The 2014 Iowa gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Republican incumbent Terry Branstad ran for reelection to a sixth overall and second consecutive four-year term. Branstad went on to win a historic sixth term as governor by defeating Democratic challenger and State Senator Jack Hatch, and on December 14, 2015, he became the longest-serving governor in American history. He won 59.1% of the popular vote to Hatch's 37.3%, and carried every county in the state except Johnson, home to Iowa City and the University of Iowa. This was one of the nine Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Barack Obama won in the 2012 presidential election.
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
- Terry Branstad, incumbent governor
- Tom Hoefling, political activist and America's Party and American Independent Party nominee for president in 2012
Democratic primary
Narcisse was disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the Democratic primary following a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court that upheld a lower court decision that held that Narcisse had not submitted enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot for the primary election. Narcisse continued his campaign and declared his intention to run for the nomination as a write-in candidate. When he was unsuccessful, he announced that he would be running in the general election as the nominee of the Iowa Party.
Candidates
Declared
- Jack Hatch, state senator
- Jonathan Narcisse, former member of the Des Moines School Board and Iowa Party nominee for governor in 2010
Withdrew
- Paul Dahl, bus driver, retail sales associate, former librarian and candidate for Iowa's 5th congressional district in 1994
- Tyler Olson, state representative and former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party
Declined
- Frank Cownie, mayor of Des Moines
- Chet Culver, former governor
- Jeff Danielson, state senator
- Michael Fitzgerald, state treasurer
- Michael Gronstal, majority leader of the Iowa Senate and chairman of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee
- Fred Hubbell, insurance executive
- Pam Jochum, president of the Iowa Senate
- Bob Krause, former state representative, nominee for state treasurer in 1978, candidate for mayor of Waterloo in 1982 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010
- Janet Petersen, state senator
- Tom Vilsack, United States secretary of agriculture and former governor
Endorsements
Jack Hatch
Individuals
- Ako Abdul-Samad, state representative
- Marti Anderson, state representative
- Dennis Black, state senator
- Joe Bolkcom, state senator
- Leonard Boswell, former U.S. representative
- Thomas G. Courtney, state senator
- Preston Daniels, former mayor of Des Moines
- Dick Dearden, state senator
- John Forbes, state representative
- Ruth Ann Gaines, state representative
- Fred Hubbell, insurance executive
- Bruce Hunter, state representative
- Bob Krause, former state representative, nominee for state treasurer in 1978, candidate for mayor of Waterloo in 1982 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010
- Matt McCoy, state senator
- Joe Seng, state senator
- Steve Sodders, state senator
- Rich Taylor, state senator
- Frank Wood, state representative
Tyler Olson
Individuals
- Bruce Bearinger, state representative
- Dennis Cohoon, state representative
- Jeff Danielson, state senator
- David Dawson, state representative
- Nancy Dunkel, state representative
- Bob Dvorsky, state senator
- Sue Dvorsky, former chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party
- Chris Hall, state representative
- Rob Hogg, state senator
- Wally Horn, state senator
- David Jacoby, state representative
- Jerry Kearns, state representative
- Dan Kelley, state representative
- Liz Mathis, state senator
- Helen Miller, state representative
- Dan Muhlbauer, state representative
- Jo Oldson, state representative
- Rick Olson, state representative
- Scott Ourth, state representative
- Janet Petersen, state senator
- Todd Prichard, state representative
- Joe Riding, state representative
- Patti Ruff, state representative
- Kirsten Running-Marquardt, state representative
- Brian Schoenjahn, state senator
- Art Staed, state representative
- Sharon S. Steckman, state representative
- Sally Stutsman, state representative
- Todd Taylor, state representative
- Roger Thomas, state representative
- Mary Wolfe, state representative
Organizations
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61
- Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 110
General election
Candidates
- Terry Branstad (Republican), incumbent governor
- Running mate: Kim Reynolds, incumbent lieutenant governor
- Jack Hatch (Democratic), state senator
- Running mate: Monica Vernon, Cedar Rapids city councilwoman
- Jim Hennager (New Independent Party), administrator, former city councillor and Reform Party nominee for governor in 1998
- Lee Hieb (Libertarian), orthopedic surgeon
- Running mate: Ryan Ketelsen, businessman
- Jonathan Narcisse (Iowa Party), former member of the Des Moines School Board and nominee for governor in 2010
- Running mate: Michael Richards, semi-retired businessman
Debates
- Complete video of debate, September 20, 2014 - C-SPAN
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Black Hawk (largest city: Waterloo)
- Des Moines (largest city: Burlington)
- Dubuque (largest city: Dubuque)
- Floyd (largest city: Charles City)
- Jefferson (largest city: Fairfield)
- Lee (largest city: Fort Madison)
- Linn (Largest city: Cedar Rapids)
- Story (Largest city: Ames)
By congressional district
Branstad won all four congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.