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

Governor of Arkansas 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 r ...

, concurrently with the

election 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 opera ...

to Arkansas's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections 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 elections 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 and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Governor

Mike Beebe Mickey Dale Beebe ( ; born December 28, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Amagon, Arkansas, Beebe is a graduate of Arkansa ...

was ineligible to run for re-election due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

established by the

Arkansas Constitution The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional conv ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

is one of eight states that limits its Governors to two terms for life. The Democrats nominated former U.S. Representative Mike Ross and the Republicans nominated former

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enf ...

Administrator, former U.S. Representative and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

nominee

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

. Hutchinson defeated Ross and two minor party candidates in the general election, winning by the largest margin recorded for a Republican in an open-seat gubernatorial race since Reconstruction. The race was called for Hutchinson roughly half an hour after the polls closed. Hutchinson's victory gave the GOP complete control of state government for the first time since the end of Reconstruction.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Lynette "Doc" Bryant, activist * Mike Ross, former U.S. Representative

Withdrew

Bill Halter William A. Halter Jr (born November 30, 1960) is an American politician who served as the 18th lieutenant governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to succeed the late Republican Winthrop Paul Rocke ...

, former

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas The lieutenant governor of Arkansas presides over the Arkansas Senate with a Casting vote, tie-breaking vote, serves as acting governor of Arkansas when the governor is out of state and assumes the governorship in cases of impeachment, removal from ...

and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 (endorsed Ross) *

Dustin McDaniel Dustin Blake McDaniel (born April 29, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Attorney General of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he a founding partner of the Little Rock, Arkansas law firm ...

Arkansas Attorney General The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate. Since January 13 ...

Declined

Shane Broadway Shane Broadway (born August 30, 1972) is a former Democratic state legislator, serving in the Arkansas General Assembly from 1997 to 2011 with a focus on education policy. Following an unsuccessful bid for Arkansas Lieutenant Governor in 2010, ...

, interim director of the Department of Higher Education and former state senator *

John Burkhalter A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arkansas on November 4, 2014. All of Arkansas' executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Arkansas' four seats in the United States House of Representa ...

, former State Highway Commissioner ( running for Lieutenant Governor) *

Conner Eldridge William Conner Eldridge Jr. (born September 9, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who served as United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas. He is a member ...

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Western District of Arkansas *

G. David Gearhart G. David Gearhart (born June 9, 1952) was the fifth chancellor of the University of Arkansas. He succeeded John A. White on July 1, 2008, following 10 years of service to the university in his capacity as vice chancellor for university advancement ...

, chancellor of the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

Pat Hays Patrick Henry Hays (born January 8, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, Hays served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989 and as the mayor of North Little ...

, former Mayor of

North Little Rock North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

( running for AR-02) *

Keith Ingram Keith M. Ingram (born April 12, 1955) is an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, Ingram represents the 24th district in the Arkansas Senate, of which he is the Minority Leader. Ingram's district includ ...

, state senator (endorsed Ross) *

Bruce Maloch Bruce Maloch ( ; born June 29, 1957) is an attorney and politician in South Arkansas. Education and personal life Maloch was raised on a farm near Emerson, Arkansas. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Agricultural Business fro ...

, state senator * Michael Malone, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council *

Vic Snyder Victor Frederick "Vic" Snyder (born September 27, 1947) is an American physician, lawyer, and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Marine Corps ...

, former U.S. Representative * Paul Suskie, former chairman of the

Arkansas Public Service Commission The Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) regulates the service and rates of those utilities subject to its jurisdiction in the State of Arkansas, United States. It was originally created by the Arkansas General Assembly on March 11, 1899, as ...

and candidate for

Attorney General of Arkansas The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate. Since January 1 ...

* Chris Thomason, Chancellor of the

University of Arkansas Community College at Hope The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana (UAHT) is a public community college in Hope and Texarkana, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the University of Arkansas System as a result a merger by act of the Arkansas Legislature in 1995 and is accre ...

and former state representative *

Robert F. Thompson Robert F. Thompson (born June 19, 1971) is a former Democratic member of the Arkansas Senate. He represented the 11th District of Arkansas from 2007 to 2013. After senate districts were reorganized, he went on to represent District 20 from 2013 ...

, state senator (endorsed Ross) *

Darrin Williams Darrin L. Williams is an American lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, Williams is a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 36. He was term-limited and ineligible t ...

, state representative, former Speaker of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Curtis Coleman, founder of a

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

company and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

, former Administrator of the

, former U.S. Representative and nominee for governor in 2006

Withdrew

Debra Hobbs Debra is a feminine given name. Debra may refer to: People * Debra Adelaide (born 1958), Australian writer * Debra Allbery (born 1957), American poet * Debra R. Anderson (1949-2022), American politician * Debra Austin (born 1955), American ba ...

, state representative ( running for Lieutenant Governor)

Declined

Davy Carter Russell Davis Carter, known as Davy Carter (born March 31, 1975), is the Republican former Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, a position which he held from 2013 to 2015. A resident of Cabot in Lonoke County, Carter represented Dis ...

, Speaker of the

Tom Cotton Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator for Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of R ...

, U.S. Representative ( running for the U.S. Senate) * Rick Crawford, U.S. Representative *

Mark Darr Mark A. Darr (born July 3, 1973) is an American politician from Springdale, Arkansas, who was his state's 19th lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2014. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2010 to succeed Democrat Bill Halter. To w ...

, former

, Chancellor of the

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the Eastern Dist ...

, U.S. Representative *

Missy Irvin Missy Thomas Irvin (born February 12, 1971) is a Republican Party of Arkansas, Republican member of the Arkansas Senate, where she has served since 2011. Irvin serves on the Senate Ethics Committee. She and the committee rejected an ethics com ...

, state senator *

Jim Keet James Holland Keet (born May 12, 1949), is an American restaurateur and politician in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate. Keet was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansa ...

, former state senator and nominee for governor in 2010 * Johnny Key, state senator *

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

Secretary of State of Arkansas The secretary of state of Arkansas is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The current Secretary of State is Republican John Thurston, former Arkansas land commissioner from Pulaski County in central Arkansa ...

(running for re-election) *

Sheffield Nelson Edward Sheffield Nelson, known as Sheffield Nelson (born April 23, 1941), is an American attorney, businessman and politician from the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas. Originally a Democrat, Nelson in 1990 ran for governor of Arkansas as ...

, businessman 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 Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

and

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 Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Steve Womack Stephen Allen Womack ( ; born February 18, 1957) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. The district, which was once represented by future Senator J. William Fulbright, covers much of northwestern Arkansas, ...

, U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Third parties

Candidates

Declared

* Josh Drake (

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

), attorney and nominee for

Arkansas's 4th congressional district Arkansas's 4th congressional district is a congressional district located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Notable towns in the district include Camden, Hope, Hot Springs, Magnolia, Pine Bluff, and Texarkana. The ...

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; ...

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 ...

* Frank Gilbert (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

), DeKalb Township Constable, former Mayor of Tull and nominee for the State Senate in 2012

Declined

(

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 ...

), businessman and Republican nominee for governor in

and

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 19, 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 7, 2014 -

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

Arkansas 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):
Mike Ross (D) for GovernorAsa Hutchinson (R) for GovernorFrank Gilbert (L) for GovernorJosh Drake (G) for Governor
{{Portal bar, 2010s, Politics, United States

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 ...