 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 County results Kitzhaber: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Richardson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The2014 Oregon gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect theGovernor of Oregon, concurrently with otherelections in Oregon andacross the United States.
IncumbentDemocratJohn Kitzhaber defeatedRepublican state legislatorDennis Richardson, winning his fourth overall, and second consecutive, four-year term as governor.[1] The race was closer than expected due to recent revelations of potential ethical violations involving his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes.[1] Most news outlets called the election in his favor by 9:00 p.m. on election night. Kitzhaber thanked his supporters for a successful race, while Richardson refused to concede due to the close tally.[2] Fourthird party candidates also appeared on the ballot, with each winning less than 2% of the vote.
Kitzhaber and Richardson were nominated in the primary election on May 20, 2014. As of 2022, this is the last gubernatorial election in Oregon whereClatsop County supported the Republican candidate, and the last one whereTillamook County supported the Democratic candidate.
If Kitzhaber had served his full term, he would have become the second longest-serving governor in U.S. history.[3] Kitzhaber, however, resigned as governor on February 18, 2015.[4]
This is the last time that a man was elected Governor of Oregon.
Physician and then-President of theOregon State SenateJohn Kitzhaber was first elected governor in1994, and was re-elected in1998.Term limits prevented him from running in2002. He considered running in2006, but decided not to; incumbent DemocratTed Kulongoski was re-elected. In September 2009, Kitzhaber announced that he would seek a third term as governorin 2010.[5] In May 2010, he won the Democratic primary with 65% of the vote, defeating former secretary of state of OregonBill Bradbury.[6] After a close general election campaign, Kitzhaber won the election with 49% to Republican nomineeChris Dudley's 48%.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Kitzhaber (incumbent) | 268,654 | 89.0 | |
| Democratic | Ifeanyichukwu C. Diru | 27,833 | 9.22 | |
| write-ins | 5,388 | 1.78 | ||
| Total votes | 301,875 | 100 | ||
A Republican had not won a statewide race in Oregon since incumbent senatorGordon H. Smith was re-electedin 2002 and a Republican has not been elected governor sinceVictor G. Atiyeh was re-electedin 1982. At the annualDorchester Conference for activists in March 2013, Oregon Republicans acknowledged the difficulties they faced. At the Conference, "the lack of activity was so pronounced that the conference's Saturday night satirical show ran a video that began with an announcer intoning, "Now we go live to the 2014 Republican governor's debate." The camera then panned over a debate stage with two empty chairs, the monotony broken only by a broom-wielding janitor." High-profile Republicans have all passed on the election and while attendees split on whether the party needed to change its policies, they agreed that the party needed to be a "big tent" again.[10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dennis Richardson | 163,695 | 65.86 | |
| Republican | Gordon Challstrom | 24,693 | 9.93 | |
| Republican | Bruce Cuff | 23,912 | 9.62 | |
| Republican | Mae Rafferty | 16,920 | 6.8 | |
| Republican | Tim Carr | 14,847 | 5.97 | |
| Republican | Darren Karr | 2,474 | 1.0 | |
| write-ins | 2,011 | 0.8 | ||
| Total votes | 248,552 | 100 | ||
Additionally, under Oregon'sElectoral fusion law, Democratic nomineeJohn Kitzhaber was nominated by theWorking Families Party of Oregon, and Republican nomineeDennis Richardson was nominated by theIndependent Party of Oregon.[22]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[23] | Likely D | November 3, 2014 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[24] | Likely D | November 3, 2014 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[25] | Safe D | November 3, 2014 |
| Real Clear Politics[26] | Lean D | November 3, 2014 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Dennis Richardson (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elway Research[27] | October 26–27, 2014 | 403 | ± 5% | 45% | 38% | 2%[28] | 9% |
| SurveyUSA[29] | October 23–27, 2014 | 552 | ± 4.3% | 50% | 40% | 6% | 5% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov[30] | October 16–23, 2014 | 1,421 | ± 4% | 48% | 42% | 1% | 10% |
| SurveyUSA[31] | October 16–19, 2014 | 561 | ± 4.2% | 51% | 38% | 6% | 6% |
| DHM Research[32] | October 2014 | ? | ± 4.3% | 50% | 29% | 6% | 15% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov[33] | September 20–October 1, 2014 | 1,508 | ± 3% | 49% | 42% | 0% | 8% |
| SurveyUSA[34] | September 22–24, 2014 | 568 | ± 4.2% | 50% | 38% | 5% | 8% |
| Rasmussen Reports[35] | September 2–3, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 48% | 38% | 4% | 10% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov[36] | August 18–September 2, 2014 | 1,541 | ± 4% | 48% | 42% | 1% | 8% |
| Moore Information^[37] | August 5–9, 2014 | 500 | ± 4% | 45% | 41% | — | 13% |
| SurveyUSA[38] | August 1–5, 2014 | 564 | ± 4.2% | 48% | 36% | 7% | 9% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov[39] | July 5–24, 2014 | 2,082 | ± 2.6% | 52% | 42% | 1% | 5% |
| On Message, Inc.^[40] | June 22–24, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 42% | 38% | — | 16% |
| SurveyUSA[41] | June 5–9, 2014 | 560 | ± 4.2% | 48% | 35% | 10% | 7% |
| Public Policy Polling[42] | May 22–27, 2014 | 956 | ± 3.2% | 49% | 36% | — | 15% |
| DHM Research[43] | May 2014 | 400 | ± 4.9% | 48% | 36% | — | 16% |
| Harper Polling[44] | April 1–2, 2014 | 670 | ± 3.91% | 46% | 43% | — | 11% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Allen Alley (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[45] | December 3–5, 2012 | 614 | ± 4% | 52% | 37% | — | 12% |
| Public Policy Polling[46] | June 21–24, 2012 | 686 | ± 3.7% | 46% | 36% | — | 18% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Jason Atkinson (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[46] | June 21–24, 2012 | 686 | ± 3.7% | 45% | 30% | — | 24% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Bruce Hanna (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[45] | December 3–5, 2012 | 614 | ± 4% | 52% | 33% | — | 15% |
| Public Policy Polling[46] | June 21–24, 2012 | 686 | ± 3.7% | 46% | 33% | — | 21% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Gordon H. Smith (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[45] | December 3–5, 2012 | 614 | ± 4% | 47% | 42% | — | 11% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Bruce Starr (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[45] | December 3–5, 2012 | 614 | ± 4% | 53% | 31% | — | 16% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | John Kitzhaber (D) | Greg Walden (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling[45] | December 3–5, 2012 | 614 | ± 4% | 49% | 40% | — | 11% |
| Public Policy Polling[46] | June 21–24, 2012 | 686 | ± 3.7% | 42% | 41% | — | 17% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Kitzhaber (incumbent) | 733,230 | 49.89% | +0.60% | |
| Republican | Dennis Richardson | 648,542 | 44.13% | −3.63% | |
| Pacific Green | Jason Levin | 29,561 | 2.01% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Paul Grad | 21,903 | 1.49% | +0.18% | |
| Constitution | Aaron Auer | 15,929 | 1.08% | N/A | |
| Progressive | Chris Henry | 13,898 | 0.95% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 6,654 | 0.45% | +0.23% | ||
| Total votes | 1,469,717 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
Official campaign websites (Archived)
.jpg)
.jpg)
