2018 California Secretary of State election

The 2018 California Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the California Secretary of State. Incumbent Democratic Secretary Alex Padilla won re-election to a second term.

2018 California Secretary of State Election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Candidate Alex Padilla Mark Meuser Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 7,909,521 4,362,545 Percentage 64.5% 35.5%

County results Padilla:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Meuser:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Secretary of State before election Alex Padilla Democratic Elected Secretary of State Alex Padilla Democratic

Primary election

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

• Alex Padilla, incumbent California Secretary of State^[1]
• Ruben Major, paramedic^[2]

Republican Party

Declared

• Mark P. Meuser, election law attorney^[3]
• Raul Rodriguez Jr., warehousing employee

Green Party

Declared

• Michael Feinstein, former mayor of Santa Monica, Electoral Reform Consultant^[4]
• Erik Rydberg, electoral reform advocate, Community Organizer

Libertarian Party

• Gail Lightfoot, retired nurse

Peace and Freedom Party

Declared

• C.T. Weber, retired government analyst

Endorsements

Mike Feinstein (G)

Local-level officials

• Nathaniel Trives, former mayor of Santa Monica

Organizations

• Our Revolution East Bay
• Our Revolution Contra Costa
• SF Berniecrats

Individuals

• Joe Mathews, syndicated columnist
• Terry O'Day, Vice President of EVgo
• Lewis Perkins, CEO at Comprehensive Financial Solutions, Inc
• Grace Aaron, Vice President of Social Uplift Foundation
• Sam Hall Kaplan, writer
• Jason Islas, public affairs at Bird
• Wendy Girard, actress
• Rosemary Regalbuto, President -- Meals on Wheels West
• Paul Kawika Martin, senior policy and political director of Helping NGOs and Congress Strategically Change Foreign Policy
• Mark Stout, vice president Project Development at Amber Kinetics Inc.
• Marlene Wells, Green Party of Canada organizer

Ruben Major (D)

State-level officials

• Doug La Follette, Wisconsin Secretary of State

Local-level officials

• Gayle McLaughlin, former mayor of Richmond
• Mary Navarro, Orange County Board of Education, District 5

Organizations

• Progressive Democrats of America
• Resistance SF
• Justice Party of California
• Mira Costa College Democrats
• Revolution LA
• Pasadena Foothills Democratic Club
• San Francisco 4 Democracy PAC
• Our Revolution Humboldt (formerly Courageous Resistance of Humboldt)
• North County San Diego Progressive Democrats
• Our Revolution Long Beach
• Our Revolution West Marin
• Indian Rock Our Revolution
• Indivisible El Cerrito, El Cerrito, CA
• San Diego Progressive Democratic Club
• Democratic Socialists of America San Diego
• Justice Party of California
• Yolo County Progressives

Media

• San Leandro Talk
• OB (Ocean Beach) Rag
• San Diego Free Press

Individuals

• Ahmad Fayız Nawabi, Assembly Delegate, District 71
• Alec Bash, Democracy for America
• Aleita Huguenin, Former DNC Chair Western States Caucus, Assembly Delegate, District 8
• Alexis Edelstein, Assembly Delegate, District 62
• Allison Groves, DSCC Supervisorial District Delegate, Assembly District 35
• Amarnath Ravva, Assembly Delegate, District 51
• Andrea Smith, Previous Secretary of External Affairs, Cal Poly Pomona Associated Students Inc.
• Anthony Alexander, Assembly Delegate, District 25
• Antonio Robles, Assembly Delegate, District 76
• Atem Koul, Assembly Delegate, District 59
• Barbara Mead, Assembly District 76 Delegate
• Brian Fox, Original Author of GNU Shell
• Carolyn Fowler, Assembly Delegate, District 62
• Chinyere Nnodim Jack, Assembly Delegate, District 21
• Chris Barrosso, Electrical Engineer, Evolved Wireless, Inc., Assembly Delegate District 76
• Dan Mulherin, Assembly Delegate, District 70
• Dan Wood, Assembly Delegate, District 18
• David DeBus, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Assembly Delegate, District 77
• Dr. Bill Honigman, Assembly Delegate, District 73, California State Coordinator, Progressive Democrats of America
• Hene Kelly, disability rights advocate
• Jeff Hayden, char of The California State Bar, Board of Legal Specialization

Mark P. Meuser (R)

State-level officials

• Bill Jones, former Secretary of State
• Mike Morrell, Senator
• Matthew Harper, Assemblyman
• Melissa Melendez, Assemblywoman
• James Gallagher, Assemblyman
• Heath Flora, Assemblyman
• Catharine Baker, Assemblywoman
• Steven Choi, Assemblyman
• Phillip Chen, Assemblyman
• Devon Mathis, Assemblyman
• Tim Donnelly, former Assemblyman

Individuals

• Pete Peterson, 2014 Candidate for Secretary of State

Organizations

• California Republican Party
• California Impact Republicans
• Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women
• California Republican Veterans Association
• Calaveras County GOP
• Contra Costa County GOP
• Del Norte County GOP
• Fresno County GOP
• Humboldt County GOP
• Lake County GOP
• Madera County GOP
• Nevada County GOP
• Sacramento County GOP
• San Benito County GOP
• San Bernardino County GOP
• Santa Barbara County GOP
• Santa Cruz County GOP
• Solano County GOP
• Sonoma County GOP
• Siskiyou County GOP
• Yolo County GOP

^[5] Newspapers

• Santa Barbara News-Press^[6]

Results

County results

Padilla   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

Meuser   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%

Nonpartisan blanket primary results^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alex Padilla (incumbent)	3,475,633	52.6
	Republican	Mark P. Meuser	2,047,903	31.0
	Democratic	Ruben Major	355,036	5.4
	Republican	Raul Rodriguez Jr.	330,460	5.0
	Libertarian	Gail Lightfoot	155,879	2.4
	Green	Michael Feinstein	136,725	2.1
	Peace and Freedom	C.T. Weber	61,375	0.9
	Green	Erik Rydberg	48,705	0.7
Total votes			6,611,716	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing magazine[8]	Safe D	June 4, 2018

Results

California Secretary of State election, 2018^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Alex Padilla (incumbent)	7,909,521	64.45%	+10.82%
	Republican	Mark P. Meuser	4,362,545	35.55%	−10.82%
Total votes			12,272,066	100%	N/A
	Democratic hold