The 2014 Arizona gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the

Governor of Arizona 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 ...

, 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 administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

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

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was t ...

was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a second consecutive full term in office. After a bitter six-candidate primary, Republicans nominated

Arizona State Treasurer The State Treasurer is the state of Arizona’s chief banker and investment officer. The Treasurer’s Office accounts for and manages the cash flows of state government, directs the state’s banking services, disburses public funds, and manages ...

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...

;

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Fred DuVal Fred Price DuVal (born May 24, 1954) is an American businessman, civic leader, education leader and author. He is president of DuVal and Associates, a senior advisor to Dentons Law, an advisor to Macquarie Infrastructure, Chairman of Excelsior M ...

, the former chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents, won his party's nomination unopposed. Ducey won the election with 53% of the vote. This election marked the first time since 1994 that no female gubernatorial candidate was on the ballot and that a man was elected governor of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. This was the first open seat gubernatorial election in the state since 2002.

Background

Arizona 2014 gubernatorial candidates by Gage Skidmore

Democratic Governor

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and university administrator who served as the 21st governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009 and third United States secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 20 ...

resigned on January 21, 2009, to be sworn in as

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

of the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, Secretary of State

was first in the state's gubernatorial line of succession and was sworn in as governor on the same day. She was elected to a full term in 2010, defeating Democrat

Terry Goddard Samuel Pearson Goddard III (born January 29, 1947) is an American attorney and politician. He served as the Mayor of Phoenix from 1984 to 1990, on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District from 2001 to 2003 and as the 24th Attorney Genera ...

, the

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorne ...

, by 54% to 42%. Brewer was term-limited in 2014, despite only serving one full term. This is because Arizona state law limits office holders to two consecutive terms regardless of whether they serve 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 third term. In February 2014, Brewer reiterated that she was considering running for re-election, but on March 12, 2014, she announced that she would not attempt to seek another term in office, which would have required what ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' called a "long-shot court challenge".

Republican primary

The Republican primary campaign was widely characterised as being "bitter" and "nasty" and the $16.2 million spent by the six Republican candidates means that the 2014 election has already broken the record for most expensive gubernatorial race in state history, exceeding the 2002 election in which $9.2 million was spent during the primary and general election campaigns combined.

Candidates

Declared

Ken Bennett Kenneth Roy Bennett (born August 1, 1959) is an American businessman and politician who served as president of the Arizona Senate and served as the 19th Secretary of State of Arizona, from 2009 to 2015. He was a candidate for Governor of Arizona ...

Secretary of State of Arizona The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The secretary also serves as acti ...

State Treasurer of Arizona The State Treasurer is the state of Arizona’s chief banker and investment officer. The Treasurer’s Office accounts for and manages the cash flows of state government, directs the state’s banking services, disburses public funds, and manages ...

* Christine Jones, former executive vice president,

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

and corporate secretary for

Go Daddy GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware. , GoDaddy has more than 21 million customers and over 6,600 employees worldwide. The co ...

Frank Riggs Frank Duncan Riggs (born September 5, 1950) is an American army veteran, former law enforcement officer, charter school executive, and politician from the states of California and Arizona. Early life Frank Riggs was born in Louisville, Kentucky. ...

, former U.S. Representative from California and candidate for the U.S. Senate from California in 1998 * Scott Smith, Mayor of

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

* Andrew Thomas, former

County attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a lo ...

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

, disbarred lawyer, and candidate for

in 2010

Withdrew

Hugh Hallman Hugh Hallman is an American politician who served as the Mayor of Tempe, Arizona for two consecutive terms, from 2004 to 2012, and as councilman from 1998 to 2002. Hallman was a candidate for State Treasurer of Arizona in the Republican primary o ...

, former mayor of Tempe ( ran for state treasurer and lost) * Al Melvin, state senator * John Molina, OB/GYN and former CEO of Phoenix Indian Medical Center

Declined

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He served as the 36th Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, losing reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone i ...

, Sheriff of

, incumbent Governor *

Brenda Burns Brenda Burns (born November 22, 1950) is an American politician, real estate agent and member of the Republican Party from the state of Arizona who served as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission from 2011 to 2015. Elected in 2010, she wa ...

, Corporation Commissioner * Wil Cardon, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 ( ran for Secretary of State and lost) *

Tom Horne Thomas Charles Horne (born March 28, 1945) is an American attorney, politician, and Republican activist who served as the 25th Attorney General of Arizona from 2011 to 2015. Horne lost to Mark Brnovich in the Republican primary for Attorney Gene ...

, Attorney General of Arizona ( ran for re-election and lost) *

Martha McSally Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American politician and former military pilot who served as a United States senator for Arizona from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the U.S. representative for ...

, retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and nominee for Arizona's 2nd congressional district in

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 gat ...

( ran for AZ-02 and won) *

Steve Pierce Steve Pierce (born 1950) is an American politician from Arizona. Pierce was a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives for District 1, serving until 2021. He was a member of the Arizona Senate from the 1st district. He was ...

, state senator *

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

, actor and reserve deputy sheriff

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, former chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents

Withdrew

* Ronald Cavanaugh, Libertarian candidate for governor in 2010

Declined

Chad Campbell David Chad Campbell (born May 31, 1974) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, where he has won four times. He also notably finished as a runner-up at the 2009 Masters, after losing in a sudden-death playoff. Early years ...

, Minority Leader of the Arizona House of Representatives * Richard Carmona, former Surgeon General and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012 *

Neil Giuliano Neil G. Giuliano (born October 26, 1956) is an American politician who served as mayor of Tempe, Arizona for four terms, from 1994 to 2004 (Three two-year terms and one four-year term). After serving in elected office he served as president of the ...

, former mayor of Tempe *

, former

, candidate for governor in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and nominee for governor in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

and 2010 ( ran for Secretary of State and lost) *

Marco A. López Jr. Marco Antonio López Jr. (born April 7, 1978) is an American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including as mayor of Nogales, Arizona, executive director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, policy advisor t ...

, former chief of staff for the

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

and former mayor of Nogales *

, president of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, former secretary of the

and former governor of Arizona * Felecia Rotellini, attorney and nominee for

in 2010 ( ran for Attorney General and lost) *

Greg Stanton Gregory John Stanton (born March 8, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative from . A Democrat, he was mayor of Phoenix, Arizona. Stanton was on the Phoenix City Council from 2000 until 2009. Stanton was elect ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Third parties

Candidates

Declared

* Brian Bailey (

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 ...

write-in candidate), Arizona Army National Guardsman * Cary Dolego (independent), write-in candidate for governor in 2010 * Barry Hess (

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

), perennial candidate * Joseph James "J." Johnson ( unaffiliated write-in candidate), food account manager and brother of Eddie Johnson * John Lewis Mealer ( Americans Elect), candidate for the Americans Elect nomination for president in 2012 * Alice Novoa (Republican

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

) * Diana-Elizabeth Ramseys Rasmussen Kennedy (Independent write-in candidate) * Curtis Woolsey (unaffiliated write-in candidate)

Results

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 10, 2014 – C-SPAN
Complete video of debate
September 29, 2014 – C-SPAN

Predictions

Polling

;With Bennett ;With Jones ;With Melvin ;With Molina ;With Riggs ;With Smith ;With Thomas

Results

References

External links

Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014
at Ballotpedia ;Official campaign websites
Doug Ducey for Governor
(Archived)
Fred DuVal for Governor
(Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014

Gubernatorial 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 ...

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