South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2014

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2014

November 4, 2014

Nominee Dennis Daugaard Susan Wismer Party Republican Democratic Running mate Matt Michels Susy Blake Popular vote 195,477 70,549 Percentage 70.47% 25.43%

County results

Governor before election Dennis Daugaard Republican Elected Governor Dennis Daugaard Republican

The 2014 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota, concurrently with the election of South Dakota's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other 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 Dennis Daugaard ran for re-election to a second term in office. He won the Republican primary and ran again with incumbent Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels. The Democrats nominated State Representative Susan Wismer, who chose former State Representative Susy Blake as her running mate. Independent Mike Myers also ran, whose running mate was former Republican State Representative Lora Hubbel.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Dennis Daugaard, incumbent Governor
• Lora Hubbel, former State Representative and former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party

Declined

• Stan Adelstein, State Senator
• Stace Nelson, State Representative (running for the U.S. Senate)

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Daugaard	60,017	80.87
	Republican	Lora Hubbel	14,196	19.13
Total votes			74,213	100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Joe Lowe, former State Director of Wildland Fire Suppression and former Mayor of Mission Viejo, California
• Susan Wismer, State Representative

Declined

• Jason Frerichs, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate
• Bryce Healy, former Commissioner of Schools and Public Lands
• Scott Heidepriem, former State Senator and nominee for Governor in 2010
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. Representative
• Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls (running for re-election)
• Steve Jarding, educator, lecturer and political consultant
• Pat O'Brien, author, television anchor and radio host

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Susan Wismer	15,311	55.49
	Democratic	Joe Lowe	12,283	44.51
Total votes			27,594	100

Independents and Third Parties

Candidates

Declared

• Mike Myers (Independent), former University of South Dakota professor and former CEO of Mayo-St. Mary’s Hospital

• Running mate: Lora Hubbel, former Republican State Representative and Republican candidate for Governor in 2014. Myers' initial running mate was Caitlin Collier, an attorney and Democratic candidate for the State House in 2008. After Collier announced her withdrawal from the race in June 2014 because of a family illness, Myers attempted to replace her with Hubbel, who had run against Daugaard in the Republican primary. However, Secretary of State of South Dakota Jason Gant refused to remove Collier's name, saying that state law had no provision for replacing an Independent candidate on the ballot. In July, Myers sued the Secretary of State to allow him to change his running mate and on August 18, federal judge Lawrence L. Piersol of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota ruled in Myers' favor.

Failed to make the ballot

• Curtis Strong (Constitution), Tea Party activist

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Dennis Daugaard (R)	Susan Wismer (D)	Mike Myers (I)	Other	Undecided
Monmouth University	October 24–27, 2014	429	± 4.7%	68%	29%	1%	—	2%
SurveyUSA	October 21–26, 2014	611	± 4%	54%	34%	5%	—	7%
Mason-Dixon	October 20–23, 2014	800	± 3.5%	62%	26%	5%	—	7%
NBC News/Marist	October 19–23, 2014	730 LV	± 3.6%	67%	28%	—	1%	4%
		990 RV	± 3.1%	67%	26%	—	2%	5%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	October 16–23, 2014	527	± 8%	54%	28%	—	3%	15%
Harper Polling	October 9–11, 2014	630	± 3.9%	53%	35%	—	8%	4%
SurveyUSA	October 1–5, 2014	616	± 4%	59%	30%	7%	—	5%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	September 20–October 1, 2014	382	± 7%	57%	31%	—	2%	10%
Nielson Brothers Polling	September 21–25, 2014	607	± 3.35%	53.4%	27.5%	10.3%	—	8.8%
SurveyUSA	September 3–7, 2014	510	± 4.4%	54%	34%	6%	—	7%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	August 18–September 2, 2014	526	± 6%	55%	28%	—	1%	16%
Nielson Brothers Polling	July 23–28, 2014	572	± 4.07%	52.9%	28.5%	6.8%	—	11.8%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	July 5–24, 2014	630	± 4.5%	66%	27%	—	2%	5%
Rasmussen Reports	June 4–5, 2014	750	± 4%	55%	35%	—	3%	7%
SurveyUSA	May 6–10, 2014	504	± 4.5%	56%	23%	13%	—	9%

Results

South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Daugaard	195,477	70.47
	Democratic	Susan Wismer	70,549	25.43
	Independent	Michael J. Myers	11,377	4.1
Total votes			277,403	100

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2014
• United States elections, 2014

External links

• South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2014 at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org

Official campaign websites

• Dennis Daugaard for South Dakota Governor
• Lora Hubbel for South Dakota Governor
• Joe Lowe for South Dakota Governor
• Mike Myers for South Dakota Governor
• Curtis Strong for South Dakota Governor
• Susan Wismer for South Dakota Governor