United States gubernatorial elections, 2014

United States gubernatorial elections, 2014

2013 ← November 4, 2014 → 2015

39 governorships 36 states; 3 territories   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Chris Christie Peter Shumlin Bill Walker Party Republican Democratic Independent Leader's seat New Jersey Vermont Alaska Last election 29 governorships 21 governorships 0 governorships Seats before 29 21 0 Seats after 31 18 1 Seat change 2 3 1 Popular vote 32,350,356 29,721,200 129,097 Percentage 50.64% 45.93% 0.21%

Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Independent gain   Republican gain   Republican hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 4, 2014 in 36 states and three territories, concurrent with other elections during the 2014 United States elections.

The Republicans defended 22 seats, compared to the Democrats' 14. The Republicans made gains from retiring Democrats in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Arkansas, as well as defeating incumbent Pat Quinn in Illinois. The only Republican governors who lost were Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania (who lost to Democratic challenger Tom Wolf) and Sean Parnell of Alaska (who lost to independent challenger Bill Walker). This marked the first time an incumbent governor running for re-election in Pennsylvania lost.

All totaled, the Republicans had a net gain of two seats (giving them 31 total), the Democrats had a net loss of three seats (leaving them with 18 total), and an independent picked up one seat. Due to no candidate receiving 50% of the vote, the Vermont General Assembly cast their votes for governor in January 2015, re-electing Governor Peter Shumlin.

As a result of these races, Republican Terry Branstad was re-elected to his sixth full 4-year term as governor of Iowa, and thus became the longest-serving governor in U.S. history.