2014 Ohio gubernatorial election


The 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich won reelection to a second term in office by a landslide over Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. Primary elections were held on May 6, 2014.
Despite FitzGerald's massive defeat, he is as of 2018 the last Democrat ever to carry the historically liberal Monroe County, Ohio, as since this election it has taken a massive shift to the right, and voted for Mike DeWine four years later.

Background

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

Candidates

Declared

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Green primary

Candidates

Declared

Libertarian primary

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.

Candidates

Disqualified

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 did consistently trailed Kasich in fundraising throughout the entire campaign.

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling


Hypothetical polling		-------

Results

By congressional district

Kasich won 14 of 16 congressional districts, including 2 districts that lean strongly democratic.
DistrictKasichFitzGeraldRepresentative
65%32%Steve Chabot
69%30%Brad Wenstrup
47%49%Joyce Beatty
71%26%Jim Jordan
69%28%Bob Latta
63%34%Bill Johnson
70%27%Bob Gibbs
74%24%John Boehner
52%44%Marcy Kaptur
65%32%Mike Turner
35%61%Marcia Fudge
70%27%Pat Tiberi
53%43%Tim Ryan
68%29%David Joyce
66%30%Steve Stivers
70%27%Jim Renacci

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