The 2014 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

lieutenant governor of Connecticut The following is a list of lieutenant governors of the State of Connecticut. Lieutenant governors of the State of Connecticut, 1776–present Notes References ;Constitutions * * * ;Specific External linksOfficial website of the L ...

, concurrently with

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states and

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Incumbent Democratic Governor

Dannel Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On July ...

won re-election to a second term in office. Connecticut, unlike most states, holds separate primary elections for governor and lieutenant governor, with the winners then running together on the same ticket. Malloy and incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Nancy Wyman Nancy S. Wyman (born April 21, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who was the 108th lieutenant governor of Connecticut, from 2011 to 2019. She was state comptroller of Connecticut from 1995 to 2011, and was the first woman elect ...

were renominated unopposed. The Republicans nominated former

U.S. Ambassador to Ireland The United States Ambassador to Ireland is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States of America to Ireland. It is considered a highly prestigious position within the United States Foreign Service. The current ambassa ...

and nominee for governor in 2010

Thomas C. Foley Thomas Coleman Foley (born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2006 to 2009 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of Connecticut in 2010 and 20 ...

and Groton Town Councilor Heather Somers, making the contest a rematch of the 2010 election.

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate Joe Visconti, a former

West Hartford West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The ...

Town Councilor and the Republican nominee for

Connecticut's 1st congressional district Connecticut's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the north-central part of the state, the district is anchored by the state capital of Hartford. It encompasses much of central Conne ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

was running with Chester Harris, a former Republican Haddam School Board Member. Visconti suspended his campaign on November 2 and endorsed Foley. However, due to the suspension coming only two days before the election, Visconti's name remained on the ballot. Former State Representative Jonathan Pelto (D-Mansfield) explored a third-party candidacy through a petition drive but was disqualified due to an inadequate number of signatures.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

=Declared

= *

, incumbent Governor

Withdrew

* Lee Whitnum, writer, candidate for

Connecticut's 4th congressional district Connecticut's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the southwestern part of the state, the district is largely suburban and extends from Bridgeport, the largest city in the state, to ...

and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

=Declared

= *

, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Results

Malloy and Wyman ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, so no primaries were held.

Republican primary

Governor

2010 nominee Thomas C. Foley won the endorsement of the state party at the Republican State Convention on May 17, winning 57.1% of the vote. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney took 22.3% and 17.72%, respectively, meeting the 15% vote threshold and thus also qualified for the primary ballot. Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and former

Town Councilor Joe Visconti failed to get 15% of the vote at the convention, so neither automatically qualified for the ballot. Visconti began collecting signatures to petition his way onto the ballot. He needed the signatures of 8,190 registered Republican voters by June 10 in order to qualify and he started collecting signatures when primary petitions became available at the end of April. Lauretti began to collect signatures a few days after the convention, but withdrew those petitions on May 22 to instead try to petition onto the ballot for lieutenant governor. On June 6, Visconti announced that he was short of the required number of signatures, and with the filing deadline only 4 days away, was withdrawing from the race to run as an Independent instead. Boughton suspended his campaign on June 18, primarily because he did not think Lauretti, his unofficial running mate, would qualify for the ballot, which would have meant Boughton failing to qualify for public financing. He called for "party unity behind the endorsed Republican candidate, Tom Foley."

Candidates

=Declared

= *

, former

and nominee for governor in 2010 *

John P. McKinney John P. McKinney is a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Connecticut Senate, representing the 28th district from 1999 until 2015, and served as its Minority Leader from June 2007 until 2014. He was a candidate for ...

, Minority Leader of the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

=Withdrew

= *

Toni Boucher Antonietta "Toni" Boucher is a United States politician in Connecticut. She was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Connecticut State Senate representing the Connecticut's 26th State Senate district, 26th District and p ...

, state senator *

Mark Boughton Mark D. Boughton (born February 20, 1964) is an American politician who was the longest-serving mayor in Danbury, Connecticut's history. He served ten consecutive terms as mayor, from 2001 to 2020. He was the Republican endorsed candidate for g ...

, Mayor of

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

and nominee for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

* Martha Dean, nominee for

Connecticut Attorney General The Connecticut Attorney General is the state attorney general of Connecticut. The Attorney General is elected to a four-year term. According to state statute, eligibility for the office requires being "an attorney at law of at least ten years' ...

in 2002 and

* Mark Lauretti, Mayor of

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire * Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire * Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bed ...

(ran for Lieutenant Governor) * Joe Visconti, former

Town Councilor and nominee for

(running as unaffiliated)

=Declined

= * Lawrence F. Cafero, Minority Leader of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

Michael Fedele Michael Fedele (born March 30, 1955 in Minturno, Italy) is an Italian-American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 107th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 2007 to 2011. Following the decision on November 9, 200 ...

, former

and candidate for governor in 2010 (running for Mayor of Stamford) * Pauline R. Kezer, former

Secretary of the State of Connecticut The secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four ...

Linda McMahon Linda Marie McMahon (née Edwards; October 4, 1948) is an American political executive, retired professional wrestler, executive, and performer. She served as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon ...

, businesswoman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and

Chris Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut. He is a member of the Republican Party. Shays ...

, former U.S. Representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012

Polling

Results

Connecticut Governor Republican primary, 2014

Lieutenant Governor

Although separate primary elections are held for governor and lieutenant governor, candidates for each office often join together to form unofficial "tickets". Heather Bond Somers had originally been running on such a "ticket" with Mark Boughton, but she withdrew from the arrangement. Boughton later announced Mark Lauretti as his new running mate. This arrangement came to an end when Boughton withdrew, primarily because he did not think Lauretti would qualify for the ballot, which would have meant Boughton failing to qualify for public financing. David M. Walker teamed up with John P. McKinney. Bacchiochi did not join any "ticket". Bacchiochi won the endorsement of the state party at the Republican State Convention on May 17, winning 50.9% of the vote. Somers took 31.5% and Walker got 17.4%, meaning they both also qualified for the primary ballot. Lauretti attempted to petition his way onto the ballot; he was unsuccessful, filing only 6,723 of the required 8,190 signatures.

Candidates

=Declared

= *

Penny Bacchiochi Penny Bacchiochi (born ) is an American Republican politician, who served as a state representative in Connecticut. She was first elected to the House in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2006. She unsuccessfully sought the office of Lieutenant ...

, state representative * Heather Bond Somers, Groton Town Councilor and former Mayor of Groton * David M. Walker, former

Comptroller General of the United States The Comptroller General of the United States is the director of the Government Accountability Office (GAO, formerly known as the General Accounting Office), a legislative-branch agency established by Congress in 1921 to ensure the fiscal and ma ...

=Withdrew

= * Mark Lauretti, Mayor of

Results

Independents

Candidates

Withdrew

* Joe Visconti, former

Town Councilor and Republican nominee for

*:Running mate: Chester Harris, former Republican Haddam School Board Member

Disqualified

Jonathan Pelto Jonathan W. Pelto is an American politician from the state of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Connecticut House of Representatives. Political career Pelto began working in politics by stuffing envelopes for George ...

, Democratic former state representative *:Running mate: Ebony Murphy-Root, teacher

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
August 27, 2014 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Complete video of debate
October 2, 2014 -

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

Connecticut gubernatorial election, 2014
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Dannel Malloy for Governor
''incumbent''
Mark Boughton for Governor

Tom Foley for Governor

Mark Lauretti for Governor

John McKinney for Governor

Joe Visconti for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connecticut Gubernatorial Election, 2014

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2014 United States gubernatorial elections

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

=Declared

Withdrew

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

=Declared

Results

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

=Declared

=Withdrew

=Declined

Polling

Results

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

=Declared

=Withdrew

Results

Independents

Candidates

Withdrew

Disqualified

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links