The 2014 Iowa gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Republican incumbent

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Repu ...

ran for reelection to a sixth overall and second consecutive four-year term. Branstad went on to win a historic sixth term as governor by defeating Democratic challenger and State Senator

Jack Hatch Jack G. Hatch (born March 13, 1950) is a former Iowa State Senator and American business owner. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Iowa in the 2014 election. A Democrat, Hatch served in the Iowa Senate from 2003 to 2015, and was an a ...

, and on December 14, 2015, he became the longest-serving governor in American history. He won 59.1% of the popular vote to Hatch's 37.3%, and carried every county in the state except

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

, home to

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. This was one of the seven Republican-held governorships up for election in the state that

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

won in the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent Governor *

Tom Hoefling Thomas Conrad Hoefling (born December 20, 1960) is an American activist and politician, who was the founder and national chairman of America's Party. Hoefling was the party's 2012 and 2016 presidential nominee, after seeking the nomination of the ...

, political activist and America's Party and

American Independent Party The American Independent Party (AIP) is an American political party that was established in 1967. The American Independent Party is best known for its nomination of Democratic then-former Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five s ...

nominee for president in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Narcisse was disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the Democratic primary following a ruling by the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

that upheld a lower court decision that held that Narcisse had not submitted enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot for the primary election. Narcisse continued his campaign and declared his intention to run for the nomination as a write-in candidate. When he was unsuccessful, he announced that he would be running in the general election as the nominee of the Iowa Party.

Candidates

Declared

, state senator * Jonathan Narcisse, former member of the

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

School Board and Iowa Party nominee for governor 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 ...

Withdrew

* Paul Dahl, bus driver, retail sales associate, former librarian and candidate for

Iowa's 5th congressional district Iowa's 5th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa. It was last represented by Republican Steve King in 2013, who continued to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives after the district's obsole ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* Tyler Olson, state representative and former chairman of the

Iowa Democratic Party The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa. The party organizes the Democratic Iowa caucuses, Iowa presidential caucuses. In recent years, the party has l ...

Declined

Frank Cownie Thomas Michael Franklin "Frank" Cownie (born March 13, 1948) is an American politician who served as mayor of Des Moines, Iowa from 2004 to 2024. He also owns and operates Cownie Furs, a store that has been in his family for generations. Early ...

, Mayor of

Chet Culver Chester John Culver (born January 25, 1966) is an American politician who served from 2007 through 2011 as the 41st governor of Iowa. A member of the Democratic Party, he had previously served as the 29th Secretary of State of Iowa from 1999 t ...

, former governor * Jeff Danielson, state senator * Michael Fitzgerald, state treasurer * Michael Gronstal, majority leader of the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the Iowa, state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senat ...

and chairman of the

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the U.S. Democratic Party organization that works to elect Democrats to state legislatures. The committee was formed after the 1992 elections by a group of Democratic state legislators and ...

* Fred Hubbell, insurance executive *

Pam Jochum Mary Pamela Jochum ( Hingtgen; born September 26, 1954) is an American politician serving as the Iowa State Senator from the Iowa Senate District 36, 36th District and former President of the Iowa Senate. A Iowa Democratic Party, Democrat, she was ...

, president of the

* Bob Krause, former state representative, nominee for state treasurer in 1978, candidate for Mayor of

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

in 1982 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

Janet Petersen Janet Petersen (born August 1, 1970) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Iowa Senate representing the 18th District since January 2013. She previously served as the Senate Minority Leader and has previously represented the 6 ...

, state senator *

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician. He served as the 30th and 32nd United States secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2017, during the Obama administration, and again from 2021 to 2025 during the Biden admi ...

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organi ...

and former governor

Endorsements

Results

General election

Candidates

(Republican), incumbent governor :* Running mate:

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn, August 4, 1959) is an American politician from Iowa. A Republican, Reynolds has served since 2017 as the 43rd governor of Iowa. She is the first female governor in Iowa history. Reynolds was elected Clarke ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor *

(Democratic), state senator :* Running mate: Monica Vernon,

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

City Councilwoman * Jim Hennager (New Independent Party), administrator, former city councillor and Reform Party nominee for governor in 1998 :* Running mate: Mary Krieg * Lee Hieb (Libertarian), orthopedic surgeon :* Running mate: Ryan Ketelsen, businessman * Jonathan Narcisse (Iowa Party), former member of the

School Board and nominee for governor in

:* Running mate: Michael Richards, semi-retired businessman

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 20, 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 ...

Predictions

Polling

} With Branstad
With Hoefling
With Reynolds

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Black Hawk (largest city:

) *

(largest city: Burlington) *

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

(largest city:

) * Floyd (largest city: Charles City) * Jefferson (largest city: Fairfield) *

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

(largest city:

Fort Madison Fort Madison is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk, Iowa, Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of ...

) *

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

(Largest city:

) *

Story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

(Largest city:

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

)

By congressional district

Branstad won all four congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.

References

External links

Iowa 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)
Terry Branstad for Iowa Governor

Paul Dahl for Iowa Governor

Jack Hatch for Iowa Governor

Tom Hoefling for Iowa Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iowa gubernatorial election, 2014

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 ...

2014 United States gubernatorial elections