2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

The 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich won a second term by a landslide over Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. Primary elections were held on May 6, 2014.

Kasich's landslide victory gave him the highest percentage of the vote since George Voinovich's win in (/wiki/1994Ohiogubernatorialelection), a large improvement from his narrow victory in (/wiki/2010Ohiogubernatorialelection). As of 2024, this was the last time the counties of Cuyahoga and Franklin voted for the Republican candidate and the last time Monroe County voted for the Democratic candidate.

This was one of the nine Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Barack Obama won in the 2012 presidential election.

Background

2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

Kasich, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2010, faced considerable backlash from the movement. His decision to accept the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid, his increased spending, taxation of fracking on Ohio farmland and perceived failure to go far enough on charter schools and school vouchers caused Tea Party groups to refuse to support his campaign. When Kasich passed over Tea Party leader Tom Zawistowski for the position of executive director of the Ohio Republican Party in favor of Matt Borges, who worked with a gay rights group, that was widely seen as the last straw. Tea Party groups announced they would support a primary challenger, or, if none emerged, the Libertarian nominee. Zawistowski said, "John Kasich is going to lose in 2014. We don't care who else wins." Ultimately, Kasich was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican primary

Declared

• John Kasich, incumbent governor • Running mate: Mary Taylor, incumbent lieutenant governor

Withdrawn

• Donald Allen, veterinarian and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in (/wiki/UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOhio,2010) • Running mate: Kelly Kohls, education activist and chair of the Warren County Tea Party • Ted Stevenot, president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition

Results

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Kasich (incumbent)	559,671	100
Total votes	559,671	100

Democratic primary

Declared

• Larry Ealy, former tow truck operator, former male stripper, perennial candidate and vexatious litigant • Running mate: Ken Gray, nurse • Ed FitzGerald, County Executive of Cuyahoga County and former mayor of Lakewood • Running mate: Sharen Neuhardt, attorney, nominee for Ohio's 7th congressional district in (/wiki/UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOhio,2008#District7) and for Ohio's 10th congressional district in (/wiki/UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOhio,2012#District10)

Withdrew

• Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commissioner

Declined

• Michael B. Coleman, mayor of Columbus • Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and former Ohio Attorney General • Tim Ryan, U.S. representative • Ted Strickland, former governor • Betty Sutton, former U.S. representative

Results

Results by county:   FitzGerald

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed FitzGerald	366,056	83.15
	Democratic	Larry Ealy	74,197	16.85
Total votes	440,253	100

Green primary

Declared

• Anita Rios, nominee for lieutenant governor of Ohio in 2006 and (/wiki/2010Ohioelections#LieutenantGovernor) and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 • Running mate: Bob Fitrakis, author and perennial candidate

Disqualified

• Dennis Spisak, perennial candidate (failed to gather enough valid signatures) • Running mate: Suzanne Patzer, information technology supervisor

Results

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Anita Rios	674	100
Total votes	674	100

Libertarian primary

2014 Ohio gubernatorial election

Charlie Earl gathered enough raw signatures to obtain ballot access. However, he was removed from the ballot because technical faults in collection rendered many of his signatures invalid. The decision was appealed in federal court.

Disqualified

• Charlie Earl, former Republican state representative • Running mate: Sherry Clark, newspaper publisher

General election

Campaign

FitzGerald released a plan for state-funded universal preschool in addition to announcing his support for gay marriage. He criticized Kasich for signing into law income tax cuts that save larger sums of money for wealthier Ohioans than poorer ones, while increasing sales taxes, which tax a larger percentage of income from poorer Ohioans than from wealthier ones. FitzGerald also chided Kasich for a lack of transparency at JobsOhio, the privatized economic development agency that Kasich formed, and for signing into law bills that cut early voting days and limit the distribution of absentee ballot applications. FitzGerald faced several scandals that damaged his candidacy, most notably the revelations that he had driven for several years without a valid driver's license, him being found in a car late at night with a woman who was not his wife, and that his initial running mate, State Sen. Eric Kearney, owed over $1 million in unpaid taxes. Additionally, FitzGerald consistently trailed Kasich in fundraising throughout the entire campaign.

Predictions

<table><thead><tr><th>Source</th><th>Ranking</th><th>As of</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>The Cook Political Report</td><td>Solid R</td><td>November 3, 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Sabato's Crystal Ball</td><td>Safe R</td><td>November 3, 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Rothenberg Political Report</td><td>Safe R</td><td>November 3, 2014</td></tr><tr><td>Real Clear Politics</td><td>Safe R</td><td>November 3, 2014</td></tr></tbody></table>

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Kasich (R)	Ed FitzGerald (D)	Other	Undecided
The Columbus Dispatch	October 22–31, 2014	1,009	± 3.3%	62%	34%	—	4%
Fox News	October 28–30, 2014	803	± 3%	51%	36%	2%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	October 16–23, 2014	2,728	± 3%	54%	35%	1%	10%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	September 20 – October 1, 2014	3,082	± 2%	52%	36%	1%	11%
Quinnipiac	September 24–29, 2014	999	± 3.1%	57%	35%	2%	7%
The Columbus Dispatch	September 3–5, 2014	1,185	± 2.9%	59%	29%	3%	10%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	August 18 – September 2, 2014	2,978	± 3%	50%	37%	2%	11%
Rasmussen Reports	September 8–9, 2014	780	± 4%	50%	30%	—	20%
Buckeye Poll	August 31, 2014	600	± 4%	46%	27%	4%	23%
Public Policy Polling^	August 8–9, 2014	801	± ?	50%	44%	—	6%
Quinnipiac	July 24–28, 2014	1,366	± 2.7%	48%	36%	1%	15%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	July 5–24, 2014	3,624	± ?	49%	43%	1%	7%
Public Policy Polling^	July 9–10, 2014	889	± ?	45%	44%	—	11%
Quinnipiac	May 7–12, 2014	1,174	± 2.9%	50%	35%	1%	13%
Public Policy Polling^	May 9–11, 2014	740	± ?	47%	43%	—	10%
Rasmussen Reports	May 7–8, 2014	750	± 4%	45%	38%	4%	13%
SurveyUSA	April 24–28, 2014	618	± 4%	46%	36%	4%	14%
Magellan Strategies	April 14–15, 2014	857	± 3.35%	47%	41%	5%	7%
Public Policy Polling^	April 14–15, 2014	1,050	± ?	44%	44%	—	11%
Quinnipiac	February 12–17, 2014	1,370	± 2.7%	43%	38%	1%	18%
Public Policy Polling	December 6–8, 2013	1,011	± 3.1%	40%	38%	6%	16%
Quinnipiac	November 19–24, 2013	1,361	± 2.7%	44%	37%	2%	19%
Public Policy Polling^	November 5–6, 2013	595	± 4%	41%	41%	6%	13%
Public Policy Polling	August 16–19, 2013	551	± 4.2%	35%	38%	—	27%
Quinnipiac	June 18–23, 2013	941	± 3.2%	47%	33%	1%	19%
Quinnipiac	April 10–15, 2013	1,138	± 2.9%	46%	37%	1%	17%
Quinnipiac	February 21–26, 2013	1,011	± 3.1%	45%	35%	1%	19%

Results

State Senate district results

Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Kasich (incumbent)	1,944,848	63.64%	+14.60%
	Democratic	Ed FitzGerald	1,009,359	33.03%	−14.01%
	Green	Anita Rios	101,706	3.33%	+1.81%
Total votes	3,055,913	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashtabula (largest city: Ashtabula) • Belmont (largest city: Martins Ferry) • Cuyahoga (largest city: Cleveland) • Erie (largest city: Sandusky) • Franklin (largest city: Columbus) • Harrison (largest city: Cadiz) • Hocking (largest city: Logan) • Jackson (largest city: Jackson) • Jefferson (largest city: Steubenville) • Lawrence (largest city: Ironton) • Lorain (largest municipality: Lorain) • Lucas (largest city: Toledo) • Mahoning (largest municipality: Youngstown) • Meigs (largest city: Middleport) • Montgomery (largest city: Dayton) • Noble (largest city: Caldwell) • Ottawa (largest city: Port Clinton) • Perry (largest city: New Lexington) • Pike (largest city: Waverly) • Ross (largest city: Chillicothe) • Scioto (largest city: Portsmouth) • Summit (largest city: Akron) • Trumbull (largest city: Warren) • Vinton (largest city: McArthur) • Washington (largest city: Marietta) • Wood (largest city: Bowling Green)

By congressional district

Kasich won 14 of 16 congressional districts, including two that voted for Democrats.

District	Kasich	FitzGerald	Representative
1st	65%	32%	Steve Chabot
2nd	69%	30%	Brad Wenstrup
3rd	47%	49%	Joyce Beatty
4th	71%	26%	Jim Jordan
5th	69%	28%	Bob Latta
6th	63%	34%	Bill Johnson
7th	70%	27%	Bob Gibbs
8th	74%	24%	John Boehner
9th	52%	44%	Marcy Kaptur
10th	65%	32%	Mike Turner
11th	35%	61%	Marcia Fudge
12th	70%	27%	Pat Tiberi
13th	53%	43%	Tim Ryan
14th	68%	29%	David Joyce
15th	66%	30%	Steve Stivers
16th	70%	27%	Jim Renacci