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

governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

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 Minnesota's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and

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 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 ...

. Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor governor

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...

ran for re-election to a second term in office. Incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Yvonne Prettner Solon retired and Tina Smith was selected as his new running mate. Primary elections were held on August 12, 2014. Dayton and Smith won the Democratic primary and the Republicans nominated

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Jeff Johnson and his running mate former state representative Bill Kuisle. In the general election, Dayton and Smith defeated them and several other minor party candidates with just over 50% of the vote. Dayton's victory broke his own record, set in 2010, as the oldest Minnesota gubernatorial candidate to win an election; he was 67. It was also the first gubernatorial race since

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 ...

in which the winner received a majority of the votes cast. The election was the first time since 1994 that a

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

did not gain more than 6% of the total vote.

Background

Incumbent Republican governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty ( ; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 39th governor of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House ...

declined to run for a third term in 2010, instead running for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2012 election. State Representative

Tom Emmer Thomas Earl Emmer Jr. (born March 3, 1961) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as majority whip in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he has represented since 2 ...

easily won the Republican nomination and former U.S. senator

won the DFL nomination with a plurality over State House Speaker

Margaret Anderson Kelliher Margaret Anderson Kelliher (born March 11, 1968) is an American politician, City Operations Officer for the City of Minneapolis, former Director of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works, former Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Tra ...

. After a very close race, Dayton defeated Emmer by just 8,770 votes, 0.42% of all votes cast. Dayton's victory was one of just four that Minnesota Democrats have achieved out of 28 gubernatorial elections during a Democratic presidency. Despite this, and despite his narrow margin of victory in 2010, Dayton was not seen as a top Republican target. ''

The Cook Political Report Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"
The Rothenberg Political Report Stuart Rothenberg (born 1948) 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 columnis ...

'' both rated the race as "safe Democratic" and ''

Daily Kos Elections Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and campaign fundraising data, and is considered an example of " netroots" ac ...

'', '' Governing'' and ''

Sabato's Crystal Ball Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center f ...

'' all rated the race as "likely Democratic".

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Declared

* Bill Dahn ** Running mate: James Vigliotti * Leslie Davis, activist ** Running mate: Gregor Soderberg *

, incumbent governor ** Running mate: Tina Smith, Dayton's former chief of staff

Results

Republican primary

Until 2014,

Minnesota Republicans Minnesota ( ) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and Nor ...

had not had a competitive gubernatorial primary since 1924, when

Theodore Christianson Theodore Christianson (September 12, 1883December 9, 1948) was an American politician who served as the 21st Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1925, until January 6, 1931. Early life and education Christianson was born in Lac qui Parle Tow ...

beat Ole Jacobson by 2.8%, taking 22.8% of the vote in a six-candidate race that saw five candidates finish in double digits. In every election since then, the nominee had won the primary by at least 17.8% and on average by 62.2%. At the Republican State Convention on May 30–31, 2014, Jeff Johnson received the party's endorsement.

Dave A. Thompson David A. Thompson (born October 2, 1961)Thompson, David A. "Dave"
Minneso ...

withdrew from the race and endorsed Johnson. Scott Honour,

Marty Seifert Martin John "Marty" Seifert (born April 23, 1972) is a former Republican Minority Leader and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represented District 21A, a predominantly rural district in southwestern Minnesota that in ...

and

Kurt Zellers Kurt Zellers (born October 16, 1969) is an American politician who served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013 and minority leader from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represente ...

all ran in the August primary, but Johnson prevailed with 30% of the vote.

Candidates

Declared

* Merrill Anderson, former director of Reachout Today Inc and candidate for

Mayor of Minneapolis The mayor of Minneapolis is the chief executive officer of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, responsible for overseeing the city's administration. As the political and ceremonial leader of the city, the mayor also represents Minneapolis on the ...

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: Mark D. Anderson, former realtor and housing counselor. * Scott Honour, investment banker ** Running mate: Karin Housley, state senator * Jeff Johnson,

and former state representative ** Running mate: Bill Kuisle, former state representative and farmer *

, former Minority Leader of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

and candidate for governor in 2010 ** Running mate: Pam Myhra, state representative *

, state representative and former

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the

** Running mate: Dean Simpson, former state representative

Withdrawn

* Rob Farnsworth, teacher and candidate for Minnesota's 8th congressional district 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 ...

* Ole Savior, perennial candidate (ran for the U.S. Senate) *

Dave A. Thompson David A. Thompson (born October 2, 1961)Thompson, David A. "Dave"
Minneso ...

, state senator and former radio host ** Running mate:

Michelle Benson Michelle R. Benson (born September 11, 1968) is an American accountant, politician, and Republican member of the Minnesota Senate. She represents District 31, which includes portions of Anoka, Isanti and Sherburne counties in the northern T ...

, state senator

Declined

Kurt Bills Kurt Patrick Bills (born January 8, 1970) is an American educator and former politician. He has taught and coached high school since 1994. He served on the Rosemount City Council from 2008 to 2010. He then served in the Minnesota House of Represe ...

, former state representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012 *

Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Mi ...

, former U.S. senator and nominee for governor in 1998 *

Matt Dean Matthew T. "Matt" Dean (born April 15, 1966) is an American politician. He served as the Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represented District 38B, whi ...

, state representative and former Majority Leader of the

* Keith Downey, chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota and former state representative *

, former state representative and nominee for governor in 2010 (running for Congress) * Bill Guidera, finance chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota *

David Hann David W. Hann (born April 16, 1952) is an American politician and a former minority leader of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, he represented District 48, which consisted of the cities of Eden Prairie and Minnetonka, from 2003-2017. He was t ...

, Minority Leader of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

and candidate for governor in 2010 * Karin Housley, state senator (running for lieutenant governor on Scott Honour's ticket) * Bill Ingebrigtsen, state senator * John Kline, U.S. representative * John Kriesel, former state representative * Susan Marvin, businesswoman *

Erik Paulsen Erik Philip Paulsen (born May 14, 1965) is an American businessman and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Minnesota House of Representat ...

, U.S. representative *

, former governor * Julie Rosen, state senator * Ron Schutz, attorney * Rich Stanek, Hennepin County Sheriff

Polling

Debate

Results

Independence primary

The

Independence Party of Minnesota The Independence—Alliance Party, a merger of the Alliance Party and the Independence Party, formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota (1996–2000), is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was the party of former Minnesota governo ...

state convention was held on May 17, 2014, at

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

Candidates

Nominee

* Hannah Nicollet, software developer ** Running mate: Tim Gieseke, businessman and candidate for the state house in 2013

Declined

* Tom Horner, public affairs consultant and nominee for governor in 2010 (endorsed Jeff Johnson)

Results

Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party of Minnesota state convention was held on April 26, 2014, in Maple Grove.

Candidates

Nominee

* Chris Holbrook ** Running mate: Chris Dock

Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party

Candidates

Declared

* Chris Wright, computer repair shop owner and nominee for governor in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

** Running mate: David Daniels, playwright and performance artist

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 1, 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 8, 2014 -

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Complete video of debate
October 9, 2014 -

Complete video of debate
October 14, 2014 -

Complete video of debate
October 19, 2014 -

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Grant (Largest city: Elbow Lake) *

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(Largest city: La Crescent) * Pennington (Largest city:

Thief River Falls Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

) *

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

(largest city: Pine City) *

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

(Largest city: Glenwood) * Stevens (Largest city:

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Man ...

) * Watonwan (Largest city: St. James)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

(largest city: East Grand Forks)

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Johnson won 5 of 8 congressional districts, including two that elected Democrats.

Notes

References

External links

Elections & Voting – Minnesota Secretary of State

Minnesota 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)
Leslie Davis

Mark Dayton

Rob Farnsworth

Scott Honour

Jeff Johnson

Hannah Nicollet

Marty Seifert

Dave Thompson

Kurt Zellers

Chris Wright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota 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

Background

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

Declined

Polling

Debate

Results

Independence primary

Candidates

Nominee

Declined

Results

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Nominee

Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party

Candidates

Declared

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

See also

Notes

References

External links