Minnesota down ballot state executive elections, 2014
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August 12, 2014 |
November 4, 2014 |
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Auditor |
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One down ballot state executive position was up for election in the state of Minnesota in 2014. The lone down ballot office on the ballot in 2014 was the Minnesota State Auditor. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Rebecca Otto (D) was seeking re-election to the office and faced a well-funded primary challenge from former state legislator Matt Entenza (D). The general election featured Republican Randy Gilbert, Libertarian Party candidate Keegan Iversen, Grassroots Party candidate Judith Schwartzbacker and Independence Party candidate Patrick Dean. Otto won election to another four-year term.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Minnesota utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2][3]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. The primary election was held on August 12.
Auditor
Candidates
General election
Rebecca Otto - Incumbent 
[4]
Randy Gilbert[4]
Keegan Iversen[4]
Judith Schwartzbacker[4]
Patrick Dean[4]
Defeated in the primary
Results
Primary election
Democratic primary
| Minnesota Auditor, Democratic Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Rebecca Otto |
80.9% | 149,628 | ||
| Matt Entenza | 19.1% | 35,258 | ||
| Total Votes | 184,886 | |||
| Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State. | ||||
Republican primary
Randy Gilbert was unopposed for the Republican primary.
General election
| Minnesota Auditor, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Rebecca Otto Incumbent |
51.5% | 988,102 | |
| Republican | Randy Gilbert | 40% | 766,814 | |
| Independence | Patrick Dean | 4% | 76,845 | |
| Grassroots Party | Judith Schwartzbacker | 2.9% | 55,132 | |
| Libertarian | Keegan Iversen | 1.6% | 30,397 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0% | 800 | |
| Total Votes | 1,918,090 | |||
| Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign finance
Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $479,528 during the election. This information was last updated on May 6, 2015.[5]
| Campaign Contribution Totals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| Matt Entenza |
Minnesota Auditor |  |
$266,219 | |
| Rebecca Otto |
Minnesota Auditor |  |
$151,832 | |
| Randy Gilbert |
Minnesota Auditor | |
$61,627 | |
Patrick Dean |
Minnesota Auditor | |
$−150 | |
| Keegan Iversen |
Minnesota Auditor | |
$0 | |
| Judith Schwartzbacker |
Minnesota Auditor | |
$0 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $479,528 | |||
Duties
The Office of the State Auditor oversees spending by local governments in Minnesota through financial, compliance and special audits.[6]
Past elections
2010
| Minnesota Auditor, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Rebecca Otto |
48.4% | 981,822 | |
| Republican | Patricia Anderson | 47.1% | 956,339 | |
| Green | Annie Young | 2.7% | 54,154 | |
| Grassroots | Kenny Kalligher | 1.8% | 35,548 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 1,224 | |
| Total Votes | 2,029,087 | |||
| Election results via Minnesota Secretary of State (dead link)' | ||||
Campaign media
General election
Patrick Dean
|
Primary
Matt Entenza
|
Rebecca Otto
|
Key deadlines
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| May 20, 2014 | First day of candidate filing period |
| June 3, 2014 | Last day of candidate filing period |
| August 12, 2014 | Primary election |
| November 4, 2014 | General election |
| November 25, 2014 | State Canvassing Board meeting to certify election results |
| January 5, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials in general election[7] |
Ballotpedia reports
To learn more about developments in these races, check out the following news articles from Ballotpedia:
- Minnesota state executive elections review: Comfortable wins, close calls share the stage in Minnesota primaries
- Minnesota state executive elections preview: Heated races for governor, auditor highlight primary day in Minnesota
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Minnesota + state + auditor + election"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State,"PRIMARY ELECTION," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "2014 State General Election Candidate Filings," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of Minnesota 2014 elections," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Office of the State Auditor, "Description of the office," accessed October 1, 2011
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Election Calendar," accessed August 26, 2014
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