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

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

and

lieutenant governor of Illinois The lieutenant governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket and are directly elected by popular vote. Gubernatorial candidates select their ...

, concurrently with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to Illinois's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in other states and elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. Prior to this cycle, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor were nominated separately, and the primary winners ran on the same ticket in the general election. In 2011, the law was changed to allow candidates for governor to pick their own running mates. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon did not run for reelection, instead running unsuccessfully for comptroller. She was replaced as Quinn's running mate by

Paul Vallas Paul Gust Vallas Sr. (; born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former Superintendent (education), education superintendent. He served as the superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut and the Recovery School Distri ...

, a former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...

. Rauner chose Wheaton City councilwoman Evelyn Sanguinetti as his running mate and Grimm chose Alex Cummings. Incumbent Democratic governor Pat Quinn ran for re-election to a second full term in office. Quinn, then the lieutenant governor, assumed the office of governor on January 29, 2009, upon the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

and removal of

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

. He narrowly won a full term in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Primary elections were held on March 18, 2014. Quinn won the Democratic primary, while the

Republicans 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 ...

chose businessman

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

and the

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

nominated political activist Chad Grimm. Rauner defeated Quinn in the general election with 50.3% of the vote to Quinn's 46.4%, winning every county in the state except for

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

, home to the city of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and 40% of the state's residents. Quinn was the only incumbent Democratic governor to lose a general election in 2014 and remained the last one to do so until

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Steve Sisolak Stephen F. Sisolak ( ; born December 26, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 30th governor of Nevada from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Clark County Commission from 2009 to 201 ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. This was the first time since 1998 that a Republican was elected Governor of Illinois. As of , this alongside the concurrent comptroller election is the only time since 2010 that Republicans won a statewide election in Illinois. This is also the most recent Illinois gubernatorial election in which the winner won a majority of counties.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal (

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

) and those for other state offices. The election was part of the

2014 Illinois elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Illinois on November 4, 2014. All of Illinois' executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Illinois' eighteen seats in the United States House of Re ...

. For the primary election, turnout was 16.88%, with 1,267,028 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 48.48%, with 3,627,690 votes cast.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Tio Hardiman, former director of

CeaseFire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

**Running mate: Brunell Donald, attorney, author and motivational speaker. * Pat Quinn, incumbent governor of Illinois ** Running mate:

, former

and candidate for governor

in 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

Withdrew

William M. Daley William Michael Daley (born August 9, 1948) is an American politician and former banker who served as the 24th White House Chief of Staff from January 2011 to January 2012 under President Barack Obama. Before this, he served as the 32nd U.S. ...

, former

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

and former

United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

Declined

* John Atkinson, businessman *

Tom Dart Thomas J. Dart (born May 22, 1962) is an American attorney, politician, and law enforcement officer serving as the Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois. He previously served as a member of both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. Education D ...

Cook County Sheriff The Cook County Sheriff is the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, heading the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Office description Terms are currently four-years in length. Officeholders Election results , - , colspan=21 style="text-align:cent ...

Alexi Giannoulias Alexander Giannoulias ( ; born March 16, 1976) is an American financier and politician who is the Secretary of State of Illinois. He previously served as the 72nd Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republica ...

, former

Illinois Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Seventy-four individuals have occupied the office of Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Mike Frerichs, a Democ ...

and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 * David H. Hoffman, member of the Illinois Reform Commission, former Chicago Inspector General and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

Daniel Hynes Daniel W. Hynes (born July 20, 1968) is an American politician, formerly serving as the Illinois Comptroller. Background Hynes was born in Chicago, the son of Thomas Hynes, a former Cook County assessor, president of the Illinois Senate and De ...

, former

Illinois Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replaci ...

, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and candidate for governor in 2010 *

Lisa Madigan Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Illinois Attorney General, Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 t ...

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

( running for re-election) *

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the incumbent County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commis ...

, President of the

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which includes the City ...

Kwame Raoul Kwame Raoul (, born September 30, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the 42nd Attorney General of Illinois since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Raoul represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate fro ...

, state senator

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

By early summer 2013, the field seeking the Republican nomination was set at four candidates. Two of them, state senators Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, had sought the nomination in 2010, with Brady edging out Dillard by 193 votes, but ultimately losing to Pat Quinn by less than 1 percent. Dan Rutherford, who was elected state treasurer in 2010 after serving as a state representative and state senator, formally entered the race on June 2. Rauner had announced the formation of an exploratory committee in March and made his entry into the Republican field official on June 5. Despite longstanding rumors that Rauner was committed to spending $50 million on his campaign, he denied in an interview ever specifying a dollar figure. By the date of the primary, Rauner had broken the previous record for self-funding in an Illinois gubernatorial race by putting more than $6 million of his own money into his campaign. In total, he raised more than $14 million before the primary election. On March 18, 2014, Rauner won the Republican primary, collecting 40% of the vote, compared to 37% for State Senator Kirk Dillard.

Candidates

Declared

* Bill Brady, state senator, candidate for governor in 2006 and nominee for governor in 2010 ** Running mate: Maria Rodriguez, former Village President of Long Grove *

Kirk Dillard Kirk W. Dillard (born June 1, 1955) is an American politician and the current Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority Board of Directors. Previously, he served as a Republican member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 24th ...

, state senator and candidate for governor in 2010 ** Running mate: Jil Tracy, state representative *

, businessman and former chairman of

GTCR GTCR LLC is a Chicago, Illinois-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout, leveraged recapitalization, growth capital and rollup transactions. The firm principally invests in high-growth industries, including financial services & te ...

** Running mate: Evelyn Sanguinetti, Wheaton City Councilwoman *

Dan Rutherford Dan Rutherford (born May 26, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Illinois Treasurer, Treasurer of Illinois from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously was the Illinois Se ...

** Running mate: Steve Kim, Attorney and nominee for

Removed

* Peter Edward Jones (removed from the ballot) ** Running mate: None

Declined

* Adam Andrzejewski, businessman and candidate for governor in 2010 * Dan Duffy, state senator *

Adam Kinzinger Adam Daniel Kinzinger (; born February 27, 1978) is an American politician, senior political commentator for CNN, and former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. He served as a United States representative from Illinois from 2011 to 20 ...

, U.S. representative *

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

, former

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

and former U.S. representative * Matt Murphy, state senator * Dan Proft, talk radio personality and candidate for governor in 2010 * Christine Radogno, Minority Leader of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

Aaron Schock Aaron Jon Schock (born May 28, 1981) is a former American politician who was Republican Party (United States), Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for from 2009 until 2015. The district is based in Peoria, Illi ...

, U.S. representative *

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born Joseph Woodward Fidler; November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles (band), Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other ...

, conservative radio talk show host and former U.S. representative

Endorsements

Polling

* * Internal poll for Bill Brady campaign

Results

Third party and Independents

Candidates

Declared

* Chad Grimm (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

), political activist, candidate for the State House in 2012 and candidate for the Peoria City Council in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

** Running mate: Alex Cummings

Removed from ballot

* Mike Oberline (

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

)Rauner Dealt Double Blows Over Illinois Ballot
''Miami Herald'', August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014 ** Running mate: Don Stone * Scott Summers (

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 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

) ** Running mate: Bob Pritchett Jr.

Declined

* Sam McCann (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

), Republican state senator

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 9, 2014 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Complete video of debate
October 20, 2014 -

Predictions

Polling

With Quinn
With Daley
With Emanuel
With Hynes
With Madigan
* * Internal Poll for Dick Durbin campaign * ^ Internal Poll for Pat Quinn campaign

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(largest city:

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

) *

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

(largest city: Carbondale) * St. Clair (largest city: Belleville)

References

External links

Illinois 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 ...

Pat Quinn for Governor

Bruce Rauner for Governor
{{Illinois elections

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

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Removed

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Third party and Independents

Candidates

Declared

Removed from ballot

Declined

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

External links