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

Governor of Kansas 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 ...

of Kansas' 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

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

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

ran for re-election to a second term. He was opposed in the general election by

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 ...

Paul Davis, the Minority Leader of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

, and Libertarian attorney Keen Umbehr. The election was viewed as a referendum on Brownback's aggressive tax cutting initiatives and his conservative values. The consensus among ''

The Cook Political Report ''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...

'', ''

Governing Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gove ...

'', ''

The Rothenberg Political Report Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columnist at ''Roll Ca ...

'', ''

Sabato's Crystal Ball ''Sabato's Crystal Ball'' is an online political newsletter and election handicapper. It predicts electoral outcomes for the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, U.S. governors, and U.S. presidential races, with electo ...

'', ''Daily Kos Elections'', and others was that the contest was a tossup. Brownback won the election by a margin of 3.7%. Davis carried seven counties, all in eastern Kansas, five of which are home to four-year state universities. As of , this is the most recent time a Republican was elected Governor of Kansas. This is was also the last gubernatorial election in which a Democratic candidate won Jefferson County.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent

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 ...

:*Running mate:

Jeff Colyer Jeffrey William Colyer (born June 3, 1960) is an American surgeon and politician who served as the 47th governor of Kansas from January 31, 2018, to January 14, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 49th lieutenant governor of Kansa ...

, incumbent

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 ...

* Jennifer Winn, businesswoman :*Running mate: Robin Lais, advertising agency owner and natural healing shop owner :*Former running mate: Ethan McCord, Iraq War veteran

Declined

Kris Kobach Kris William Kobach ( ; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who is the Attorney General of Kansas. He previously served as the 31st Secretary of State of Kansas. A former Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach came ...

Secretary of State of Kansas The secretary of state of Kansas is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kansas. The current secretary of state is the former speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Kansas House of Representatives, Scott Schwab, who was sworn in on J ...

( running for re-election) * Steve Morris, former President of the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

Sandy Praeger Sandy Praeger (born October 21, 1944) is a former politician from the U.S. state of Kansas who served as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 2003 to 2015. Prior to her term as insurance commissioner, she was a member of the Kansas Senate and ...

Kansas Insurance Commissioner The Kansas Insurance Commissioner (KIC), in full the Kansas State Insurance Commissioner, has the primary responsibility to the people whose personal lives are protected by insurance in the state of Kansas. It is an elected position and is curr ...

(endorsed Paul Davis)

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Paul Davis, Minority Leader of the

:*Running mate: Jill Docking, businesswoman, former member of the

Kansas Board of Regents The Kansas Board of Regents is a body consisting of nine members that governs six state universities in the U.S. state of Kansas. In addition to these six universities, it also supervises and coordinates nineteen community colleges, five technic ...

and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1996 (running for

)

Declined

* Carl Brewer,

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 a ...

of Wichita * Jill Docking *

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications h ...

, state senator and nominee for

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 ...

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 ...

Deb Miller Debra L. "Deb" Miller was the vice chair of the Surface Transportation Board. She previously served as the Kansas Secretary of Transportation under three successive Governors of Kansas between 2003 and 2011. She is Kansas' first female and longe ...

, former secretary of the

Kansas Department of Transportation The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas. Funding issues Since 2012, over $2 billion has been diverted from its coffers to the Kansas ...

* Stephen Morris, former Republican President of the

Mark Parkinson Mark Vincent Parkinson (born June 24, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician serving as head of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL). He served as the 47th lieutenant governor ...

, former

, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living *

, Republican

Joe Reardon Joe Reardon (born 1968) is an American attorney who is the former mayor/CEO of the consolidated city-county of Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Personal life and education Reardon is the son of ...

, former

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

* Joshua Svaty, vice president of

The Land Institute The Land Institute is an American nonprofit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture, based in Salina, Kansas. Their goal is to develop an agricultural system based on perennial crops that "has the ecolo ...

and former Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas

Results

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

Declared

* Keen Umbehr, attorney :*Running mate: Josh Umbehr, physician and son of Keen Umbehr

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 6, 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 21, 2014 -

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

* ;Campaign websites
Sam Brownback for Governor

Paul Davis for Governor

Tresa McAlhaney for Governor

Keen Umbehr for Governor

Jennifer Winn for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas 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 November 2014 events November 2014 events in North America November 2014 events in the United States 2014 elections 2014 elections in North America 2014 elections in the United States 2014 in Kansas