2014 Kansas gubernatorial election

The 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Kansas, concurrently with the election of Kansas' Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and 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. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican and/or a man was elected Governor of Kansas. This was also 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.

Declared

 * Sam Brownback, incumbent Governor
 * Running mate: Jeff Colyer, incumbent Lieutenant Governor


 * Jennifer Winn, businesswoman
 * Running mate: Robin Lais, advertising agency owner and natural healing shop owner
 * Former running mate: Ethan McCord, Iraq War veteran

Declined

 * Kris Kobach, Secretary of State of Kansas (running for re-election)
 * Steve Morris, former President of the Kansas Senate
 * Sandy Praeger, Kansas Insurance Commissioner (endorsed Paul Davis)

Results
[[File:Kansas gubernatorial Republican primary, 2014.svg|thumb|250px|Results by county: {{legend|#E27F7F|Brownback}}

{{legend|#E27F7F|50–60%}}

{{legend|#D75D5D|60–70%}}

{{legend|#D72F30|70–80%}} {{legend|#FF9A50|Winn}}

{{legend|#FF9A50|50–60%}} ]]

Declared

 * Paul Davis, Minority Leader of the Kansas House of Representatives
 * Running mate: Jill Docking, businesswoman, former member of the Kansas Board of Regents and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1996 (running for Lieutenant Governor)

Declined

 * Carl Brewer, mayor of Wichita
 * Jill Docking
 * Tom Holland, state senator and nominee for governor in 2010
 * Deb Miller, former secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation
 * Stephen Morris, former Republican President of the Kansas Senate
 * Mark Parkinson, former governor, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living
 * Sandy Praeger, Republican Kansas Insurance Commissioner
 * Joe Reardon, former mayor of Kansas City
 * Joshua Svaty, vice president of The Land Institute and former Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas

Declared

 * Keen Umbehr, attorney
 * Running mate: Josh Umbehr, physician and son of Keen Umbehr

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, September 6, 2014 - C-SPAN
 * Complete video of debate, October 21, 2014 - C-SPAN

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Crawford (largest city: Pittsburg)
 * Jefferson (largest municipality: Valley Falls)
 * Lyon (largest municipality: Emporia)
 * Riley (largest municipality: Manhattan)
 * Shawnee (largest municipality: Topeka)