Gray, former Orange County Superior Court Judge and Libertarian Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2012

Green Party

Declared

• Luis J. Rodriguez, author, progressive activist and Justice Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2012

American Independent Party

Withdrew

• Robert Ornelas, American Independent Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2012

Peace and Freedom Party

Declared

• Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist and Peace and Freedom Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2012

Independent

Declared

• Bogdan Ambrozewicz, small business owner, Independent candidate for the State Senate in 2012 and Republican candidate for the State Assembly in 2011
• Janel Buycks, minister/business owner
• Rakesh Kumar Christian, small business owner, Independent candidate for Governor in 2010
• Joe Leicht, golf course operator
• Robert Newman, psychologist, farmer and Republican candidate for Governor in 2003, 2006 and 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jerry Brown (D)	Andrew Blount (R)	Tim Donnelly (R)	Neel Kashkari (R)	Abel Maldonado (R)	Other	Undecided
GQR	May 21–28, 2014	626	± 4.4%	50%	—	13%	18%	—	5%	14%
SurveyUSA	May 16–19, 2014	610	± 4%	57%	—	18%	11%	—	4%	10%
PPIC	May 8–15, 2014	901	± 4.9%	48%	—	15%	10%	—	1%	27%
PPIC	April 8–15, 2014	944	± 5.1%	46%	3%	9%	2%	—	2%	38%
Field Poll	March 18–April 5, 2014	504	± 4.5%	57%	3%	17%	2%	—	1%	20%
PPIC	March 11–18, 2014	936	± 4.7%	47%	2%	10%	2%	—	3%	36%
Field Poll	November 15–December 3, 2013	836	± 3.5%	52%	—	9%	3%	11%	—	25%
PPIC	November 12–19, 2013	1,081	± 4.5%	46%	—	16%	—	7%	1%	29%

Results

California gubernatorial primary election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Brown (Incumbent)	2,354,769	54.34
	Republican	Neel Kashkari	839,767	19.38
	Republican	Tim Donnelly	643,236	14.85
	Republican	Andrew Blount	89,749	2.07
	Republican	Glenn Champ	76,066	1.76
	Green	Luis J. Rodriguez	66,872	1.54
	Peace and Freedom	Cindy Sheehan	52,707	1.22
	Republican	Alma Marie Winston	46,042	1.06
	No party preference	Robert Newman	44,120	1.02
	Democratic	Akinyemi Agbede	37,024	0.85
	Republican	Richard William Aguirre	35,125	0.81
	No party preference	"Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz	14,929	0.35
	No party preference	Janel Hyeshia Buycks	12,136	0.28
	No party preference	Rakesh Kumar Christian	11,142	0.26
	No party preference	Joe Leicht	9,307	0.22
	Democratic	Karen Jill Bernal (write-in)	17	<0.01
	No party preference	Nickolas Wildstar (write-in)	17	<0.01
	No party preference	Jimelle L. Walls (write-in)	3	<0.01
Total votes			4,333,028	100
Voter turnout			14.67%

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jerry Brown (D)	Neel Kashkari (R)	Other	Undecided
Zogby Analytics	October 28–31, 2014	705	± 3.8%	51%	33%	16%
GQR/American Viewpoint	October 22–29, 2014	1,162	± 3.3%	56%	37%	—	7%
Field Poll	October 15–28, 2014	941	± 3.4%	54%	33%	—	13%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	October 16–23, 2014	7,463	± 2%	55%	37%	1%	8%
PPIC	October 12–19, 2014	1,704	± 3.5%	52%	36%	—	12%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	September 20–October 1, 2014	7,943	± 2%	56%	36%	1%	7%
PPIC	September 8–15, 2014	916	± 4.9%	54%	33%	2%	11%
LA Times/USC	September 2–9, 2014	1,089	± 3.3%	57%	36%	—	7%
GQR/AV	September 2–8, 2014	8,941	± 2%	57%	32%	—	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	August 18–September 2, 2014	8,941	± 2%	53%	35%	2%	10%
Field Poll	August 14–28, 2014	467	± 4.8%	50%	34%	—	16%
Gravis Marketing	July 22–24, 2014	580	± 4%	52%	35%	—	13%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	July 5–24, 2014	9,393	± ?	57%	33%	3%	7%
PPIC	July 8–15, 2014	984	± 4.7%	52%	33%	4%	11%
Field Poll	June 5–22, 2014	2,013	± 3.2%	52%	32%	0%	16%
Rasmussen Reports	June 4–5, 2014	823	± 4%	52%	33%	5%	10%
GQR	May 21–28, 2014	626	± 4.4%	53%	35%	2%	9%
MFour/Tulchin Research	August 27–30, 2013	1,001	± 3.5%	44%	15.4%	8.1%	32.5%

Results

Brown won easily, by nearly twenty points. He outperformed his majority margin from 2010. Brown as expected did very well in Los Angeles and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kashkari conceded defeat right after the polls closed in California.

California gubernatorial general election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Brown (Incumbent)	4,388,368	59.97
	Republican	Neel Kashkari	2,929,213	40.03
Total votes			7,317,581	100

External links

• California gubernatorial election, 2014 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org