2014 Tennessee gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2014 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2014 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Haslam was re-elected to a second term with 70.3% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger Charles Brown. Improving on his performance from 2010, Haslam also carried every county in the state.

2014 Tennessee gubernatorial election

← 2010 November 4, 2014 2018 →
Turnout	35.97% [1] 5.35 pp
Nominee Bill Haslam Charles Brown Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 951,796 309,237 Percentage 70.31% 22.84%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Haslam:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90%+ Brown:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Tie:      50%
Governor before election Bill Haslam Republican Elected Governor Bill Haslam Republican

The primary elections took place on August 7, 2014, with Republican Bill Haslam and Democrat Charles Brown winning their respective party nominations.

With no political experience, Charles Brown campaigned on raising speed limits on the interstate highways to 80 mph and putting the Bible back in schools.^[2] Some of the Tennessee Democratic Party members became concerned over Brown's candidacy when he said in an interview that he would like to put Bill Haslam in an electric chair and turn it on about half throttle and let him smell a little bit.^[2][3][4][5]

Haslam, on the other hand, campaigned on jobs, economic development, education reform, workforce development, and conservative fiscal leadership.^[6][7]

As of 2025, this was the best performance in a Tennessee gubernatorial election since Buford Ellington's victory in 1966. This was also the last time a Republican candidate has won Davidson and Shelby counties in a statewide election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Basil Marceaux, perennial candidate^[8]
• Bill Haslam, incumbent governor^[9]
• Donald McFolin, Independent candidate for governor in 2010^[10]
• Mark "Coonrippy" Brown^[11]

Declined

• John Jay Hooker, political gadfly and Democratic nominee for governor in 1970 and 1998 (ran as an independent)^[12]

Results

Results by county

  Haslam

•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   >90%

Republican primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Haslam (incumbent)	570,997	87.68%
	Republican	Mark "Coonrippy" Brown	44,165	6.78%
	Republican	Donald Ray McFolin	22,968	3.53%
	Republican	Basil Marceaux, Sr.	13,117	2.01%
Total votes			651,247	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Charles V. Brown, retired engineer and candidate for governor in 2002^[14]
• Kennedy Spellman Johnson^[14]
• John McKamey, former Sullivan County Commissioner^[14]
• Ron Noonan^[14]

Removed from ballot

• Mark E. Clayton, Vice President of Public Advocate of the United States and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2012^[15][16]
• Jesse Gore^[14]
• Ed Borum^[14]

Declined

• Lowe Finney, state senator^[17]
• Craig Fitzhugh, minority leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives^[18]
• Roy Herron, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, former state senator and nominee for Tennessee's 8th congressional district in 2010^[19]
• John Jay Hooker, political gadfly and nominee for governor in 1970 and 1998 (ran as an Independent)^[12]
• Jim Kyle, state senator and candidate for governor in 2010^[19]
• Sara Kyle, former director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority^[20]
• Mike McWherter, businessman, attorney and nominee for governor in 2010^[21]

Results

Results by county:

  Brown

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  McKamey

•   30–40%
    40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Democratic primary results^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles V. "Charlie" Brown	95,114	41.71%
	Democratic	Wm. H. "John" McKamey	59,200	25.96%
	Democratic	Kennedy Spellman Johnson	55,718	24.44%
	Democratic	Ron Noonan	17,993	7.89%
Total votes			228,025	100.00%

Independents and Third Parties

Candidates

Declared

• Steven Coburn (Independent)^[14]
• Shaun Crowell (Constitution)^[14]
• John Jay Hooker (Independent), political gadfly and Democratic nominee for governor in 1970 and 1998^[14]
• Isa Infante (Green)^[14]
• Daniel T. Lewis (Libertarian), educator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008^[14]

Removed from ballot

• Jondavid Balunek (Independent)^[14]
• J. D. Ellis (Independent)^[14]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[22]	Solid R	November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[23]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[24]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[25]	Safe R	November 3, 2014

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Haslam (R)	Charles Brown (D)	Other	Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[26]	October 16–23, 2014	974	± 5%	58%	30%	2%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[27]	September 20–October 1, 2014	1,007	± 4%	60%	28%	1%	11%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[28]	August 18–September 2, 2014	1,056	± 4%	56%	29%	4%	11%
Rasmussen Reports[29]	August 11–12, 2014	750	± 3%	55%	30%	6%	9%

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Haslam (R)	John McKamey (D)	Other	Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[30]	July 5–24, 2014	1,460	± 5.4%	55%	32%	4%	9%
Rasmussen Reports[29]	April 29–30, 2014	750	± 4%	57%	27%	5%	11%

Results

County flips

Legend

• Republican

    Hold

    Gain from Democratic

2014 Tennessee gubernatorial election^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bill Haslam (incumbent)	951,796	70.31%	+5.28%
	Democratic	Charles Brown	309,237	22.84%	−10.24%
	Independent	John Jay Hooker	30,579	2.26%	N/A
	Constitution	Shaun Crowell	26,580	1.96%	N/A
	Green	Isa Infante	18,570	1.37%	N/A
	Independent	Steve Coburn	8,612	0.64%	N/A
	Independent	Daniel Lewis	8,321	0.62%	N/A
	n/a	Write-ins	33	0.00%	0.00%
Total votes			1,353,728	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

By county

By county

County[32] Bill Haslam Republican Charles Brown Democratic Other votes Total votes % # % # % # Anderson 75.27% 13,367 17.86% 3,171 6.87% 1,220 17,758 Bedford 75.98% 5,653 16.49% 1,227 7.53% 560 7,440 Benton 64.73% 2,415 26.56% 991 8.71% 325 3,731 Bledsoe 69.41% 1,786 24.10% 620 6.49% 167 2,573 Blount 79.75% 23,653 14.06% 4,171 6.19% 1,836 29,660 Bradley 83.19% 16,709 12.59% 2,528 4.22% 848 20,085 Campbell 77.42% 4,981 17.80% 1,145 4.79% 308 6,434 Cannon 71.37% 1,977 19.71% 546 8.92% 247 2,770 Carroll 69.54% 4,313 23.06% 1,430 7.40% 459 6,202 Carter 77.72% 8,376 14.20% 1,530 8.08% 871 10,777 Cheatham 72.63% 6,191 18.01% 1,535 9.36% 798 8,524 Chester 78.58% 2,659 15.07% 510 6.35% 215 3,384 Claiborne 76.20% 4,015 17.99% 948 5.81% 306 5,269 Clay 66.64% 963 26.16% 378 7.20% 104 1,445 Cocke 78.30% 5,615 14.39% 1,032 7.31% 524 7,171 Coffee 73.11% 7,986 18.38% 2,008 8.50% 929 10,923 Crockett 75.84% 2,222 19.04% 558 5.12% 150 2,930 Cumberland 79.01% 12,978 15.48% 2,543 5.51% 905 16,426 Davidson 53.50% 71,661 35.41% 47,438 11.09% 14,854 133,953 Decatur 71.29% 1,634 22.25% 510 6.46% 148 2,292 Dekalb 67.85% 2,423 23.35% 834 8.79% 314 3,571 Dickson 69.09% 6,830 23.24% 2,297 7.67% 758 9,885 Dyer 77.75% 5,710 15.82% 1,162 6.43% 472 7,344 Fayette 77.14% 8,141 18.72% 1,976 4.14% 437 10,554 Fentress 73.20% 2,371 19.05% 617 7.75% 251 3,239 Franklin 70.99% 6,595 21.77% 2,022 7.24% 673 9,290 Gibson 70.31% 7,819 20.68% 2,300 9.00% 1,001 11,120 Giles 70.94% 3,922 22.23% 1,229 6.84% 378 5,529 Grainger 78.93% 3,274 15.31% 635 5.76% 239 4,148 Greene 76.27% 10,146 15.92% 2,118 7.80% 1,038 13,302 Grundy 64.83% 1,556 26.88% 645 8.29% 199 2,400 Hamblen 80.98% 8,978 13.66% 1,515 5.36% 594 11,087 Hamilton 71.26% 56,750 24.44% 19,462 4.31% 3,429 79,641 Hancock 73.48% 676 18.04% 166 8.48% 78 920 Hardeman 59.14% 2,891 37.01% 1,809 3.85% 188 4,888 Hardin 80.12% 4,046 15.13% 764 4.75% 240 5,050 Hawkins 79.77% 8,730 14.39% 1,575 5.84% 639 10,944 Haywood 57.52% 1,940 39.76% 1,341 2.73% 92 3,373 Henderson 76.90% 3,836 15.84% 790 7.26% 362 4,988 Henry 72.77% 5,297 21.06% 1,533 6.17% 449 7,279 Hickman 69.18% 2,956 22.84% 976 7.98% 341 4,273 Houston 56.11% 1,005 35.40% 634 8.49% 152 1,791 Humphreys 60.18% 2,512 28.77% 1,201 11.04% 461 4,174 Jackson 63.75% 1,451 26.85% 611 9.40% 214 2,276 Jefferson 80.70% 8,423 13.13% 1,370 6.18% 645 10,438 Johnson 78.30% 2,547 14.88% 484 6.82% 222 3,253 Knox 77.05% 78,571 15.68% 15,986 7.28% 7,419 101,976 Lake 54.08% 629 35.17% 409 10.75% 125 1,163 Lauderdale 64.95% 2,652 29.41% 1,201 5.63% 230 4,083 Lawrence 73.43% 6,264 19.70% 1,681 6.87% 586 8,531 Lewis 71.07% 1,857 20.32% 531 8.61% 225 2,613 Lincoln 75.70% 4,720 17.27% 1,077 7.02% 438 6,235 Loudon 83.68% 12,015 11.21% 1,610 5.11% 734 14,359 Macon 76.96% 2,436 15.27% 483 7.77% 246 3,165 Madison 64.64% 14,563 29.47% 6,640 5.89% 1,328 22,531 Marion 68.23% 4,233 27.16% 1,685 4.61% 286 6,204 Marshall 72.06% 4,279 20.61% 1,224 7.33% 435 5,938 Maury 69.26% 12,790 22.45% 4,145 8.29% 1,531 18,466 McMinn 79.07% 8,120 16.11% 1,654 4.83% 496 10,270 McNairy 75.14% 4,019 19.29% 1,032 5.57% 298 5,349 Meigs 74.47% 1,683 19.42% 439 6.11% 138 2,260 Monroe 77.10% 7,567 18.22% 1,788 4.69% 460 9,815 Montgomery 69.45% 20,185 24.34% 7,073 6.21% 1,805 29,063 Moore 73.16% 1,145 19.55% 306 7.28% 114 1,565 Morgan 67.97% 2,453 26.66% 962 5.38% 194 3,609 Obion 67.03% 4,428 20.72% 1,369 12.25% 809 6,606 Overton 65.74% 2,613 25.79% 1,025 8.48% 337 3,975 Perry 67.21% 945 23.26% 327 9.53% 134 1,406 Pickett 71.63% 1,154 20.36% 328 8.01% 129 1,611 Polk 71.35% 2,505 23.61% 829 5.04% 177 3,511 Putnam 72.73% 10,425 19.03% 2,727 8.24% 1,181 14,333 Rhea 81.00% 4,792 14.76% 873 4.24% 251 5,916 Roane 76.91% 10,310 16.25% 2,178 6.84% 917 13,405 Robertson 73.81% 10,177 18.14% 2,501 8.06% 1,111 13,789 Rutherford 70.14% 36,467 21.78% 11,323 8.09% 4,204 51,994 Scott 75.09% 2,318 20.41% 630 4.50% 139 3,087 Sequatchie 77.85% 2,418 17.68% 549 4.48% 139 3,106 Sevier 82.40% 15,400 11.80% 2,205 5.80% 1,084 18,689 Shelby 57.80% 107,089 37.35% 69,193 4.85% 8,981 185,263 Smith 65.92% 2,720 25.40% 1,048 8.68% 358 4,126 Stewart 67.04% 1,999 25.49% 760 7.48% 223 2,982 Sullivan 81.05% 26,837 13.29% 4,399 5.67% 1,876 33,112 Sumner 76.74% 28,090 16.72% 6,121 6.53% 2,391 36,602 Tipton 77.91% 9,636 17.01% 2,104 5.08% 628 12,368 Trousdale 65.38% 965 26.56% 392 8.06% 119 1,476 Unicoi 76.31% 2,999 15.17% 596 8.52% 335 3,930 Union 76.93% 2,311 17.31% 520 5.76% 173 3,004 Van Buren 59.72% 903 31.94% 483 8.33% 126 1,512 Warren 70.06% 5,285 21.85% 1,648 8.09% 610 7,543 Washington 74.94% 19,707 17.06% 4,485 8.00% 2,104 26,296 Wayne 77.67% 2,122 15.48% 423 6.84% 187 2,732 Weakley 69.00% 5,082 21.72% 1,600 9.27% 683 7,365 White 70.69% 4,030 21.29% 1,214 8.02% 457 5,701 Williamson 79.72% 45,329 13.19% 7,501 7.09% 4,030 56,860 Wilson 75.95% 22,580 17.07% 5,075 6.98% 2,076 29,731 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Davidson (largest city: Nashville) Haywood (largest city: Brownsville) Houston (largest city: Erin) Lake (largest municipality: Tiptonville) Shelby (largest city: Memphis)

See also

• 2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee
• 2014 Tennessee elections