| Election Name: | 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Hawaii |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2010 Hawaii gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 2010 |
| Next Election: | 2018 Hawaii gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 2018 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Image1: | Governor David Ige (cropped 2).jpg |
| Nominee1: | David Ige |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Running Mate1: | Shan Tsutsui |
| Popular Vote1: | 181,106 |
| Percentage1: | 49.45% |
| Nominee2: | Duke Aiona |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Running Mate2: | Elwin Ahu |
| Popular Vote2: | 135,775 |
| Percentage2: | 37.08% |
| Image3: | Mufi Hannemann (2829422273) (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee3: | Mufi Hannemann |
| Party3: | Independent (United States) |
| Running Mate3: | Les Chang |
| Popular Vote3: | 42,934 |
| Percentage3: | 11.72% |
| Map Size: | 310px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Neil Abercrombie |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | David Ige |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Hawaii, concurrently with a special election to Hawaii's Class III 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.
Primary elections were held on August 9, 2014. In Hawaii, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run in separate primaries and are then elected on the same ticket. Incumbent Democratic governor Neil Abercrombie ran for re-election to a second term in office, but was defeated by State Senator David Ige in the Democratic primary, making Abercrombie the first incumbent governor to lose renomination in Hawaii history. Incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Shan Tsutsui was renominated.
The Republicans nominated former lieutenant governor Duke Aiona and pastor and former circuit court judge Elwin Ahu. Also running as an independent was former mayor of Honolulu Mufi Hannemann and former Honolulu parks and recreation director Les Chang. Ige and Tsutsui won the election. As of 2023, this election was the only time since 1994 that the winning gubernatorial nominee won the Hawaii gubernatorial election with only a plurality of the popular vote.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | class=small | Sample size | Margin of error | Neil Abercrombie | David Ige | Other | Undecided | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward Research | July 21–29, 2014 | 458 | ± 4.6% | 36% | align=center | 54% | — | 11% | |
| Civil Beat | July 24–28, 2014 | 895 | ± 3.3% | 41% | align=center | 51% | — | 8% | |
| Public Policy Polling | July 23–24, 2014 | 410 | ± ? | 39% | align=center | 49% | — | 12% | |
| Civil Beat | June 7–9, 2014 | 729 | ± 3.6% | 37% | align=center | 48% | — | 15% | |
| SMS Research* | March 24–April 25, 2014 | 1,402 | ± 2.6% | align=center | 42% | 28% | — | 30% | |
| Civil Beat | February 12–15, 2014 | 643 | ± 3.9% | 37% | 37% | — | 26% | ||
| Ward Research | January 29–February 3, 2014 | 528 | ± 4.3% | align=center | 47% | 38% | — | 14% |
Brian Schatz won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2010 with 37% of the vote and was elected alongside Abercrombie. After the death of U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye in December 2012, Abercrombie appointed Schatz to succeed him in the Senate. Schatz resigned as lieutenant governor and was succeeded by Shan Tsutsui, the president of the Hawaii Senate.[5]
Hawaii has strict criteria for independent candidates seeking to participate in the general election.[16] Three of the four candidates were disqualified for not having a running mate. The other candidate also had no running mate, but had already withdrawn from the race. They all still appeared on the ballot, alongside a notice about their status.[17]
| Source | Ranking | As of | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | The Cook Political Report[18] | November 3, 2014 | ||
| align=left | Sabato's Crystal Ball[19] | November 3, 2014 | ||
| align=left | Rothenberg Political Report[20] | November 3, 2014 | ||
| align=left | Real Clear Politics[21] | November 3, 2014 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | class=small | Sample size | Margin of error | David Ige (D) | Duke Aiona (R) | Mufi Hannemann (I) | Other | Undecided | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | October 16–23, 2014 | 1,002 | ± 6% | align=center | 54% | 22% | 5% | 0% | 19% | |||
| Civil Beat | align=center rowspan=2 | October 16–19, 2014 | align=center rowspan=2 | 1,221 | align=center rowspan=2 | ± 2.8% | align=center | 40% | 34% | 11% | 6% | 8% |
| align=center | 27% | 26% | — | — | align=center | 47% | ||||||
| Tarrance Group/RGA | October 2014 | 800 | ± 3.5% | align=center | 39% | 36% | 12% | 3% | 11% | |||
| Ward Research | October 11–18, 2014 | 605 | ± 4% | align=center | 47% | 35% | 12% | 1%[22] | 6% | |||
| Global Strategy Group | October 3–8, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | align=center | 45% | 33% | 10% | 2% | 10% | |||
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | September 20 – October 1, 2014 | 1,319 | ± 4% | align=center | 41% | 35% | 6% | 0% | 18% | |||
| Civil Beat | align=center rowspan=2 | September 11–14, 2014 | align=center rowspan=2 | 1,055 | align=center rowspan=2 | ± 3% | align=center | 43% | 39% | 8% | 2% | 8% |
| align=center | 48% | 45% | — | — | 7% | |||||||
| Rasmussen Reports | September 9–10, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | align=center | 40% | 39% | 14% | 2% | 6% | |||
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | August 18 – September 2, 2014 | 655 | ± 6% | align=center | 37% | 35% | 6% | 2% | 20% | |||
| Ward Research | July 21–29, 2014 | 612 | ± 4% | 34% | align=center | 41% | 15% | — | 10% | |||
| Civil Beat | June 7–9, 2014 | 1,078 | ± 3% | 31% | 31% | 17% | — | 21% | ||||
| Ward Research | January 29 – February 3, 2014 | 642 | ± 3.9% | 34% | align=center | 51% | — | — | 15% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | class=small | Sample size | Margin of error | Neil Abercrombie (D) | Duke Aiona (R) | Mufi Hannemann (I) | Other | Undecided | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward Research | July 21–29, 2014 | 612 | ± 4% | 30% | align=center | 45% | 14% | — | 11% | |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | July 5–24, 2014 | 1,083 | ± 3% | 37% | align=center | 40% | — | 14% | 7% | |
| Civil Beat | June 7–9, 2014 | 1,078 | ± 3% | 27% | align=center | 33% | 18% | — | 22% | |
| Ward Research | January 29 – February 3, 2014 | 642 | ± 3.9% | 40% | align=center | 48% | — | — | 12% |