The 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to determine the governor and lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It occurred concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker won re-election to a second term in office, defeating Democratic businesswoman and Madison school board member Mary Burke and two minor party candidates in the general election.
Walker, who was elected in 2010, survived an attempted recall in 2012, the first governor in United States history to do so, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett both times. Wisconsin voters have elected a governor from a different political party than the sitting president in 27 of the last 31 elections since 1932; only once has a Democratic candidate been elected governor in Wisconsin in the last 18 contests when a Democrat was in the White House. Eleven of the last twelve Wisconsin governors, dating back to Republican Vernon Wallace Thomson in the late 1950s, had, unlike Burke, previously won an election to state government, the exception being Republican Lee S. Dreyfus in 1978.
The polling leading up to the election was very close, with no candidate clearly in the lead. The consensus among most analysts was that the race was either a tossup or leaning Republican. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican was elected governor of Wisconsin, and the last time that a candidate was elected Governor of Wisconsin by winning a majority of counties.
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Scott Walker, incumbent governor
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Mary Burke, businesswoman, member of the Madison school district board and former Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce
Brett Hulsey, state representative
Disqualified
Marcia Mercedes Perkins
Hari Trivedi, independent candidate for governor in the 2012 recall election
Declined
Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Executive
Peter W. Barca, Minority Leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly and former U.S. Representative
Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee and nominee for governor in 2010 and 2012
Deb Carey, founder and president of New Glarus Brewing Company
Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor of Madison
Lori Compas, executive director of the Wisconsin Business Alliance and nominee for the Wisconsin Senate in 2012
Kevin Conroy, biotechnology executive
John Dickert, Mayor of Racine
Jon Erpenbach, state senator
Kathleen Falk, former Dane County Executive and candidate for governor in 2012
Russ Feingold, former U.S. Senator
Dave Hansen, state senator
Mark L. Harris, Winnebago County Executive
Dianne Hesselbein, state representative
Sara Johann, political activist
Steve Kagen, former U.S. Representative
Ron Kind, U.S. Representative
Jessica King, former state senator
Herb Kohl, former U.S. Senator
Chris Larson, Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
Julie Lassa, state senator
Cory Mason, state representative
Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2012
Gwen Moore, U.S. Representative
Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010
Dave Obey, former U.S. Representative
Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive
Jennifer Shilling, state senator
Chris Taylor, state representative
Kathleen Vinehout, state senator and candidate for governor in 2012
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Third parties and independents
Candidates
Declared
Robert Burke (Libertarian Party), founder of the Libertarian Party of Pierce-St. Croix
Running mate: Joseph Brost
Dennis Fehr (The People's Party), businessman and founder of The People's Party
Brett Hulsey (write-in), state representative
Disqualified
Francis Klein (Pirate Party)
General election
Predictions
Polling
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Kenosha (largest city: Kenosha)
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Crawford (largest municipality: Prairie du Chien)
Eau Claire (largest municipality: Eau Claire)
Green (largest municipality: Monroe)
Sauk (largest city: Baraboo)
Vernon (largest municipality: Viroqua)
By congressional districts
Walker won 6 of the 8 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.
See also
2014 Wisconsin elections
References
External links
Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2014 at Ballotpedia