2014 United States elections

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Election day	November 4
Incumbent president	Barack Obama(Democratic)
Next Congress	114th
Senate elections
Overall control	Republican gain
Seats contested	36 of 100 seats (33 seats of Class II + 3 special elections)
Net seat change	Republican +9
Map of the 2014 Senate races      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Republican gain A box in a state indicates that both Senate seats were up for election.
House elections
Overall control	Republican hold
Seats contested	All 435 seats to the 114th Congress
Popular vote margin	Republican +5.7%
Net seat change	Republican +13
Map of the 2014 House races      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	39 (36 states, 3 territories)
Net seat change	Republican +2
Map of the 2014 gubernatorial races      Democratic hold     Republican hold      Democratic gain     Republican gain      Independent gain

Elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2014, in the middle ofDemocratic PresidentBarack Obama's second term. A typicalsix-year itchmidterm election suffered by most second-term presidents, this election saw theRepublican Party expanding their majority in theHouse of Representatives and winning control of theSenate, while furthering their gains in thegovernorships andstate legislatures. Because of these Republican gains, the election was commonly cited as a"red wave" election.^[1]

Republicans won a net gain of nine Senate seats, the largest Senate gain for either party since the1980 United States elections. In the House, Republicans won a net gain of thirteen seats, giving them their largest majority since the1928 elections. In state elections, Republicans won a net gain of two gubernatorial seats and flipped control of ten legislative chambers. Various other state, territorial, and local elections and referendums were held throughout the year.

With total spending reaching $3.7 billion, the midterm election, at the time, was the most expensive in history, being surpassed by the2018 midterm election four years later. The 2014 election also saw the lowestturnout since1942, with just 36.4% of eligible voters voting. Coupled with the 2010 midterms earlier in the Obama administration, this election marked the first time since the Reagan Administration that a two-term president's party suffered net losses in both houses of Congress in both midterm elections.

Major issues of the election included income inequality,^[2] and theAffordable Care Act (commonly referred to as "Obamacare"), which Republicans sought to repeal.^[3] Democrats promoted their proposal to increase theminimum wage.^[2] In the lead-up to the 2014 election, Republicans harshly criticized the Obama administration for four ebola cases in the United States that were diagnosed weeks prior to the election.^[4][5][6] The American media intensely covered the ebola scare.^[7] However, immediately after the election, Republicans dropped Ebola as an issue.^[8] Studies found that Republican rhetoric and media coverage of the Ebola scare helped Republican candidates in the 2014 election.^[7][9][10]

Although it generated much debate in early 2014, theKeystone Pipeline ultimately received little attention in the election, with environmentalists instead focused on fightingglobal warming and supporting theEPA's proposed regulations ongreenhouse gas emissions.^[11][12][13] Another potentially important issue,net neutrality, received little attention during the campaign.^[14]

Nationalexit polling showed that 45% of voters said the economy was their most important issue.^[15][16] This was a decline from 2010 and 2008 (when 59% of voters and 63% of voters, respectively, named it as their top issue), but was still the most common issue cited by voters as most important to them.^[15] Smaller numbers of voters named health care, foreign policy, or illegal immigration as their top issues,^[16] or same-sex marriage, Ebola, or thelegalization of marijuana as their top issues.^[15]

With a final total of 247 seats (56.78%) in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the U.S. Congress since the71st Congress in 1929.^[17]

All 33 seats inSenate Class II were up for election. Additionally, three special elections were held to fill vacancies in Class III.^[18]

Of the 36 Senate races, the Republican Party won 24 (a net gain of nine seats,^[19] which represents the largest gain for a party in the Senate since 1980, and the largest Senate gain in a midterm since 1958) and the Democratic Party won 12, thus resulting in the Republicans regaining control of the Senate for the first time since 2006, with a total of 54 seats. The race in Louisiana headed to arun-off on December 6, 2014, in which Rep.Bill Cassidy (R) defeated 3-term incumbent Sen.Mary Landrieu 55.9% to 44.1%.

All 435 voting seats in theUnited States House of Representatives were up for election. Elections were held to select thedelegates for theDistrict of Columbia and four of the fiveU.S. territories. The only seat in the House not up for election was theResident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term. The Republican party won 247 seats (a net gain of 13 seats) and the Democratic Party, 188 seats. Thus, the Republicans gained their largest majority in the House since 1928.^{[citation needed]} Nationwide, Republicans won the popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.7 percent.^[20]

On March 11, there wasa special election for Florida's 13th congressional district, won by the Republican Party.

Elections were held for thegovernorships of 36 U.S. states and threeU.S. territories. The Republican Party won 24 of the 36 state governorships for a net gain of two seats, as they picked up open Democratic-held seats in Arkansas, Maryland and Massachusetts and defeated incumbent governorPat Quinn in Illinois, while Republican incumbentsTom Corbett ofPennsylvania andSean Parnell ofAlaska respectively lost to DemocratTom Wolf and independentBill Walker. This cycle marked the first time an incumbent governor running for re-election in Pennsylvania lost in the modern era. The final total, as a result, was 31 Republican governors, 18 Democratic governors, and one independent governor.^[21] In the table below, the US state governorships held by Democrats included: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia in addition to Washington, DC and Virgin Islands.

Numerous elections were held for officeholders in numerous cities, counties, school boards, special districts, and others around the country.^[27]

Major cities which held mayoral elections in 2014 include:

• Louisville, Kentucky: IncumbentGreg Fischer was re-elected to a second term.
• New Orleans, Louisiana: IncumbentMitch Landrieu was re-elected to a second term on February 1.^[28]
• Newark, New Jersey: Acting mayorLuis A. Quintana, who took over on November 4, 2013, afterCory Booker resigned to becomeU.S. Senator, declined to run for a full term.Ras J. Baraka was elected as Newark's new mayor on May 13.
• Reno, Nevada: IncumbentBob Cashell is term-limited out of office.
• San Diego, California: A special election was held on February 11 following the resignation ofBob Filner on August 30, 2013.Kevin Faulconer defeatedDavid Alvarez to serve out the balance of Filner's term.^[29]
• San Jose, California: IncumbentChuck Reed is term-limited out of office. A primary election was held on June 3, and a run-off was held on November 4.Sam Liccardo edged out opponentDave Cortese in a razor-thin victory with 50.8% of the vote.^[30][31]
• Shreveport, Louisiana: IncumbentCedric Glover is term-limited out of office.
• Washington, D.C.: IncumbentVincent C. Gray was defeated in the Democratic primary on April 1 byMuriel Bowser. The general election was held on November 4 and Bowser was elected as mayor.^[32]

Nationwide voter turnout was 36.4%, down from 40.9% in the2010 midterms and the lowest since the1942 elections, when just 33.9% of voters turned out, though that election came during the middle ofWorld War II.^[33][34][35]

The states with the highest turnout were Maine (59.3%), Wisconsin (56.9%), Alaska (55.3%), Colorado (53%), Oregon (52.7%) Minnesota (51.3%), Iowa (50.6%), New Hampshire (48.8%), Montana (46.1%) and South Dakota (44.6%), all of which except for Iowa and Montana featured a competitive gubernatorial race and all of which except for Maine and Wisconsin also featured competitive Senate races.^[34][35] The states with the highest turnout that had no Senate or gubernatorial race that year were North Dakota (44.1%) and Washington state (38.6%).^[34][35]

The states with the lowest turnout were Indiana (28%), Texas (28.5%), Utah (28.8%), Tennessee (29.1%), New York (29.5%), Mississippi (29.7%), Oklahoma (29.8%), New Jersey (30.4%) and West Virginia and Nevada (31.8%). Indiana and Utah had no Senate or gubernatorial elections and the others all had races for at least one of the posts, but they were not considered competitive.^[34][35] Turnout in Washington, D.C. was (30.3%).^[34][35]

According to CNN, Americans aged between 18 and 29 accounted for 13% of voters,^[36] down from 19% in thepresidential election two years before.^[37]

Analysis by thePew Research Center found that 35% of non-voters cited work or school commitments, which prevented them from voting, 34% said they were too busy, unwell, away from home or forgot to vote, 20% either didn't like the choices, didn't know enough or didn't care and 10% had recently moved, missed a registration deadline or didn't have transportation.^[38]

The New York Times counts apathy, anger and frustration at the relentlessly negative tone of the campaigns as the reasons of low turnout and stated, "Neither party gave voters an affirmative reason to show up at the polls."^[39]

Connecticut State RepresentativeChristina Ayala (Democrat) was arrested in September 2014 on 19 voting fraud charges, specifically "eight counts of fraudulent voting, 10 counts of primary or enrollment violations and one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence."^[40] In September 2015 she pleaded guilty to state election law violations, received a one-year sentence (suspended) along with two years 'conditional discharge', and agreed not to seek elective office for two years. Her mother, Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala, was also the subject of an investigation in the case, but was not charged.^[41]

California State SenatorRoderick Wright (Democrat) resigned from office in September 2014 and was sentenced to 90 days inLos Angeles county jail for perjury and voter fraud.^[42] Despite being convicted months earlier for 8 felonies, Wright was allowed to take a paid leave of absence as state senator.^[43]

In Chicago, election judges said they had received automated phone calls between October–November 3 with apparently false instructions about voting or required training, according to theChicago Sun-Times. InPontiac, Michigan, local Democrats cited reports of voter harassment and intimidation by Republicans over questioning legally-cast ballots with election workers repeatedly having had to ask them to step aside. A clerk called police for help.^[44]

In June 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated part of theVoting Rights Act of 1965, permitting nine (mostly Southern) states to change their election laws without advance federal approval.^[45] Since 2010, 22 states enacted newvoting restrictions.^[46] The 2014 federal election was the first federal election where 15 states enacted newvoting restrictions, many of which faced challenges in court.^[46][47][48]

Scattered issues with voting machines occurred, with miscalibrated machines recorded a vote cast for one candidate as a vote for another candidate. They occurred in Virginia,^[49] Maryland,^[50] Illinois,^[51] and North Carolina.^[52]

In Bexar County, Texas, the Republican candidate for governor,Greg Abbott, was accidentally replaced on the ballot byDavid Dewhurst on one machine, on which 12 votes were cast before the problem was caught.^[53]

A series of milestones were set for women, African-Americans, and Hispanics, among others, in the U.S. Congress and American politics in general. These include:

• RepublicanSaira Blair, elected to theWest Virginia House of Delegates, became the youngest elected official to state office in American history, at age 18.^[54]
• RepublicanTerry Branstad, the governor ofIowa, was re-elected to a sixth four-year term as governor, thus becoming the longest-serving governor in U.S. history (surpassingGeorge Clinton ofNew York).^[55]
• RepublicanShelley Moore Capito, elected to the Senate fromWest Virginia, became the first female senator in West Virginia's history.^[56]
• RepublicanJoni Ernst, elected to the Senate from Iowa, became the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate, the first woman ever elected on a statewide level in Iowa, and the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress from Iowa.^[57]
• DemocratNellie Gorbea, electedSecretary of State of Rhode Island, became the first Hispanic to be elected to a statewide office inNew England.^[58]
• DemocratMaura Healey, electedMassachusetts Attorney General, became the first openly gay state attorney general elected in America.^[59]
• RepublicanWill Hurd, elected to the House fromTexas, was the first African-American Republican elected to Congress in Texas.^[60]
• RepublicanMia Love, elected to the House fromUtah, was the first African-American woman elected to Congress as a Republican, the firstHaitian-American person elected to the U.S. Congress, and the first African-American elected to Congress from the state of Utah.^[61]
• RepublicanMartha McSally, the first American woman to fly in combat since the 1991 lifting of the prohibition of women in combat, as well as the first woman to command aUSAF fighter squadron, was elected to the House fromArizona.^[62][63]
• RepublicanAlex Mooney, elected to the House fromWest Virginia, became the first Latino elected to Congress in West Virginia's history.^[64]
• DemocratGina Raimondo, electedGovernor of Rhode Island was the first woman elected governor in Rhode Island and first to restrict transportation related to a neighboring Democratic state (New York State).
• RepublicanTim Scott, elected to the Senate fromSouth Carolina, was the first African-American in history to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate in a formerConfederate state,^[65] and also became the first African-American to be elected to both the House and the Senate.^[66]
• RepublicanElise Stefanik, elected to the House from New York, was the youngest woman elected to Congress at age 30. She beat the previous record-holder and fellow New Yorker,Elizabeth Holtzman, who was elected at age 31 in 1972.^[67]

Bold indicates a change in partisan control. Note that not all states held gubernatorial, state legislative, and United States Senate elections in 2014.

Source:adweek

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2014 elections in the United States.

• "State Elections Legislation Database",Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.:National Conference of State Legislatures,State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year

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• General elections in the United States
• United States midterm elections
• November 2014 in the United States

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