2014 Kansas gubernatorial election


The 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Kansas. It was held concurrently with the [2014 United States Senate 2014 United States Senate election in Kansas|election in Kansas|election] of Kansas' Class II U.S. Senate seat, elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Republican governor Sam Brownback ran for re-election to a second term. He was opposed in the general election by Democrat Paul Davis, the minority leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, 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, Governing, The Rothenberg Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, Daily Kos Elections, and others was that the contest was a tossup. Brownback won the election by a margin of 3.69%. Davis carried seven counties, all in eastern Kansas. This is the last gubernatorial election in which a Democratic candidate won Jefferson County, as well as the last time that a candidate was elected governor of Kansas by winning a majority of counties.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

Declared

  • Keen Umbehr, attorney

General election

Debates

Polling

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Carl
Brewer
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%44%40%15%

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Tom
Holland
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%45%38%17%

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Mark
Parkinson
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%45%39%16%

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Joe
Reardon
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%45%36%19%

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Kathleen
Sebelius
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%48%43%9%

Poll sourceDate
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sam
Brownback
Chad
Taylor
OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 21–24, 20131,229± 2.8%44%34%22%

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic