United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 4, 2014, in 36 states and three territories, concurrent with other elections during the 2014 United States elections.
The Republicans defended 22 seats, compared to the Democrats' 14. The Republicans held open seats in Arizona, Nebraska, and Texas; and gained open Democratic-held seats in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Arkansas. Republican Bruce Rauner also defeated Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn in Illinois. The only Republican losses were incumbents Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, who lost to Democrat Tom Wolf, and Sean Parnell of Alaska, who lost to independent Bill Walker. Democrats held their open seat in Rhode Island, as well as Hawaii, where incumbent governor Neil Abercrombie was defeated in the primary.
All totaled, the Republicans had a net gain of two seats (giving them 31 total), the Democrats had a net loss of three seats (leaving them with 18 total), and an independent picked up one seat (giving them 1 total). As a result of these races, Republican Terry Branstad was re-elected to his sixth full four-year term as governor of Iowa, and thus became the longest-serving governor in U.S. history.
As of 2026, this is the last time that Republicans have won gubernatorial races in Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, and Wisconsin; that Democrats won races in New Hampshire and Vermont; that a candidate outside of the two major parties won the governorship of Alaska or any state; and that Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin did not vote for gubernatorial candidates of the same party.
Election predictions
Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.
Most election predictors use:
- "tossup": no advantage
- "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
- "lean": slight advantage
- "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
- "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory
Race summary
States
Data from The New York Times
Closest races
States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
- Florida, 1.0%
- Vermont, 1.3%
- Massachusetts, 1.9%
- Alaska, 2.2%
- Connecticut, 2.5%
- Colorado, 3.3%
- Kansas, 3.7%
- Maryland, 3.8%
- Illinois, 3.9%
- Michigan, 4.0%
- Rhode Island, 4.5%
- Maine, 4.8%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
- New Hampshire, 5.0%
- Minnesota, 5.6%
- Wisconsin, 5.7%
- Oregon, 5.8%
- Georgia, 7.8%
- Pennsylvania, 9.8%
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats. Grey denotes states won by Independents.
Alabama
Governor Robert J. Bentley ran for re-election. Bentley was elected with 57.9% of the vote in 2010.
Former Morgan County commissioner Stacy Lee George challenged Bentley in the Republican primary, as did Bob Starkey, a retired software company executive.
Former baseball player and businessman Kevin Bass and former U.S. representative Parker Griffith pursued the Democratic nomination, which Griffith won.
Bentley won re-election to a second term.
Alaska
Governor Sean Parnell ran for another term. Attorney and 2010 Republican primary candidate Bill Walker at first ran in the Republican primary, but withdrew and instead ran as an independent. Governor Parnell was defeated by Independent Bill Walker.
Former Mayor of Juneau Byron Mallott won the Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 19 with 80% of the vote. On September 2, Walker and Mallott merged their campaigns, with Walker, who ran for governor and Mallott, who ran for lieutenant governor.
Arizona
Governor Jan Brewer was term-limited in 2014 despite only serving one full term, as Arizona state law limits office holders to two consecutive terms, regardless of whether they are full or partial terms. In November 2012, Brewer declared she was looking into what she called "ambiguity" in Arizona's term-limit law to seek a second full four-year term.
On March 12, 2014, Brewer announced she would not seek re-election to another four-year term, which would have required a "longshot court challenge" to the Arizona Constitution.
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, State Treasurer of Arizona Doug Ducey, State Senator Al Melvin, former Go Daddy executive vice president Christine Jones, and former county attorney of Maricopa County Andrew Thomas sought the Republican nomination. Ducey won.
Fred DuVal, former chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents won the Democratic nomination.
Ducey won the election.
Arkansas
Governor Mike Beebe was term-limited in 2014. Former representative Mike Ross was the Democratic nominee, while former representative Asa Hutchinson was the Republican nominee.
Hutchinson won the election.
California
Governor Jerry Brown sought re-election. He was elected to a third non-consecutive term with 53.1% of the vote in 2010, having previously served as governor from 1975 to 1983.
State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and former U.S. Treasury Department Official Neel Kashkari were running for the Republican nomination. Former lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado launched a campaign but then withdrew. With 19 percent of the vote Kashkari came in second after Governor Jerry Brown (54 percent) under California's new Nonpartisan blanket primary.
Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper sought re-election. Hickenlooper was elected with 50.7% of the vote in 2010.
State Senator Greg Brophy, former congressman Tom Tancredo, Colorado secretary of state Scott Gessler, and former congressman Bob Beauprez all ran for the Republican nomination. Beauprez was the Republican nominee.
Hickenlooper won re-election to a second term.
Connecticut
Governor Dan Malloy sought re-election. Malloy was elected with 49.51% of the vote in 2010.
Former U.S. ambassador to Ireland and 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Thomas C. Foley challenged Malloy again after losing by less than 1% of the vote in 2010.
Malloy won re-election to a second term.
Florida
Governor Rick Scott was elected with 48.9% of the vote in 2010, defeating then-Chief Financial Officer of Florida Alex Sink by a margin of just over 1 percent. He announced his bid for a second term and faced former Republican governor turned Democrat Charlie Crist and Libertarian Adrian Wyllie.
Democratic state senator Nan Rich lost to Charlie Crist in the primary.
Economist and 2010 Independent nominee for governor Farid Khavari also ran.
Scott won re-election to a second term.
Georgia
Governor Nathan Deal sought re-election. Deal was elected with 53% of the vote in 2010.
State School Superintendent John Barge and Mayor of Dalton David Pennington also ran for the Republican nomination.
State Senator Jason Carter, the grandson of former president and Governor Jimmy Carter, ran for the Democratic nomination. Connie Stokes, a former Georgia state senator and DeKalb County commissioner, was running for governor, but decided to run for lieutenant governor instead. Carter won the gubernatorial nomination.
Deal won re-election to a second term.
Hawaii
Governor Neil Abercrombie launched his re-election campaign on April 29, 2013; sought a second term in 2014. Abercrombie was elected with 58.2% of the vote in 2010 over former lieutenant governor Duke Aiona. However, in 2014, State Senator David Ige challenged Abercrombie for the Democratic nomination, and successfully defeated Abercrombie for the nomination in a landslide victory during the state's primary election on August 9, 2014. Abercrombie's primary election defeat was the first in Hawaii history for a governor, and marked the first time an incumbent governor lost re-election since William F. Quinn's defeat in 1962.
In the midst of Abercrombie's loss, former lieutenant governor Duke Aiona won the Republican nomination for governor for the second time, and former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann won his primary as an independent. They along with David Ige advanced to the gubernatorial general election. Ige won the election.
Idaho
Governor Butch Otter sought a third term. Otter was elected to a second term with 59.1% of the vote in 2010. State Senator Russ Fulcher unsuccessfully challenged Otter for the Republican nomination.
A. J. Balukoff, President of the Boise School Board, won the Democratic nomination.
Otter won re-election to a third term.
Illinois
Democratic Governor Pat Quinn sought re-election, but was defeated by Businessman Bruce Rauner. Quinn was elected to a full term with 46.6% of the vote in 2010.
Businessman Bruce Rauner, Treasurer Dan Rutherford, and state senators Kirk Dillard and Bill Brady ran for the Republican nomination.
On March 18, 2014, Bruce Rauner won the primary and the GOP nomination with 40.1% of the vote.
Iowa
Governor Terry Branstad sought a sixth non-consecutive term. He was elected to a fifth term (non-consecutive) with 53% of the vote in 2010. Political activist Tom Hoefling unsuccessfully challenged Branstad for the Republican nomination.
Assistant Majority Leader of the Iowa State Senate Jack Hatch former Des Moines school board member Jonathan Narcisse and Webster bus driver Paul Dahl, sought the Democratic nomination. Hatch won.
Branstad won re-election and became the longest-serving governor in US history.
Kansas
Governor Sam Brownback sought re-election. Brownback was elected with 63.4% of the vote in 2010. He easily won the Republican nomination.
Paul Davis, Minority Leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, successfully ran for the Democratic nomination. According to The Fix, Democrats saw this as the "sleeper race" of 2014.
Brownback won re-election to a second term.
Maine
Governor Paul LePage sought a second term. LePage was elected with 38.3% of the vote in a competitive three member race in 2010. He easily won the Republican nomination.
Representative Mike Michaud successfully ran for the Democratic nomination. Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, who finished second in Maine's 2010 gubernatorial election, also ran against LePage.
LePage won re-election to a second term.
Maryland
Governor Martin O'Malley was term-limited in 2014.
O'Malley endorsed Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown to succeed him. Attorney General Douglas Gansler and State Delegate Heather Mizeur sought the Democratic nomination as well.
On the Republican side, candidates had included Harford County Executive David R. Craig, Chairman of Change Maryland and former Maryland Secretary of Appointments Larry Hogan, Delegate Ron George, former Charles County Republican Central Committee chairman Charles Lollar, and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Brian Vaeth.
On June 24, Brown and Hogan won their respective primaries. On November 4, Hogan was elected as governor.
Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick was eligible to run for re-election, but decided not to seek a third term.
State senator and Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf was running for the Democratic nomination, but withdrew after the Ethics Commission ruled his co-ownership of Cape Air violated state conflict of interest rules.
Democratic candidates included PAREXEL executive Joseph Avellone, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Donald Berwick, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Treasurer Steve Grossman, and former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs Juliette Kayyem. Coakley won the nomination.
Republican candidates included former Massachusetts cabinet official and 2010 nominee Charlie Baker, and TEA Party member and Shrewsbury small businessman Mark Fisher. Baker won the nomination.
Baker won the election.
Michigan
Governor Rick Snyder sought re-election to a second term and was unopposed in the August 5 party primary. Snyder was elected with 58.1% of the vote in 2010.
Former representative Mark Schauer was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Snyder won re-election to a second term.
Minnesota
Governor Mark Dayton sought re-election. Dayton was elected with 43.7% of the vote in 2010. Teacher Rob Farnsworth, investment banker Scott Honour, Hennepin County commissioner and former state representative Jeff Johnson, perennial candidate Ole Savior, former Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives and candidate for governor in 2010 Marty Seifert, state senator and former radio host Dave Thompson, and state representative and former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Kurt Zellers sought the Republican nomination. Activist Leslie Davis sought the DFL nomination.
Nebraska
Governor Dave Heineman was term-limited in 2014.
Former Republican lieutenant governor Rick Sheehy had been endorsed by Heineman, but Sheehy exited the race due to a report regarding a series of inappropriate phone calls he had made to women who were not his wife. State senators Tom Carlson, Charlie Janssen, and Beau McCoy also ran for the Republican nomination. Other potential Republican candidates include Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Foley and businessman Pete Ricketts. The nomination was won by Ricketts.
Executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs Chuck Hassebrook ran for the Democratic nomination. State Senator Annette Dubas was also running, but she has withdrawn, leaving Hassebrook the only Democratic candidate. Hassebrook won the nomination.
Ricketts won the election.
Nevada
Governor Brian Sandoval sought a second term. Sandoval was elected with 53.4% of the vote in 2010.