2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to determine the governor and lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It occurred concurrently with 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 Scott Walker won re-election to a second term in office, defeating Democratic businesswoman and Madison school board member Mary Burke and two minor party candidates in the general election.

Walker, who was elected in 2010, survived an attempted recall in 2012, the first governor in United States history to do so, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett both times. Wisconsin voters have elected a governor from a different political party than the sitting president in 27 of the last 31 elections since 1932; only once has a Democratic candidate been elected governor in Wisconsin in the last 18 contests when a Democrat was in the White House. Eleven of the last twelve Wisconsin governors, dating back to Republican Vernon Wallace Thomson in the late 1950s, had, unlike Burke, previously won an election to state government, the exception being Republican Lee S. Dreyfus in 1978.

The polling leading up to the election was very close, with no candidate clearly in the lead. The consensus among most analysts was that the race was either a tossup or leaning Republican. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican was elected governor of Wisconsin, and the last time that a candidate was elected Governor of Wisconsin by winning a majority of counties.

Declared

 * Scott Walker, incumbent governor

Declared

 * Mary Burke, businesswoman, member of the Madison school district board and former Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce
 * Brett Hulsey, state representative

Disqualified

 * Marcia Mercedes Perkins
 * Hari Trivedi, independent candidate for governor in the 2012 recall election

Declined

 * Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Executive
 * Peter W. Barca, Minority Leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly and former U.S. Representative
 * Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee and nominee for governor in 2010 and 2012
 * Deb Carey, founder and president of New Glarus Brewing Company
 * Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor of Madison
 * Lori Compas, executive director of the Wisconsin Business Alliance and nominee for the Wisconsin Senate in 2012
 * Kevin Conroy, biotechnology executive
 * John Dickert, Mayor of Racine
 * Jon Erpenbach, state senator
 * Kathleen Falk, former Dane County Executive and candidate for governor in 2012
 * Russ Feingold, former U.S. Senator
 * Dave Hansen, state senator
 * Mark L. Harris, Winnebago County Executive
 * Dianne Hesselbein, state representative
 * Sara Johann, political activist
 * Steve Kagen, former U.S. Representative
 * Ron Kind, U.S. Representative
 * Jessica King, former state senator
 * Herb Kohl, former U.S. Senator
 * Chris Larson, Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate
 * Julie Lassa, state senator
 * Cory Mason, state representative
 * Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2012
 * Gwen Moore, U.S. Representative
 * Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010
 * Dave Obey, former U.S. Representative
 * Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive
 * Jennifer Shilling, state senator
 * Chris Taylor, state representative
 * Kathleen Vinehout, state senator and candidate for governor in 2012

Declared

 * Robert Burke (Libertarian Party), founder of the Libertarian Party of Pierce-St. Croix
 * Running mate: Joseph Brost


 * Dennis Fehr (The People's Party), businessman and founder of The People's Party
 * Brett Hulsey (write-in), state representative

Disqualified

 * Francis Klein (Pirate Party)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

 * Kenosha (largest city: Kenosha)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Crawford (largest municipality: Prairie du Chien)
 * Eau Claire (largest municipality: Eau Claire)
 * Green (largest municipality: Monroe)
 * Sauk (largest city: Baraboo)
 * Vernon (largest municipality: Viroqua)

By congressional districts
Walker won 6 of the 8 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.