Michigan state executive official elections, 2014

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2014 State Executive Official Elections
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Table of Contents
Partisan breakdown Candidates by office Voter turnout Key deadlines State executive organization Ballotpedia reports Recent news See also
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Four state executive positions were up for election in 2014 in the state of Michigan. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

In addition to candidate lists and election results, this page includes information about important dates, how the state's executive branch is organized, as well as links to articles about recent news in races across the state.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Michigan utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.< The attorney general and secretary of state did not appear on the primary ballot, and the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial positions did not have contested primaries in 2014.

The following offices were elected in 2014 in Michigan:

• Governor of Michigan
• Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
• Michigan Attorney General
• Michigan Secretary of State

Partisan breakdown

Heading into the November 4 election, the Republican Party held all four executive seats in Michigan.

Michigan State Executives -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 4, 2014	After the 2014 Election
	Democratic Party	0	0
	Republican Party	4	4
Total		4	4

Primary results

Governor

Incumbent Rick Snyder and Mark Schauer won the August 5 primary without opposition for the Republican and Democratic nominations, respectively.

Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Brian Calley and Lisa Brown, Michigan Representative won nominations during the Republican and Democratic state conventions, respectively.

Attorney General

Incumbent Bill Schuette and Mark Totten won nominations during the Republican and Democratic state conventions, respectively. Democratic and Republican candidates for this office were appointed by their respective state conventions in August 2014.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Ruth Johnson and Godfrey Dillard won nominations during the Republican and Democratic state conventions, respectively. Democratic and Republican candidates for this office were appointed by their respective state conventions in August 2014.

General election results

The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Michigan, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rick Snyder/Brian Calley Incumbent	50.9%	1,607,399
	Democratic	Mark Schauer/Lisa Brown	46.9%	1,479,057
	Libertarian	Mary Buzuma/Scott Boman	1.1%	35,723
	U.S. Taxpayers	Mark McFarlin/Richard Mendoza	0.6%	19,368
	Green	Paul Homeniuk/Candace R. Caveny	0.5%	14,934
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	50
Total Votes				3,156,531
Election results via Michigan Department of State

Attorney General

Attorney General of Michigan, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Bill Schuette Incumbent	52.1%	1,603,471
	Democratic	Mark Totten	44.2%	1,359,839
	Libertarian	Justin Altman	1.9%	57,345
	U.S. Taxpayers	Gerald T. Van Sickle	1%	30,762
	Green	John Anthony La Pietra	0.8%	25,747
Total Votes				3,077,164
Election results via Michigan Department of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State of Michigan, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ruth Johnson Incumbent	53.5%	1,649,047
	Democratic	Godfrey Dillard	42.9%	1,323,004
	Libertarian	James Lewis	2%	61,112
	U.S. Taxpayer	Robert Gale	1.1%	34,447
	Natural Law	Jason Gatties	0.4%	13,185
Total Votes				3,080,795
Election results via Michigan Department of State

Voter turnout

Political scientist Michael McDonald's United States Elections Project studied voter turnout in the 2014 election by looking at the percentage of eligible voters who headed to the polls. McDonald used voting-eligible population (VEP), or the number of eligible voters independent of their current registration status, to calculate turnout rates in each state on November 4. He also incorporated ballots cast for the highest office in each state into his calculation. He estimated that 81,687,059 ballots were cast in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, representing 35.9 percent of the VEP. By comparison, 61.6 percent of VEP voted in the 2008 presidential election and 58.2 percent of VEP voted in the 2012 presidential election.

Quick facts

• According to PBS Newshour, voter turnout in the 2014 midterms was the lowest since the 1942 midterms, which took place during the nation's involvement in World War II.

• Forty-three states and the District of Columbia failed to surpass 50 percent turnout in McDonald's analysis.

• The three states with the lowest turnout according to McDonald's analysis were Texas (28.3 percent), Tennessee (28.6 percent), and Indiana (28.8 percent).

• Maine (58.5 percent), Wisconsin (56.5 percent), and Colorado (54.5 percent) were the three states with the highest turnout.

• There were only 12 states that increased voter turnout in 2014 compared to the 2010 midterm elections.

Voter turnout rates, 2014
State	Total votes counted	% voter eligible population	Top statewide office up for election	Size of lead (Raw votes)	Size of lead (%)
Alabama	1,191,274	33.2	Governor	320,319	27.2
Alaska	285,431	54.4	Governor	4,004	1.6
Arizona	1,537,671	34.1	Governor	143,951	12.5
Arkansas	852,642	40.1	Governor	118,664	14.0
California	7,513,972	30.8	Governor	1,065,748	17.8
Colorado	2,080,071	54.5	Governor	50,395	2.4
Connecticut	1,096,509	42.5	Governor	26,603	2.5
Delaware	234,038	34.4	Attorney General	31,155	13.6
District of Columbia	177,176	35.8	Mayor	27,934	19.0
Florida	6,026,802	43.3	Governor	66,127	1.1
Georgia	2,596,947	38.5	Governor	202,685	8.0
Hawaii	369,554	36.5	Governor	45,323	12.4
Idaho	445,307	39.6	Governor	65,852	14.9
Illinois	3,680,417	40.9	Governor	171,900	4.9
Indiana	1,387,622	28.8	Secretary of State	234,978	17.8
Iowa	1,142,284	50.2	Governor	245,548	21.8
Kansas	887,023	43.4	Governor	33,052	3.9
Kentucky	1,435,868	44.0	U.S. Senate	222,096	15.5
Louisiana	1,472,039	43.8	U.S. Senate	16,401	1.1
Maine	616,996	58.5	Governor	29,820	4.9
Maryland	1,733,177	41.5	Governor	88,648	6.1
Massachusetts	2,186,789	44.6	Governor	40,361	1.9
Michigan	3,188,956	43.2	Governor	129,547	4.3
Minnesota	1,992,613	50.5	Governor	109,776	5.6
Mississippi	631,858	28.9	U.S. Senate	141,234	33.0
Missouri	1,426,303	31.8	Auditor	684,074	53.6
Montana	373,831	47.3	U.S. Senate	65,262	17.9
Nebraska	552,115	41.5	Governor	97,678	18.7
Nevada	547,349	29.0	Governor	255,793	46.7
New Hampshire	495,565	48.4	Governor	24,924	5.2
New Jersey	1,955,042	32.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
New Mexico	512,805	35.7	Governor	73,868	14.6
New York	3,930,310	29.0	Governor	476,252	13.4
North Carolina	2,939,767	41.2	U.S. Senate	48,511	1.7
North Dakota	255,128	45.0	U.S. House At-large seat	42,214	17.1
Ohio	3,149,876	36.2	Governor	933,235	30.9
Oklahoma	824,831	29.8	Governor	122,060	14.7
Oregon	1,541,782	53.5	Governor	59,029	4.5
Pennsylvania	3,495,866	36.0	Governor	339,261	9.8
Rhode Island	329,212	42.2	Governor	14,346	4.5
South Carolina	1,261,611	35.2	Governor	179,089	14.6
South Dakota	282,291	44.9	Governor	124,865	45.1
Tennessee	1,374,065	28.6	Governor	642,214	47.5
Texas	4,727,208	28.3	Governor	957,973	20.4
Utah	577,973	30.2	Attorney General	173,819	35.2
Vermont	193,087	38.8	Governor	2,095	1.1
Virginia	2,194,346	36.6	U.S. Senate	16,727	0.8
Washington	2,123,901	43.1	N/A	N/A	N/A
West Virginia	451,498	31.2	U.S. Senate	124,667	27.6
Wisconsin	2,410,314	56.5	Governor	137,607	5.7
Wyoming	168,390	39.3	Governor	52,703	33.6

Note: Information from the United States Elections Project was last updated on December 16, 2014.

Key deadlines

Deadline	Event
April 22, 2014	Filing deadline for political party candidates
July 7, 2014	Filing deadline for minor party candidates
August 5, 2014	Primary election
November 4, 2014	General election
January 1, 2015	Inauguration day for state executive officials elected in November

State executive organization

Executive officials in Michigan are part of a three-pronged government structure that includes state legislators and state judges. The following chart details the relationship among different branches of Michigan's state government:

Ballotpedia reports

To learn more about developments in these races, check out the following news articles from Ballotpedia:

• Michigan filing deadline report: Two filed state executives

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Michigan + state + executive + elections"

Michigan State Executive Elections News Feed

See also

• Portal:Elections
• State executive official elections, 2014
• Michigan Gubernatorial election, 2014
• Michigan Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014
• Michigan attorney general election, 2014
• Michigan secretary of state election, 2014
• Michigan state executive offices