Republican candidate for secretary of state plots campaign

SACRAMENTO -- Pete Peterson, a Republican candidate for California secretary of state, is casting himself as the antidote to the “Sacramento merry-go-round” as he pledges to bring new transparency to state government.

Peterson, the executive director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University, said during a Wednesday news conference that he, if elected, would tie his salary to metrics such as increasing voter turnout.

He also criticized Debra Bowen, the termed-out Democrat he is seeking to replace, as slow to respond to concerns from businesses, which face hefty registration fees and long wait times for paperwork to be processed.

“I haven’t met a single person who enjoys working with this secretary of state,” Peterson said.

Peterson said he supports same-day voter registration, and he distanced himself from other Republicans who have been accused of trying to reduce turnout in areas with large numbers of minorities.

“The problem is not that we have too many illegal people voting,” he said. “It’s that we don’t have enough legal people voting.”

Peterson is up against three Democrats -- state Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and Derek Cressman, former regional director of the advocacy group Common Cause.

Because of California’s top-two primary system, he’ll need to beat out at least one of the Democrats in next June’s primary to make it to the November 2014 general election.

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Common Cause leader announces run for secretary of state

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Sen. Alex Padilla announces run for California secretary of state

Twitter/@chrismegerian