The 2014 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Vermont, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin ran for reelection to a third term in office against Republican businessman Scott Milne, Libertarian businessman Dan Feliciano and several other minor party and independent candidates.
Based on election polling, Shumlin's large financial advantage and the state's strong Democratic lean in presidential elections, Shumlin was expected to win easily, but he received only a plurality, not a majority, of the vote and polled only 2,434 votes more than Milne out of 193,087 cast. The Constitution of Vermont requires that the 180-member Vermont General Assembly choose the winner when no candidate receives over 50% of the popular vote. As a result, on January 8, 2015, the Assembly chose Shumlin over Milne by a vote of 110 to 69, with one abstention.
The result of the election prompted much debate and analysis amongst commentators and the political parties. The 2014 U.S. elections saw Republicans make sweeping gains in federal, state, and local offices across the country, and Republicans won gubernatorial victories in the Democratic-leaning Northeastern states of Maryland and Massachusetts. With a margin of 1.3%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2014 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in Florida. , this was also the last time a Democrat won the governorship of Vermont.
Background
Four-term Republican governor Jim Douglas did not run for reelection in 2010. In the race to succeed him, Democratic nominee Peter Shumlin, the President Pro Tempore of the Vermont Senate, received 49.5% of the vote while Republican nominee Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie received 47.7%. As neither candidate received a majority, the General Assembly was required to pick the winner in January 2011. Dubie did not contest the vote; he conceded the race on election night and called for Vermont to "unite" around Shumlin. Shumlin won the Assembly vote 145 to 28, with 7 legislators not voting.
Shumlin was reelected in 2012 against Republican state senator and former Vermont Auditor of Accounts Randy Brock by a landslide, 57.8% to 37.6%. Vermont and New Hampshire are the only states in the country whose governors are elected every two years. An incumbent governor of Vermont has not been defeated for reelection since 1962, when Democrat Philip H. Hoff beat Republican F. Ray Keyser, Jr. by 1,315 votes.
Democratic primary
Shumlin announced in December 2013 that he was running for reelection to a third term in office, but said that he would not begin campaigning until after Labor Day 2014, just two months before the election. He faced one opponent in the Democratic primary on August 26: lifelong Republican and Washington, D.C. resident H. Brooke Paige, who simultaneously ran against Democratic incumbent William Sorrell in the Democratic primary election for Vermont Attorney General. Paige was also unsuccessful in that effort, losing by 80% to 20%.
Candidates
Declared
H. Brooke Paige, former CEO of Remington News Service and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 (also ran for Attorney General) Peter Shumlin, incumbent governor
Results
Republican primary
The Republicans initially struggled to recruit a candidate. Former governor Douglas and Lieutenant Governor Phillip Scott announced early on that they would not run, and it was not until March 2014 that a candidate entered the race: marijuana legalization activist and former Independent gubernatorial candidate Emily Peyton. This spurred Republicans to recruit a serious candidate, but they struggled to do so. Former Wall Street banker Bruce Lisman announced in May 2014 that he was not running, and attention turned to former state senator and 2012 nominee Randy Brock, State Representative Heidi Scheuermann and businessman Scott Milne.