Alabama gubernatorial election, 2014

Last updated
Alabama gubernatorial election, 2014
Flag of Alabama.svg
  2010 November 4, 2014 2018  

  Robert Bentley (cropped).jpg Rep. Parker Griffith.jpg
Nominee Robert J. Bentley Parker Griffith
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote750,231427,787
Percentage63.6%36.2%

Alabama Governor Election Results by County, 2014.svg
County results

Governor before election

Robert J. Bentley
Republican

Elected Governor

Robert J. Bentley
Republican

The 2014 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Alabama.

Contents

Incumbent Republican Governor Robert J. Bentley ran for re-election to a second term in office. He defeated Democratic former U.S. Representative Parker Griffith in the general election. However, Bentley only served out two years of his term; he resigned in April 2017 due to a scandal and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey.

Republican Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Robert J. Bentley 53rd Governor of Alabama

Robert Julian Bentley is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd Governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation after a political scandal and subsequent arrest. A member of the Republican Party, Bentley was elected governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Bentley resigned on April 10, 2017 due to a sex scandal involving a political aide.

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. The Democrats' dominant worldview was once social conservatism and economic liberalism while populism was its leading characteristic in the rural South. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate in the Progressive Party, beginning a switch of political platforms between the Democratic and Republican Party over the coming decades, and leading to Woodrow Wilson being elected as the first fiscally progressive Democrat. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social liberal platform, supporting social justice.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Morgan County, Alabama County in the United States

Morgan County is a county in the north central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census the population was 119,490. The county seat is Decatur. The county was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on February 6, 1818 from land acquired from the Cherokee Indians in the Treaty of Turkeytown, and was originally called Cotaco County. On June 14, 1821 it was renamed in honor of American Revolutionary War General Daniel Morgan of Virginia. It is a prohibition or dry county, though the cities of Decatur, Hartselle, and Priceville are wet.

Scottsboro, Alabama City in Alabama, United States

Scottsboro is a city in Jackson County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 14,770. Named for its founder Robert T. Scott, the city is the county seat of Jackson County.

Declined

Tommy Battle American politician and entrepreneur

Thomas Massengale Battle Jr. is an American businessman and politician who serves as the 67th and current mayor of Huntsville, Alabama. His first term began November 3, 2008, and he was re-elected in August 2012 and once again in August 2016 with over 80% of the vote.

Huntsville, Alabama City in Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County and south into Morgan County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 census. Huntsville is the third-largest city in Alabama and the largest city in the five-county Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area, which at the 2013 census estimate had a total population of 683,871. The Huntsville Metropolitan Area's population was 417,593 in 2010 to become the 2nd largest in Alabama. Huntsville metro's population reached 441,000 by 2014.

Bradley Byrne U.S. Representative

Bradley Roberts Byrne is an American business attorney and Republican congressman for Alabama's 1st congressional district. He served in the Alabama State Senate from 2003 to 2007. He was chancellor of the Alabama Community College System from 2007 until his resignation in 2009 to unsuccessfully run for the 2010 Republican nomination for Governor of Alabama. In December 2013, he won a special election to represent Alabama's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. On February 20, 2019, he announced his intention to run for U.S. Senate in 2020.

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Robert J.
Bentley
Stacy Lee
George
Bob
Starkey
Undecided
Cygnal May 29–30, 20141,217± 2.81%80.7%5.1%5.3%8.9%
Cygnal May 19–20, 20141,324± 2.69%73.3%3.1%1.8%21.8%

Results

Republican primary results [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Robert J. Bentley388,24789.35
Republican Stacy Lee George25,1345.78
Republican Bob Starkey21,1444.87
Total votes434,525100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Fayette, Alabama City in Alabama, United States

Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Alabama, United States. The population was 4,619 at the 2010 census, down from 4,922 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Fayette County.

Parker Griffith American politician

Rolf Parker Griffith Jr. is an American retired physician, entrepreneur and politician who served in the Alabama State Senate from 2006 to 2008 and then as the U.S. Representative for Alabama's 5th congressional district from 2009 to 2011. A lifelong member of the Democratic Party, while serving in Congress, at the urging of Republicans he switched parties on December 22, 2009. He ran for re-election in 2010 but was defeated in the Republican primary by Mo Brooks. He returned to the Democratic Party in 2014 and unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Alabama in the 2014 election.

Declined

William M. Beasley is an American politician from the state of Alabama. He is a Democratic member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 28th district.

Regina Benjamin Surgeon General of the United States

Regina Marcia Benjamin is an American physician and a former vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. Benjamin previously directed a nonprofit primary care medical clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, and served on the board of trustees for the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Surgeon General of the United States Head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. The Surgeon General's office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) which is housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.

Results

Democratic primary results [25]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Parker Griffith115,43363.90
Democratic Kevin Bass65,22536.10
Total votes180,658100

Independents

Candidates

Declined

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [27] Solid RNovember 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball [28] Safe RNovember 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report [29] Safe RNovember 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics [30] Safe RNovember 3, 2014

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Robert
Bentley (R)
Parker
Griffith (D)
OtherUndecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov October 16–23, 2014661± 6%63%25%0%12%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov September 20–October 1, 2014692± 4%65%28%1%6%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov August 18–September 2, 2014741± 5%62%28%1%9%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov July 5–24, 20141,036± 5.2%59%31%2%9%
Rasmussen Reports June 9–10, 2014750± 4%55%32%4%9%

Results

Alabama gubernatorial election, 2014 [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Robert J. Bentley (Incumbent)750,23163.56
Democratic Parker Griffith 427,78736.24
Write-insOther2,3950.2
Total votes1,180,413100
Republican hold

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References

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  22. Loeb, Jeremy (February 6, 2014). "Two Democrats Announce Intentions". Alabama Public Radio . Retrieved February 6, 2014.
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