The 2014 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Minnesota concurrently with the election to Minnesota'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.

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2014 Minnesota gubernatorial election

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Nominee Mark Dayton Jeff Johnson Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Running mate Tina Smith Bill Kuisle Popular vote 989,113 879,257 Percentage 50.1% 44.5%

County results Precinct results Dayton:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Johnson:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No votes

Governor before election Mark Dayton Democratic (DFL) Elected Governor Mark Dayton Democratic (DFL)

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Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor governor Mark Dayton ran for re-election to a second term in office.^[1] Incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Yvonne Prettner Solon retired and Tina Smith was selected as his new running mate.^[2]

Primary elections were held on August 12, 2014. Dayton and Smith won the Democratic primary and the Republicans nominated Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson and his running mate former state representative Bill Kuisle. In the general election, Dayton and Smith defeated them and several other minor party candidates with just over 50% of the vote. Dayton's victory broke his own record, set in 2010, as the oldest Minnesota gubernatorial candidate to win an election; he was 67.^[3] It was also the first gubernatorial race since 1994 in which the winner received a majority of the votes cast.

The election was the first time since 1994 that a third party did not gain more than 6% of the total vote.

Incumbent Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty declined to run for a third term in 2010, instead running for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2012 election. State Representative Tom Emmer easily won the Republican nomination and former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton won the DFL nomination with a plurality over State House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. After a very close race, Dayton defeated Emmer by just 8,770 votes, 0.42% of all votes cast.

Dayton's victory was one of just four that Minnesota Democrats have achieved out of 28 gubernatorial elections during a Democratic presidency.^[4] Despite this, and despite his narrow margin of victory in 2010, Dayton was not seen as a top Republican target. The Cook Political Report^[5] and The Rothenberg Political Report^[6] both rate the race as "safe Democratic" and Daily Kos Elections,^[7] Governing^[8] and Sabato's Crystal Ball^[9] all rate the race as "likely Democratic".

Until 2014, Minnesota Republicans had not had a competitive gubernatorial primary since 1924, when Theodore Christianson beat Ole Jacobson by 2.8%, taking 22.8% of the vote in a six-candidate race that saw five candidates finish in double digits. In every election since then, the nominee had won the primary by at least 17.8% and on average by 62.2%.^[14]

At the Republican State Convention on May 30–31, 2014, Jeff Johnson received the party's endorsement. Dave A. Thompson withdrew from the race and endorsed Johnson. Scott Honour, Marty Seifert and Kurt Zellers all ran in the August primary, but Johnson prevailed with 30% of the vote.^[15][16]

The Independence Party of Minnesota state convention was held on May 17, 2014, at Minnesota State University, Mankato.^[49]

The Libertarian Party of Minnesota state convention was held on April 26, 2014, in Maple Grove.^[54]

• 2014 Minnesota elections