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. Swearengin and Yee contested the general election, which Yee won. As of , this election, alongside the concurrent secretary of state election, is 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 Candidates Democratic Party Declared Tammy D. Blair, administrator John Pérez, Speaker of the California State Assembly Betty Yee, Member of the State Board of Equalization

Declined Bill Lockyer, State Treasurer and former California Attorney General

Republican Party Declared David Evans, accountant, candidate for California's 22nd congressional district in 2006 and for Controller in 2010 Ashley Swearengin, Mayor of Fresno

Withdrew Tina Mizany

Green Party Declared Laura Wells, activist, retired financial and business analyst, nominee for Controller in 2002 and 2006 and nominee for Governor in 2010

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror JohnPérez (D) AshleySwearengin (R) BettyYee (D) Other UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA May 16–19, 2014 610 ±4% 18% 31% 24% 8% 18%Field PollField Poll Mar. 18–Apr. 5, 2014 504 ±4.5% 14% 28% 19% 1% 38%

Results

General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror BettyYee (D) AshleySwearengin (R) UndecidedGQR/American ViewpointGQR/American Viewpoint October 22–29, 2014 1,162 ± 3.3% 46% 38% 16%Field PollField Poll October 15–28, 2014 941 ± 3.4% 44% 36% 20%Field PollField Poll August 14–28, 2014 467 ± 4.8% 46% 32% 22%Gravis MarketingGravis Marketing July 22–24, 2014 580 ± 4% 39% 39% 22%

Results

By county County Betty YeeDemocratic Ashley SwearenginRepublican Margin Total votes cast # % # % # %Alameda264,54176.87%79,60523.13%184,93653.74%344,146Alpine25856.95%19543.05%6313.91%453Amador4,86738.92%7,63961.08%-2,772-22.17%12,506Butte26,28743.97%33,50056.03%-7,213-12.06%59,787Calaveras5,90839.15%9,18260.85%-3,274-21.70%15,090Colusa1,44635.68%2,60764.32%-1,161-28.65%4,053Contra Costa148,32960.80%95,64339.20%52,68621.60%243,972Del Norte3,10445.80%3,67354.20%-569-8.40%6,777El Dorado22,44737.76%36,99462.24%-14,547-24.47%59,441Fresno65,58641.49%92,49758.51%-26,911-17.02%158,083Glenn1,71829.53%4,09970.47%-2,381-40.93%5,817Humboldt22,85263.35%13,21936.65%9,63326.71%36,071Imperial12,34659.78%8,30740.22%4,03919.56%20,653Inyo2,09539.76%3,17460.24%-1,079-20.48%5,269Kern48,31136.63%83,58163.37%-35,270-26.74%131,892Kings7,60134.35%14,52565.65%-6,924-31.29%22,126Lake9,78357.51%7,22742.49%2,55615.03%17,010Lassen1,90828.42%4,80571.58%-2,897-43.16%6,713Los Angeles852,77760.96%546,21139.04%306,56621.91%1,398,988Madera8,89833.41%17,73366.59%-8,835-33.18%26,631Marin59,75572.05%23,17627.95%36,57944.11%82,931Mariposa2,25734.79%4,23065.21%-1,973-30.41%6,487Mendocino15,82567.79%7,51932.21%8,30635.58%23,344Merced14,15539.68%21,52260.32%-7,367-20.65%35,677Modoc79428.41%2,00171.59%-1,207-43.18%2,795Mono1,43047.51%1,58052.49%-150-4.98%3,010Monterey44,95562.66%26,78637.34%18,16925.33%71,741Napa21,82559.96%14,57540.04%7,25019.92%36,400Nevada18,20248.96%18,97751.04%-775-2.08%37,179Orange228,75438.02%372,95061.98%-144,196-23.96%601,704Placer41,08637.33%68,97162.67%-27,885-25.34%110,057Plumas2,72239.31%4,20360.69%-1,481-21.39%6,925Riverside148,33943.27%194,49456.73%-46,155-13.46%342,833Sacramento173,84054.90%142,79045.10%31,0509.81%316,630San Benito7,47356.62%5,72643.38%1,74713.24%13,199San Bernardino122,63643.77%157,56856.23%-34,932-12.47%280,204San Diego303,37246.70%346,30853.30%-42,936-6.61%649,680San Francisco170,38581.48%38,73018.52%131,65562.96%209,115San Joaquin56,49449.77%57,00550.23%-511-0.45%113,499San Luis Obispo38,88046.96%43,91453.04%-5,034-6.08%82,794San Mateo105,45068.37%48,77531.63%56,67536.75%154,225Santa Barbara56,32952.84%50,28047.16%6,0495.67%106,609Santa Clara237,64662.91%140,08837.09%97,55825.83%377,734Santa Cruz50,46672.12%19,51027.88%30,95644.24%69,976Shasta18,86334.21%36,28265.79%-17,419-31.59%55,145Sierra55937.85%91862.15%-359-24.31%1,477Siskiyou5,70143.18%7,50156.82%-1,800-13.63%13,202Solano51,73359.38%35,39340.62%16,34018.75%87,126Sonoma95,10768.84%43,04731.16%52,06037.68%138,154Stanislaus39,40444.60%48,95155.40%-9,547-10.81%88,355Sutter7,02535.32%12,86464.68%-5,839-29.36%19,889Tehama4,94432.57%10,23767.43%-5,293-34.87%15,181Trinity1,82548.42%1,94451.58%-119-3.16%3,769Tulare19,81832.23%41,67467.77%-21,856-35.54%61,492Tuolumne6,63740.25%9,85459.75%-3,217-19.51%16,491Ventura92,17447.73%100,95652.27%-8,782-4.55%193,130Yolo27,97163.42%16,13136.58%11,84026.85%44,102Yuba4,41136.06%7,82263.94%-3,411-27.88%12,233Total3,810,30453.97%3,249,66846.03%560,6367.94%7,059,972

References

External links California State Controller election, 2014 at Ballotpedia Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org

Official campaign websites David Evans for State Controller John Pérez for State Controller Betty Yee for State Controller Laura Wells for State Controller