2014 South Dakota gubernatorial election

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.

2014 South Dakota gubernatorial election

November 4, 2014

Nominee Dennis Daugaard Susan Wismer Party Republican Democratic Running mate Matt Michels Susy Blake Popular vote 195,477 70,549 Percentage 70.5% 25.4%

County Results Daugaard:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Wismer:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Dennis Daugaard Republican Elected Governor Dennis Daugaard Republican

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

Declared

• Dennis Daugaard, incumbent governor[1]
• Lora Hubbel, former state representative and former chair of the Minnehaha County Republican Party[2]

Declined

• Stan Adelstein, state senator[3][4]
• Stace Nelson, state representative (running for the U.S. Senate)[5]

Results

Republican primary results[6]

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

Democratic primary

Declared

• Joe Lowe, former state director of wildland fire suppression and former mayor of Mission Viejo, California[7]
• Susan Wismer, state representative[8][9][10]

Declined

• Jason Frerichs, Minority Leader of the South Dakota Senate[11][12]
• Bryce Healy, former commissioner of schools and public lands[13]
• Scott Heidepriem, former state senator and nominee for governor in 2010[14]
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former U.S. Representative[14][15]
• Mike Huether, Mayor of Sioux Falls (running for re-election)[14][16]
• Steve Jarding, educator, lecturer and political consultant[17]
• Pat O'Brien, author, television anchor and radio host[18]

Results

Democratic primary results[6]

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

Declared

• Mike Myers (Independent), former University of South Dakota School of Law professor and former CEO of Mayo Clinic[19]

• 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,[20][21] 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.[21] In July, Myers sued the Secretary of State to allow him to change his running mate[22] 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.[23][24]

Failed to make the ballot

• Curtis Strong (Constitution), Tea Party activist[25][26]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[27]	Solid R	November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[28]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[29]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[30]	Safe R	November 3, 2014

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%	28%	10%	—	9%
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%	53%	29%	7%	—	12%
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[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dennis Daugaard (incumbent)	195,477	70.47%	+8.96%
	Democratic	Susan Wismer	70,549	25.43%	-13.06%
	Independent	Michael J. Myers	11,377	4.10%	N/A
Total votes			'277,403'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Republican hold

See also

• 2014 United States Senate elections
• 2014 United States elections

References

1. Ellis, Jonathan (March 25, 2014). "Daugaard officially launches re-election bid in Sioux Falls". Argus Leader. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
2. Montgomery, David (October 15, 2013). "Political Smokeout blog: Lora Hubbel running for governor". Political Smokeout. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
3. "Could Rapid City's Stan Adelstein still run for Governor?". February 24, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
4. Ellis, Jonathan (January 2, 2014). "Health problem forces Stan Adelstein to resign from state Senate". Argus Leader. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
5. "Stace Nelson to announce run for U.S. Senate". Argus Leader. August 13, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
6. "Primary Election - June 3, 2014". South Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
7. "Former S.D. wildfire suppression manager running for governor as Democrat". Argus Leader. December 1, 2013. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
8. Montgomery, David (January 28, 2014). "Rep. Susan Wismer, a Democrat, enters governor's race". Argus Leader. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
9. Oster, Jerry (November 4, 2013). "SD Democrats Still Searching for A Governor Candidate". Radio 570 WNAX. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
10. "A sign from the MSM that Wismer might be the Democrat's candidate". South Dakota War College. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
11. "Frerichs' political future". Political Smokeout. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-03-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "Now what about U.S. House and governor". May 13, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
14. "Clarity Polls SD Governor's Race: Herseth Sandlin, Huether, or Heidepriem?". February 27, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
15. "UPDATED: South Dakota's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin will not run for U.S. Senate seat". Chicago Tribune. May 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
16. Atyeo, J.L. (November 11, 2013). "Huether files paperwork to run for re-election; Barth, Hildebrand considering bids". Argus Leader. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
17. Heidelberger, Cory (January 26, 2014). "Jarding Not Running, Not Jumping to Support Robinson and Lowe". Madville Times. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
18. Montgomery, David (May 21, 2013). "Next up for SD politics — Pat O'Brien?". Political Smokeout. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
19. Ellis, Jonathan (August 17, 2013). "Former USD law professor to run for governor". Argus Leader. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
20. "VERY QUIETLY, MIKE MYERS LOSES RUNNING MATE. MAYBE. COLLIER ATTEMPTS TO WITHDRAW FROM BALLOT, BUT MAY BE BARRED BY LAW FROM LEAVING". Dakota War College. June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
21. "A new lieutenant for Myers, but law doesn't allow switch". Argus Leader. July 3, 2014. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
22. "Myers Plans Lawsuit To Get Running Mate Change On Ballot". Keloland Television. July 29, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
23. "Judge Rules In Favor Of SD Gubernatorial Candidate". KDLT. August 18, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
24. "Judge orders Gant to add Lora Hubbel to LG ballot". Argus Leader. August 18, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
25. Montgomery, David (November 25, 2013). "Curtis Strong enters gubernatorial race". Political Smokeout. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
26. "South Dakota Constitution Party Gubernatorial Nominee's Primary Petition Rejected by Secretary of State". Ballot Access News. March 28, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
27. "2014 Governor Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
28. "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
29. "2014 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
30. "2014 Elections Map - 2014 Governors Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
31. https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/election-resources/election-history/2014/2014GeneralStateCanvass.pdf

External links

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

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• Dennis Daugaard
• Lora Hubbel
• Joe Lowe
• Mike Myers
• Curtis Strong
• Susan Wismer