The 1914 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Primary elections were held on September 1, 1914.
Incumbent Republican Governor Francis E. McGovern retired to run for U.S. Senate.
Republican nominee Emanuel L. Philipp defeated Democratic nominee John C. Karel, Progressive nominee John J. Blaine and Social Democratic nominee Oscar Ameringer, with 43.26% of the vote.
Primary election
Republican party
Candidates
- Andrew H. Dahl, former State Treasurer of Wisconsin
- William H. Hatton, former State Senator
- Merlin Hull, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Emanuel L. Philipp, Milwaukee Police Commissioner
- Henry E. Roethe, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Bernice W. Utman
Democratic party
Candidates
- John A. Aylward, Democratic nominee for Governor in 1906 and 1908
- John C. Karel, Milwaukee County Court judge, Democratic nominee for Governor in 1912
Candidates
- Oscar Ameringer, newspaper editor
Prohibition party
Candidates
- David W. Emerson, Prohibition nominee for Wisconsin's 11th congressional district in 1912
Other party nominations
- John J. Blaine, Progressive
- John Vierthaler, Socialist Labor, Socialist Labor nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1912
General election
Results by county
Karel was the first Democrat to ever win Pepin County and Vilas County. He was also the first Democrat since George W. Peck in 1892 to win Brown County and Chippewa County. After this election, Chippewa County and Fond du Lac County would not vote Democratic again until 1932 and Vilas County would not do the same until 1934.
This was the first time Vilas County ever voted for the losing candidate. Brown County and Chippewa County voted for the losing candidate for the first time since 1888 and 1886, respectively.
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Forest
- Green Lake
- Kenosha
- Marathon
- Milwaukee
- Racine
- Sheboygan
- Waukesha
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Brown
- Chippewa
- Dane
- Pepin
- Vilas