The 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to determine 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 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 ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It occurred concurrently with

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

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

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 State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. This was one of nine Republican-held governorships up for election in a 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: ...

. Incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker won re-election to a second term in office, defeating Democratic businesswoman and Madison school board member Mary Burke and two minor party candidates in the general election. Walker, who was elected in 2010, survived an attempted recall in 2012, the first governor in United States history to do so, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett both times. Wisconsin voters have elected a governor from a different political party than the sitting president in 27 of the last 31 elections since 1932; only once has a Democratic candidate been elected governor in Wisconsin in the last 18 contests when a Democrat was in the White House. Eleven of the last twelve Wisconsin governors, dating back to Republican Vernon Wallace Thomson in the late 1950s, had, unlike Burke, previously won an election to state government, the exception being Republican Lee S. Dreyfus in 1978. The polling leading up to the election was very close, with no candidate clearly in the lead. The consensus among most analysts was that the race was either a tossup or leaning Republican. As of , this is the last time a Republican was elected governor of Wisconsin, and the last time that a candidate was elected Governor of Wisconsin by winning a majority of counties.

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

* Scott Walker, incumbent

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Rebecca Kleefisch Rebecca Ann Kleefisch (née Reed; born August 7, 1975) is an American politician and former television reporter who served as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor

Results

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

* Mary Burke, businesswoman, member of the Madison school district board and former Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce * Brett Hulsey, state representative

Disqualified

* Marcia Mercedes Perkins * Hari Trivedi, independent candidate for governor in the 2012 recall election

Declined

Chris Abele Christopher Seton Abele (born January 28, 1967) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served as the 6th Milwaukee County Executive from 2011 to 2020. Abele is the son of American businessman John Abele, the co-founder o ...

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

* Peter W. Barca, Minority Leader of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and former U.S. representative * Tom Barrett,

Mayor of Milwaukee This is a list of mayors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following the election of Socialist Emil Seidel as mayor of Milwaukee in 1910, Wisconsin legislators passed a bill in 1912 to declare most local offices across the state as officially non-parti ...

and 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 ...

and

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 ...

* Deb Carey, founder and president of New Glarus Brewing Company * Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

* Lori Compas, executive director of the Wisconsin Business Alliance and nominee for the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

* Kevin Conroy, biotechnology executive *

John Dickert John T. Dickert (born December 6, 1962) is an American Democratic politician and was the 57th mayor of Racine, Wisconsin. He subsequently served as administrator of the Division of State and Local Finance in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, ...

, Mayor of Racine *

Jon Erpenbach Jon B. Erpenbach (born January 28, 1961) is an American politician currently serving as chairman of the Wisconsin Parole Commission in the administration of Governor Tony Evers. He previously served as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrati ...

, state senator *

Kathleen Falk Kathleen Falk (born June 26, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and policymaker from Wisconsin who served as Dane County Executive from 1997 until 2011. In 2013, she was appointed Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and H ...

, former

Dane County Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...

and candidate for governor in 2012 *

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, h ...

, former

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

* Dave Hansen, state senator * Mark L. Harris, Winnebago County

* Dianne Hesselbein, state representative * Sara Johann, political activist *

Steve Kagen Steven Leslie Kagen (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 by Reid Rib ...

, former U.S. representative *

Ron Kind Ronald James Kind (born March 16, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His former district is in western Wisconsin, anchored by La Cross ...

, U.S. representative * Jessica King, former state senator *

Herb Kohl Herbert Hiken Kohl (February 7, 1935 – December 27, 2023) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served 24 years as a United States senator from Wisconsin, from 1989 to 2013, and ...

, former U.S. senator *

Chris Larson Christopher J. Larson (born November 12, 1980) is an American Democratic politician and a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing southeast Milwaukee County since 2011. He was Senate minority leader from 2013 through 2014, and currently ...

, Minority Leader of the

Julie Lassa Julie M. Lassa (born October 21, 1970) is a former Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party member of the Wisconsin State Senate, who represented the Wisconsin Senate, District 24, 24th District from April 2003 to January 2017. She was a ...

, state senator *

Cory Mason Cory H. Mason IV (born January 25, 1973) is a Democratic Party politician and the mayor of Racine, Wisconsin. From 2007 to 2018, Mason served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the city of Racine and eastern Racine County. ...

, state representative *

Mahlon Mitchell Mahlon Mitchell (born February 24, 1977) is an American firefighter and current President of the Professional Fire fighters, Fire Fighters of Wisconsin. Assuming the office on January 12, 2011, he became the youngest and first African American pr ...

, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of

and nominee for

Gwen Moore Gwendolynne Sophia Moore (born April 18, 1951) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2005. In 2016, Moore was elected to serve as caucus whip of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 115th United States Congre ...

, U.S. representative * Tom Nelson,

Outagamie County Outagamie County ( ) is a county in the Fox Cities region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, in the northeast of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,705. Its county seat is Appleton. Outagamie County is part of the Appleton ...

and nominee for

Dave Obey David Ross Obey ( ; born October 3, 1938) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1969 to 2011. The district includes much of the northwestern portion of the sta ...

, former U.S. representative *

Joe Parisi Joseph T. Parisi (born October 24, 1960) is an American Democratic politician from Madison, Wisconsin. He was the 5th Dane County executive, having served from April 18, 2011, until his resignation on May 3, 2024. Earlier in his care ...

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

* Jennifer Shilling, state senator * Chris Taylor, state representative *

Kathleen Vinehout Kathleen Vinehout (born June 16, 1958) is a former Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 31st district since 2007. She was an unsuccessful primary candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the 2012 recall election against S ...

, state senator and candidate for governor in

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

John Lehman John Francis Lehman Jr. (born September 14, 1942) is an American private equity investor and writer who was secretary of the Navy (1981–1987) during the Reagan administration in which he promoted the creation of a 600-ship navy. Lehman is o ...

, member of

* Mary Jo Walters

Results

Minor parties

Candidates

Declared

* Robert Burke ( Libertarian Party), founder of the Libertarian Party of Pierce- St. Croix :* Running mate: Joseph Brost * Dennis Fehr (The People's Party), businessman and founder of The People's Party * Brett Hulsey (

write-in 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 ...

), state representative

Disqualified

* Francis Klein (

Pirate Party Pirate Party is a label adopted by various Political party, political parties worldwide that share a set of values and policies focused on Civil and political rights, civil rights in the digital age. The fundamental principles of Pirate Partie ...

)

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

(largest city:

) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic * Crawford (largest municipality:

Prairie du Chien Prairie du Chien may refer to: Places *Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien ( ) is a city in Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Often called Wisconsin's second- ...

) *

Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare". Place names (Canada) Communities *Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...

(largest municipality:

) *

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 ...

(largest municipality:

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

) * Sauk (largest city:

Baraboo Baraboo ( ) is the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, located along the Baraboo River. The population was 12,556 at the 2020 census. The most populous city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo micropol ...

) * Vernon (largest municipality: Viroqua)

By congressional district

Walker won 6 of 8 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.

References

External links

Wisconsin 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)
Scott Walker for Governor

Mary Burke for Governor

Robert Burke
{{2014 United States 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 ...

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

Disqualified

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

Minor parties

Candidates

Declared

Disqualified

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

By congressional district

See also

References

External links