2014 Ohio gubernatorial election


The 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich won a second term by a landslide over Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. Primary elections were held on May 6, 2014.
Kasich's landslide victory gave him the highest percentage of the vote since George Voinovich's win in 1994, a large improvement from his narrow victory in 2010., this was the last time the counties of Cuyahoga and Franklin voted for the Republican candidate and the last time Monroe County voted for the Democratic candidate.
This was one of the nine Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Barack Obama won in the 2012 presidential election.

Background

Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced considerable backlash from the movement. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid, his increased spending, taxation of fracking on Ohio farmland and perceived failure to go far enough on charter schools and school vouchers caused Tea Party groups to refuse to support his campaign. When Kasich passed over Tea Party leader Tom Zawistowski for the position of executive director of the Ohio Republican Party in favor of Matt Borges, who worked with a gay rights group, that was widely seen as the last straw. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee. Zawistowski said, "John Kasich is going to lose in 2014. We don't care who else wins." Ultimately, Kasich was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

  • Donald Allen, veterinarian and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010
  • * Running mate: Kelly Kohls, education activist and chair of the Warren County Tea Party
  • Ted Stevenot, president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Green primary

Candidates

Declared

Disqualified

Libertarian primary

Charlie Earl gathered enough raw signatures to obtain ballot access. However, he was removed from the ballot because technical faults in collection rendered many of his signatures invalid. The decision was appealed in federal court.

Candidates

Disqualified

  • Charlie Earl, former Republican state representative
  • * Running mate: Sherry Clark, newspaper publisher

General election

Campaign

FitzGerald released a plan for state-funded universal preschool in addition to announcing his support for gay marriage. He criticized Kasich for signing into law income tax cuts that save larger sums of money for wealthier Ohioans than poorer ones, while increasing sales taxes, which tax a larger percentage of income from poorer Ohioans than from wealthier ones. FitzGerald also chided Kasich for a lack of transparency at JobsOhio, the privatized economic development agency that Kasich formed, and for signing into law bills that cut early voting days and limit the distribution of absentee ballot applications. FitzGerald faced several scandals that damaged his candidacy, most notably the revelations that he had driven for several years without a valid driver's license, him being found in a car late at night with a woman who was not his wife, and that his initial running mate, State Sen. Eric Kearney, owed over $1 million in unpaid taxes. Additionally, FitzGerald consistently trailed Kasich in fundraising throughout the entire campaign.

Polling

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Michael B.
Coleman 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingJune 21–24, 2012673± 3.8%43%36%—22%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Richard
Cordray 		OtherUndecided
QuinnipiacJune 18–23, 2013941± 3.2%47%36%1%17%
QuinnipiacApril 10–15, 20131,138± 2.9%45%38%2%15%
QuinnipiacFebruary 21–26, 20131,011± 3.1%44%38%1%18%
Public Policy PollingJune 21–24, 2012673± 3.8%41%40%—19%
Public Policy PollingMay 3–6, 2012875± 3.3%42%42%—16%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Larry
Ealy 		Anita
Rios 		Undecided
SurveyUSAApril 24–28, 2014618± 4%50%25%7%18%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Dennis
Kucinich 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingJune 21–24, 2012673± 3.8%45%35%—20%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Tim
Ryan 		OtherUndecided
QuinnipiacFebruary 21–26, 20131,011± 3.1%44%36%1%19%
Public Policy PollingJune 21–24, 2012673± 3.8%41%33%—26%
Public Policy PollingMay 3–6, 2012875± 3.3%40%41%—19%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Ted
Strickland 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingJune 21–24, 2012673± 3.8%44%42%—14%
Public Policy PollingMay 3–6, 2012875± 3.3%40%47%—12%
Public Policy PollingJanuary 28–29, 2012820± 3.4%36%56%—8%

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		John
Kasich 		Betty
Sutton 		OtherUndecided
QuinnipiacFebruary 21–26, 20131,011± 3.1%45%38%1%16%

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Kasich won 14 of 16 congressional districts, including two that voted for Democrats.
DistrictKasichFitzGeraldRepresentative
65%32%Steve Chabot
69%30%Brad Wenstrup
47%49%Joyce Beatty
71%26%Jim Jordan
69%28%Bob Latta
63%34%Bill Johnson
70%27%Bob Gibbs
74%24%John Boehner
52%44%Marcy Kaptur
65%32%Mike Turner
35%61%Marcia Fudge
70%27%Pat Tiberi
53%43%Tim Ryan
68%29%David Joyce
66%30%Steve Stivers
70%27%Jim Renacci