2014 California State Controller election

2014 California State Controller election

← 2010 November 4, 2014 2018 →
 
Nominee Betty Yee Ashley Swearengin
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 3,810,304 3,249,668
Percentage 54.0% 46.0%

County results
Yee:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Swearengin:      50–60%      60–70%      70-80%

State Controller before election

John Chiang
Democratic

Elected State Controller

Betty Yee
Democratic

The 2014 California State Controller election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the State Controller of California. Incumbent Democratic State Controller John Chiang was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election to a third term in office and instead ran successfully for California State Treasurer.

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").

In the primary, Republican Ashley Swearengin and Democrat Betty Yee finished first and second, respectively. The third-place finisher, Democrat John Pérez, initially called for a recount in 15 counties after official results showed him trailing Yee by 481 votes; however, he ultimately conceded to Yee more than a month after the primary.[1][2][3] Swearengin and Yee contested the general election, which Yee won.

  1. ^ Megerian, Chris (July 6, 2014). "John Pérez calls for recount in tight race for state controller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  2. ^ "8 reasons to care about the recount in the state controller's race". KPCC. July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  3. ^ Wildermuth, John. "John Pérez concedes in California controller's race". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 18, 2014.