2018 California Secretary of State election

2018 California Secretary of State election
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
	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

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.

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

Nonpartisan blanket primary results^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alex Padilla (incumbent)	3,475,633	52.57%
	Republican	Mark P. Meuser	2,047,903	30.97%
	Democratic	Ruben Major	355,036	5.37%
	Republican	Raul Rodriguez Jr.	330,460	5.00%
	Libertarian	Gail Lightfoot	155,879	2.36%
	Green	Michael Feinstein	136,725	2.07%
	Peace and Freedom	C.T. Weber	61,375	0.93%
	Green	Erik Rydberg	48,705	0.74%
Total votes			6,611,716	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing^[8]	Safe D	October 11, 2018

Results

2018 California Secretary of State election^[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	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

By county

County^[10]	Alex Padilla Democratic		Mark P. Meuser Republican		Margin		Total votes cast
County^[10]	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Alameda	461,216	81.74%	103,034	18.26%	358,182	63.48%	564,250
Alpine	394	65.34%	209	34.66%	185	30.68%	603
Amador	6,823	39.31%	10,536	60.69%	-3,713	-21.39%	17,359
Butte	43,959	50.42%	43,220	49.58%	739	0.85%	87,179
Calaveras	8,374	39.41%	12,874	60.59%	-4,500	-21.18%	21,248
Colusa	2,315	40.81%	3,357	59.19%	-1,042	-18.37%	5,672
Contra Costa	285,665	70.47%	119,682	29.53%	165,983	40.95%	405,347
Del Norte	3,646	44.08%	4,625	55.92%	-979	-11.84%	8,271
El Dorado	38,500	43.74%	49,518	56.26%	-11,018	-12.52%	88,018
Fresno	133,219	53.31%	116,669	46.69%	16,550	6.62%	249,888
Glenn	2,826	34.61%	5,340	65.39%	-2,514	-30.79%	8,166
Humboldt	34,912	67.06%	17,151	32.94%	17,761	34.11%	52,063
Imperial	22,501	67.81%	10,682	32.19%	11,819	35.62%	33,183
Inyo	3,370	46.86%	3,821	53.14%	-451	-6.27%	7,191
Kern	87,317	43.23%	114,667	56.77%	-27,350	-13.54%	201,984
Kings	12,897	43.09%	17,030	56.91%	-4,133	-13.81%	29,927
Lake	11,416	54.87%	9,391	45.13%	2,025	9.73%	20,807
Lassen	2,355	26.36%	6,580	73.64%	-4,225	-47.29%	8,935
Los Angeles	2,161,421	74.55%	737,684	25.45%	1,423,737	49.11%	2,899,105
Madera	16,204	42.45%	21,966	57.55%	-5,762	-15.10%	38,170
Marin	102,124	80.55%	24,666	19.45%	77,458	61.09%	126,790
Mariposa	3,351	41.02%	4,818	58.98%	-1,467	-17.96%	8,169
Mendocino	22,789	69.11%	10,184	30.89%	12,605	38.23%	32,973
Merced	32,366	55.40%	26,056	44.60%	6,310	10.80%	58,422
Modoc	948	27.84%	2,457	72.16%	-1,509	-44.32%	3,405
Mono	2,777	57.71%	2,035	42.29%	742	15.42%	4,812
Monterey	78,999	68.65%	36,076	31.35%	42,923	37.30%	115,075
Napa	37,287	67.15%	18,239	32.85%	19,048	34.30%	55,526
Nevada	29,501	55.29%	23,853	44.71%	5,648	10.59%	53,354
Orange	556,611	52.29%	507,861	47.71%	48,750	4.58%	1,064,472
Placer	76,825	44.44%	96,057	55.56%	-19,232	-11.12%	172,882
Plumas	3,702	40.65%	5,406	59.35%	-1,704	-18.71%	9,108
Riverside	333,319	52.39%	302,965	47.61%	30,354	4.77%	636,284
Sacramento	313,761	61.98%	192,460	38.02%	121,301	23.96%	506,221
San Benito	11,974	60.52%	7,810	39.48%	4,164	21.05%	19,784
San Bernardino	289,848	54.50%	241,940	45.50%	47,908	9.01%	531,788
San Diego	676,273	59.45%	461,313	40.55%	214,960	18.90%	1,137,586
San Francisco	309,367	87.66%	43,538	12.34%	265,829	75.33%	352,905
San Joaquin	108,189	56.58%	83,011	43.42%	25,178	13.17%	191,200
San Luis Obispo	67,667	54.46%	56,577	45.54%	11,090	8.93%	124,244
San Mateo	214,399	76.99%	64,088	23.01%	150,311	53.97%	278,487
Santa Barbara	97,183	63.61%	55,586	36.39%	41,597	27.23%	152,769
Santa Clara	439,258	72.94%	162,962	27.06%	276,296	45.88%	602,220
Santa Cruz	92,721	78.88%	24,823	21.12%	67,898	57.76%	117,544
Shasta	22,759	32.84%	46,542	67.16%	-23,783	-34.32%	69,301
Sierra	658	40.05%	985	59.95%	-327	-19.90%	1,643
Siskiyou	7,781	43.18%	10,239	56.82%	-2,458	-13.64%	18,020
Solano	92,567	64.20%	51,608	35.80%	40,959	28.41%	144,175
Sonoma	154,101	74.45%	52,884	25.55%	101,217	48.90%	206,985
Stanislaus	80,742	52.34%	73,525	47.66%	7,217	4.68%	154,267
Sutter	11,954	40.97%	17,225	59.03%	-5,271	-18.06%	29,179
Tehama	6,667	32.24%	14,012	67.76%	-7,345	-35.52%	20,679
Trinity	2,452	46.74%	2,794	53.26%	-342	-6.52%	5,246
Tulare	44,758	45.26%	54,134	54.74%	-9,376	-9.48%	98,892
Tuolumne	9,708	41.53%	13,670	58.47%	-3,962	-16.95%	23,378
Ventura	176,149	57.72%	129,011	42.28%	47,138	15.45%	305,160
Yolo	51,168	70.32%	21,601	29.68%	29,567	40.63%	72,769
Yuba	7,488	39.44%	11,498	60.56%	-4,010	-21.12%	18,986
Totals	7,909,521	64.45%	4,362,545	35.55%	3,546,976	28.90%	12,272,066

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Butte (largest city: Chico)
Fresno (largest city: Fresno)
Merced (largest city: Merced)
Mono (largest city: Mammoth Lakes)
Nevada (largest city: Truckee)
Orange (largest city: Anaheim)
Riverside (largest city: Riverside)
San Bernardino (largest city: San Bernardino)
San Diego (largest city: San Diego)
San Joaquin (largest city: Stockton)
San Luis Obispo (largest city: San Luis Obispo)
Stanislaus (largest city: Modesto)
Ventura (largest city: Oxnard)

References

↑ "Alex Padilla for U.S. Senate". Alex Padilla for U.S. Senate. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ Ruben Major website
↑ "Mark Meuser: Secretary of State for Honest Elections". April 9, 2018.
↑ "Issues – Michael Feinstein". feinstein4sos.org. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ "Endorsements". Meuser for Secretary of State 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
↑ "OUR ENDORSEMENTS". Santa Barbara News-Press. October 30, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
↑ Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races". Retrieved October 20, 2025.
↑ Padilla, Alex (December 14, 2018). "Complete Statement of Vote" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 31, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2026.
↑ Padilla, Alex (December 14, 2018). "Secretary of State by County" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2026.

External links

[1] "Alex Padilla for U.S. Senate". Alex Padilla for U.S. Senate. Retrieved February 28, 2023.

[2] Ruben Major website

[3] "Mark Meuser: Secretary of State for Honest Elections". April 9, 2018.

[4] "Issues – Michael Feinstein". feinstein4sos.org. Retrieved February 28, 2023.

[5] "Endorsements". Meuser for Secretary of State 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.

[6] "OUR ENDORSEMENTS". Santa Barbara News-Press. October 30, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}

[primaryresults-7] "Statement of Vote" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

[8] Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races". Retrieved October 20, 2025.

[9] Padilla, Alex (December 14, 2018). "Complete Statement of Vote" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 31, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2026.

[10] Padilla, Alex (December 14, 2018). "Secretary of State by County" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2026.

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