2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Republican primary
During his re-election campaign in 2008, Alexander faced no opponents in the Republican primary. As early as July 2013, it was obvious that the same would not be true in 2014. The weekend of July 20, 2013, a rally was held in Smyrna in opposition to Alexander. Activists attending the event included Williamson County GOP leader Kevin Kookogey. By mid-August, Triton Polling released a poll showing Alexander trailing "a generic conservative" by 4.6 points. But no "generic conservative" seemed to want to step up. In search of a candidate, a "Beat Lamar" PAC held a forum and invited Kookogey, Knox County mayor Tim Burchett, and Alexander's only formal opponent at the time, Brenda Lenard of Knoxville.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Republican primary
On August 20, 2013, State Representative Joe Carr announced his candidacy. He had previously been opposing Scott Desjarlais in the race for Tennessee's 4th congressional district, but swapped races under public pressure. Kookogey soon dropped out of the race. Four candidates were then vetted in September by the "Coalition for a Constitutional Senate": Carr, truck driver Jerry Davis, business owner John McDaniel, and electrician Danny Page. The coalition ultimately endorsed Carr with 59% of the vote, but some felt that Carr's nomination was coerced by the leaders of the Beat Lamar PAC. Independent candidate Danny Page was especially vocal on that issue.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Republican primary
Entering the race late was George Flinn, a radiologist from Memphis who had run for Congress against Steve Cohen in 2012. There was some speculation that Flinn was a spoiler deployed by Alexander to steal Tea Party votes from Carr.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Republican primary
In the primary's final stretch Carr was endorsed by Sarah Palin, but he did not receive much other support from outside of Tennessee, failing to receive endorsements from the Senate Conservatives Fund or the Club for Growth.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, Republican primary
Ultimately, Alexander won the primary, though he recorded the lowest winning percentage (49.7%) and lowest margin of victory (9.2 points) ever in a primary for a Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Carr won a larger percentage of the vote (40.5%) than the previous 11 challengers to sitting Republican U.S. Senators in Tennessee history combined (40.3%).


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
The first was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee sponsored by Democrats United For Tennessee Inc. and Central Labor Council Members which included 15 Candidates for state and federal office attended by Larry Crim for U.S. Senate  (The Chattanoogan). Crim criticized Senators Bob Corker of Chattanooga and Lamar Alexander of Nashville for overreaching into the free enterprise of VW and their works councils which Mr. Crim stated also implicated free association rights of the company, workers and labor and the free vote. () (The Chattanoogan).


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
U.S. Senate candidate Larry Crim and UAW International Rep. Tom Savage spoke on the importance of free elections at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga at the candidate debate. The candidate debate and forum was held at the Kingdom Center of Olivet Baptist Church. Mr. Crim said, "Protecting voter rights for a free and fair election are as fundamental to expressing the will of workers in the workplace as it is to Americans at the polling place".


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
"For a U.S. Senator to offer incentives or threaten withdrawing public resources based on whether workers vote to recognize the union interferes with their free choice" continued the Democratic candidate for United States Senate. "It seems clear that there was an overreach here and I stand with labor on that" said Crim.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
The second debate was held in Bolivar, Tennessee and attended by Democrats Gordon Ball and Terry Adams, Republican George Flinn, and independents Ed Gauthier and Danny Page. The attendees criticized Alexander and Carr for not attending.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
The third was a "candidates' forum" after the primary in Cookeville on October 16. Only Republican nominee Lamar Alexander and Democrat nominee Gordon Ball were allowed to participate.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
The fourth debate was on October 23 at a Sheraton Hotel across from the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. The nominees for the Democratic Party (Gordon Ball), Libertarian Party (Joshua James), Green Party (Martin Pleasant), and Constitution Party (Joe Wilmoth) were all in attendance as well as independents Tom Emerson, Ed Gauthier, and Danny Page. The moderator was blogger Tom Humphrey of the blog "Humphrey on the Hill". The candidates discussed a number of issues, including abortion, The Islamic State, Common Core education standards, and global warming, but the issue that stuck most with the media was marijuana.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
There was a general consensus among the seven candidates in attendance that the federal government should not be involved in the issue, and that authority on marijuana should be reserved to the states and people. Incumbent Senator Lamar Alexander declined to participate in the debate, and was mocked by Democrat Gordon Ball as being "chicken". Alexander was speaking in front of various groups in Nashville and Murfreesboro that day.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Debates
The fifth and sixth debates were held in Johnson City and Crossville, and featured candidates Gordon Ball and Danny Page. Senator Alexander was invited, but attended neither.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Campaign
In September, an education summit was held in Nashville by Governor Bill Haslam. A protest of the summit (which was largely a protest of the "Common Core" standards) was attended by Democrat Gordon Ball and independent Danny Page.


2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee, General election, Campaign
In late September, eleven members of the Tennessee General Assembly who had backed Joe Carr in the primaries announced they would back Alexander in the general election, saying, "We feel that it is vitally important to the country that we stand together and support replacing the liberal agenda that is now in control of the United States Senate". Carr himself abstained from the endorsement.


2014 United States Senate election in Texas
The 2014 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate. Incumbent Republican senator and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn ran for re-election to a third term. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Since no Democratic candidate received over 50% in the first round of the primary, a runoff election was required on May 27, 2014. David Alameel, who came in first in the primary, won the runoff and became his party's nominee. In the general election, Cornyn defeated Alameel in a landslide.


2014 United States Senate election in Texas, Republican primary
In February 2014, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was featured in a controversial television advertisement by Dwayne Stovall. Stovall belittled McConnell, Cornyn's superior in the Senate leadership, as an ineffective "Beltway turtle" who is out-of-touch with the party rank-and-file. Until the controversial advertisement, the media had largely ignored Stovall's candidacy.


2014 United States Senate election in Texas, Republican primary, Results
Because Cornyn surpassed a majority in the primary, he faced no runoff election. Cornyn's winning percent and margin of victory were the lowest by any Texas Republican U.S. Senator in a primary election in state history.


2014 United States Senate election in Texas, Democratic primary, Results
Because no candidate received over 50% of the vote in the primary, the two with the most votes – David Alameel and Kesha Rogers – advanced to a runoff on May 27.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia
The 2014 United States Senate election in Virginia was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia
Incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Warner ran for re-election to a second term. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The Republicans nominated lobbyist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee Ed Gillespie. Also running was Libertarian nominee Robert Sarvis, an attorney and businessman.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia
Although Warner had been consistently leading Gillespie by double-digit margins in polls before October, Gillespie almost defeated Warner on Election Day, losing by a margin of just 0.8% and 17,727 votes. Gillespie conceded the race on November 7, 2014.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia
Warner's extremely narrow margin of victory made this the closest race of the 2014 Senate election cycle. It is also the last time that a statewide election in Virginia would have less than a 5% advantage for the Democrats over the GOP. Additionally, it is the last time Loudoun County has voted for the Republican candidate in a statewide election, and the last time Alleghany County has voted for the Democratic candidate in a statewide election.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, Background
Businessman Mark Warner first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996, losing to incumbent Republican John Warner (no relation), but by a closer than expected margin, 53% to 47%. He then ran for Governor of Virginia in 2001, winning with 52% of the vote. After John Warner declined to run for a sixth term in 2008, Mark Warner ran to succeed him. Unopposed in the Democratic primary, he defeated the Republican nominee, fellow former governor Jim Gilmore, in a landslide, 65% to 34%.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, Background
Warner was widely expected to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election, but declined to do so, and also declined to be considered as a vice-presidential candidate. He considered running for governor again in 2013 but decided against it, and ran for re-election to a second term. Opinion polls consistently ranked Warner as the most popular elected officials in Virginia, with an approval rating consistently in the mid-60s. This, combined with his large campaign war chest, meant that he was widely dubbed "unbeatable".


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, Republican convention
The Republican Party of Virginia's governing body voted in May 2013 to select its 2014 U.S. Senate nominee at a convention. The convention was held on June 7, 2014, in Roanoke, Virginia.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, Republican convention, Candidates, Results
Ed Gillespie and Shak Hill were the main players at the convention. A 50% majority was required to receive the nomination; if no candidate achieved such a majority, voting would move to a second or third round. Results of the first ballot of voting were announced as they were finalized by congressional district, and after it became clear that Gillespie was going to win (he had about 60% of the vote with about 90% counted), Hill conceded the race and motioned to nominate Gillespie by acclamation, asking his supporters to support Gillespie. Gillespie was then nominated by acclamation.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, Libertarian convention
The Libertarian Party of Virginia held its convention on February 8, 2014. The delegates at the convention nominated Robert Sarvis as the Party's candidate for the U.S. Senate. Sarvis received notification from the Virginia State Board of Elections that he had achieved statewide ballot access on June 26, 2014.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Fundraising, Top contributors
According to OpenSecrets.org, Democrat Mark Warner's top five contributors are JPMorgan Chase, Dominion Resources, Altria Group, Norfolk Southern, and The Blackstone Group. Republican Ed Gillespie's top five contributors are BlueCross/BlueShield, BGR Group, The Blackstone Group, Jennmar Corporation, and the Altria Group. Thus, Warner and Gillespie share the Altria Group and the Blackstone Group as top five contributors. Libertarian Robert Sarvis is primarily funded through self-financing and individual contributions.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Fundraising, Third quarter reports
After third quarter reports, the last before the election, Warner raised an additional $2 million. Gillespie pulled various television ads, stating "he does not have the financial resources" to match Warner.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Fundraising, Outside spending
In the debates, Warner said, "I think we ought to get rid of all Super PACs and all outside money." However, throughout the campaign, Super PACs supported Warner while no comparable Super PAC backed Gillespie. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, as of October 23, outside groups spent $2,571,319 to influence the election.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Fundraising, Cost per vote
Warner spent $18,105,322 for the election and received 1,073,667 votes at $16.86 per vote. Gillespie spent $7,873,079 during the campaign and received 1,055,940 votes at $7.46 per vote. Sarvis spent $84,949 and received 53,102 votes at $1.60 per vote.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums
Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Ed Gillespie agreed to three debates and six forums. Gillespie also agreed to three additional debates, but Warner declined. Libertarian Robert Sarvis, who submitted a petition with over 1,000 signatures to debate organizers, challenged Warner and Gillespie to include him in the debates. In August, Warner accepted the challenge and requested that Sarvis be invited to the remaining debates; Gillespie did not respond. In the end, Sarvis was not invited to any of the debates and was only invited to one joint appearance.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed debates
The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) debate occurred at 11 a.m. on July 26 at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. PBS NewsHour co-anchor Judy Woodruff moderated the debate, which was free and open to public. The VBA decided to invite only Warner and Gillespie. VBA president John L. Walker III said: "They are the only candidates who qualify under our criteria for invitations." In response to not being invited, Sarvis said, "Virginia voters lost".


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed debates
In addition, some political observers, like the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity's project watchdog.org, noted that issues like surveillance and cronyism were missing from the debate. Fewer than 800 people watched the debate on PBS' livestream, which was characterised by Politico as civil, with both candidates "at their best". The debate was later replayed multiple times on C-SPAN.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed debates
The Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce hosted a debate on October 7. The debate was moderated by Chuck Todd, the host of "Meet the Press." The debate was broadcast live on WRC-TV in Northern Virginia, and was offered to all NBC affiliates in Virginia. In their second debate, Warner and Gillespie aired their differences on marriage equality, the Affordable Care Act, and America's foreign policy challenges. Both candidates appeared uncomfortable at times. Gillespie lashed out against Warner for voting with President Barack Obama "97 percent of the time"; Warner fired back, calling it a "bogus charge". Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed debates
The League of Women Voters of Virginia and American Association of Retired Persons of Virginia hosted "The People's Debate" on October 13 in Richmond, Virginia. The debate was offered by WTVR-TV (CBS) and WCVE-TV (Virginia Public Television) to all of their affiliates. In the third and final debate, the candidates discussed the economy, education, Social Security, healthcare, and campaign finance reform. The debate was heated at times, particularly when Warner spoke against Gillespie's past lobbying experience; Gillespie focused on Warner's recent admission that he called State Senator Phillip Puckett and spoke about jobs for Puckett's daughter. Sarvis was not invited to the debate. Sarvis described the debate as the "no people's debate" because he was "the only candidate not bought and paid for by corporate interests."


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Arlington County Civic Federation hosted a forum at 7:30pm on September 2 at Virginia Hospital Center's Hazel Auditorium in Arlington, Virginia. The event was recorded and televised by Arlington Independent Media. More than one hundred people attended the Arlington forum. Sarvis participated in the event; Warner and Gillespie declined.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Northern Virginia Technology Council and Microsoft co-hosted a forum, at the Microsoft Offices in Reston, Virginia, from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on September 8. The forum delved into details about cybersecurity policy, immigration visas for skilled workers and other issues important to the tech community. Warner and Gillespie participated; Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Battleground Forum with Northern Virginia Chambers of Commerce occurred between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on September 19 at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, Virginia. The debate-style forum was hosted by chambers of commerce from Loudoun, Prince William, Reston and Fredericksburg. Questions included: the Affordable Care Act, balancing the budget, the Marketplace Fairness Act, Virginia's economy and student loan debt. Warner's and Gillespie's answers centered around two themes: Warner speaking about his bipartisanship record and Gillespie pairing Warner with President Barack Obama. Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Roanoke Chamber of Commerce joint appearance occurred between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., at the City Market Building in Roanoke, Virginia, on October 6. The forum was moderated by Dr. Robert "Bob" Denton, who leads the communication department at Virginia Tech. Warner, Gillespie, and Sarvis were invited. Warner highlighted his record of bipartisanship; Gillespie questioned whether Warner is really the centrist he claims to be; and Sarvis argued the two-party system is broken and neither of his opponents offers any meaningful change. The forum covered a variety of issues, including transportation funding, immigration reform and foreign policy, and a question about the Affordable Care Act highlighted the candidates' differences.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, Danville Register & Bee, and WSET-TV joint appearance occurred October 14 at 7 p.m. in Danville, Virginia. Warner and Gillespie participated. Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Christopher Newport University joint appearance took place on October 17 in Gaines Theater in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Warner and Gillespie answered questions from Dr. Quentin Kidd, a government professor and director of Christopher Newport University's Wason Center. The event was free and open to the public. Warner and Gillespie attended. Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Confirmed forums
The Central Business District Association joint appearance was at The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on October 23. Warner and Gillespie participated. Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Proposed debates
The proposed debate was sponsored by Virginia21 and the JMU Student Government Association. Gillespie has accepted the debate invitation; Warner declined. Sarvis was not invited to the debate. A representative of the university's student government association wrote: "Both campaigns had stated that if Mr. Sarvis were to be invited to participate in the debate their chances of agreeing to accept the invitation was unlikely and actually committing was even less likely." While the debate was not agreed to, Warner and Sarvis spoke with JMU students on August 31.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Proposed debates
The proposed debate was sponsored by the UMW Student Government Association, the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, and The Free-Lance Star. Sarvis was invited and has accepted the debate invitation; Warner and Gillespie declined.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Proposed debates
The proposed debate was sponsored by the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Gillespie accepted the invitation. Warner declined. Sarvis was not invited.


2014 United States Senate election in Virginia, General election, Debates and forums, Proposed debates
Gillespie accepted an invitation to debate at George Mason University; Warner declined.


2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia
The 2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia, concurrently with 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.


2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Incumbent Democratic senator Jay Rockefeller decided to retire rather than run for reelection for a sixth term. The Democrats nominated Secretary of State of West Virginia Natalie Tennant and the Republicans nominated U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito. It was the thirteenth U.S. Senate election that involved two major party female nominees in U.S. history.


2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Capito defeated Tennant and became the first female senator elected in West Virginia's history as well as the first Republican elected to the Senate from West Virginia in 58 years. The results of this election were a near complete flip from 2008, in which Democrat Jay Rockefeller received 64% of the vote. This was the first open seat non-special election since 1984.


2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia, General election, Debates
A televised debate between Tennant and Capito was held on October 7 in Charleston.


2014 United States Senate election in Wyoming
The 2014 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate for the State of Wyoming. Incumbent Republican senator Mike Enzi won re-election to a fourth term in office. Enzi held Democratic nominee Charlie Hardy to just 17.4 percent of the vote – the lowest percentage of the vote for any major party nominee in Wyoming U.S. Senate electoral history out of the 39 races conducted during the direct election era.


2014 United States Senate election in Wyoming, Republican primary
No incumbent Wyoming Republican senator running for re-election in the direct vote era has failed to win their party's nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections
The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate were contested. Thirty-three Class 2 seats were contested for regular six-year terms to be served from January 3, 2015 to January 3, 2021, and three Class 3 seats were contested in special elections due to Senate vacancies. The elections marked 100 years of direct elections of U.S. Senators. Going into the elections, 21 of the contested seats were held by the Democratic Party, while 15 were held by the Republican Party.


2014 United States Senate elections
The Republicans regained the majority of the Senate in the 114th Congress, which started in January 2015; the Republicans had not controlled the Senate since January 2007. They needed a net gain of at least six seats to obtain a majority and were projected by polls to do so. On election night, they held all of their seats and gained nine Democratic-held seats.


2014 United States Senate elections
Republicans defeated five Democratic incumbents: Mark Begich of Alaska lost to Dan Sullivan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas lost to Tom Cotton, Mark Udall of Colorado lost to Cory Gardner, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana lost to Bill Cassidy, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina lost to Thom Tillis. Republicans also picked up another four open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Democrats did not pick up any Republican-held seats, but they did hold an open seat in Michigan.


2014 United States Senate elections
This was the second consecutive election held in a president's sixth year where control of the Senate changed hands, the first being 2006. This was also the first time that the Democrats lost control of the Senate in a sixth-year midterm since 1918. With a total net gain of nine seats, the Republicans made the largest Senate gain by any party since 1980. This is also the first election since 1980 in which more than two incumbent Democratic Senators were defeated by their Republican challengers.


2014 United States Senate elections
For the entire six-year period between these elections and the next time these Class 2 U.S. senators faced voters in the 2020 elections, Republicans held a majority of the seats in the U.S. Senate during the 114th, 115th, and 116th Congresses. Led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republicans used their continued Senate majority to successfully confirm three conservative justices, including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2018, journalist and political commentator Ezra Klein wrote that the Democrats' losses in the 2014 midterm elections "lost [them] the Supreme Court for a generation".


2014 United States Senate elections
As of 2020, this is the last time a Republican won a senate election in Colorado.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
For a majority, Republicans needed at least 51 seats. Democrats could have retained a majority with 48 seats (assuming the two Independents continued to caucus with them) because the Democratic Vice President Joe Biden would become the tie-breaker. From 1915 to 2013, control of the U.S. Senate flipped in 10 of 50 cycles, or 20% of the time.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
Republicans had lost ground in the 2012 elections, leading to an internal fight among the Republican leadership over the best strategies and tactics for the 2014 Senate races. By December 2013, eight of the twelve incumbent Republicans running for re-election saw Tea Party challenges. However, Republican incumbents won every primary challenge. Although Democrats saw some opportunities for pickups, the combination of Democratic retirements and numerous Democratic seats up for election in swing states and red states gave Republicans hopes of taking control of the Senate.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
7 of the 21 states with Democratic seats up for election in 2014 had voted for Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. Democrats also faced the lower voter turnout that accompanies mid-term elections. Days after the election, the United States Election Project estimated that 36.6% of eligible voters voted, 4% lower than the 2010 elections, and possibly the lowest turnout rate since the 1942 election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
Poll aggregation website FiveThirtyEight gave the Republican Party a 60% chance of taking control of the Senate as of September 28. Another poll aggregation website, RealClearPolitics, gave the Republican Party a net gain of 7 seats. Due to the closeness of several races, it was initially believed that Senate control might not be decided on election night. Both Louisiana and Georgia were seen as competitive, and both states require a run-off election if no candidate takes a majority of the vote.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
Two independent candidates (in Kansas and South Dakota) refused to commit to caucusing with either party. In the final months of the race, polls showed them with viable chances of winning, leading some analysts to speculate on the possibility of an "Independent caucus" that could also include Maine Senator Angus King and possibly Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. However, no Independent won a Senate race in 2014, and King and Sanders continue to caucus with the Democratic Party following the 2014 election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
By midnight ET, most major networks projected that the Republicans would take control of the Senate. The party held all three competitive Republican-held seats (Kentucky, Kansas, and Georgia), and defeated incumbent Democrats in North Carolina, Colorado, and Arkansas. Combined with the pick-ups of open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia, the Republicans made a net gain of 7 seats before the end of the night. Republicans defeated three incumbent Democrats, a task the party had not accomplished since the 1980 election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
Five of the seven confirmed pickups were in states that voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, but two of the seats that Republicans won represent states that voted for Barack Obama in 2012 (Colorado and Iowa). Of the three races that were not called by the end of election night, Alaska and Virginia were still too close to call, while Louisiana held a December 6 run-off election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Overview
Virginia declared Democrat Mark Warner the winner of his race by a narrow margin over Republican Ed Gillespie on November 7, and Alaska declared Dan Sullivan the winner against Democratic incumbent Mark Begich a week later, on November 12. Republican Bill Cassidy defeated Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu in the Louisiana runoff on December 6.


2014 United States Senate elections, Results summary
The Republican Party made a net gain of nine U.S. Senate seats in the 2014 elections.


2014 United States Senate elections, Results summary
Going into the elections, there were 53 Democratic, 45 Republican and 2 independent senators (both of whom caucus with the Democrats). In all, there were 36 elections: 33 senators were up for election this year as class 2 senators, and 3 faced special elections (all from Class 3). Of all these seats, 21 were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans.


2014 United States Senate elections, Results summary
Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.


2014 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special elections during the preceding Congress
In these special elections, the winners were elected during 2014 and seated before January 3, 2015 — except that one was seated on January 3, 2015, the effective date of the predecessor's resignation.


2014 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Elections leading to the next Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2015; ordered by state.


2014 United States Senate elections, Election spending
Altogether, at least $3.67 billion was spent by candidates, parties, committees and outside groups in the 2014 election. Spending on the 2014 Senate elections by outside groups (i.e., organizations other than a candidate's campaign, such as super PACs and "dark money" nonprofit groups) more than doubled from 2010. In the 10 competitive races for which data was available, outside groups accounted for 47% of spending, candidates accounted for 41% of spending, and parties accounted for 12% of spending. The Senate race with the most outside spending was in North Carolina, at $80 million, a new record.


2014 United States Senate elections, Election spending
The top outside spenders in the 11 most competitive Senate races were the following:


2014 United States Senate elections, Closest races
In seven races the margin of victory was under 10%.


2014 United States Senate elections, Final pre-election predictions, Predicted probability of Republican takeover
Several websites used poll aggregation and psephology to estimate the probability that the Republican Party would gain enough seats to take control of the Senate.


2014 United States Senate elections, Final pre-election predictions, Predictions of competitive seats
The following seats were given a rating other than Likely or Safe by at least one major forecaster. Republicans needed to win at least six in order to gain a majority of 51 seats and Democrats needed to win at least seven in order to hold a majority of 50 seats (including the two independents who currently caucus with the Democrats and the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Joe Biden.


2014 United States Senate elections, Alabama
Three-term incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008. Sessions sought re-election. Democrat Victor Sanchez Williams ran against Sessions as a write-in candidate. Sessions won with 97.3 percent of the vote against assorted write-in candidates.


2014 United States Senate elections, Alaska
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Begich had been first elected with 48% of the vote in 2008, defeating six-term Senator Ted Stevens by 3,953 votes (a margin of 1.25%). Begich was 52 years old in 2014 and was seeking re-election to a second term. Stevens, who would have been almost 91 years old at the time of the election, had already filed for a rematch back in 2009, but was killed in a plane crash the following year.


2014 United States Senate elections, Alaska
Republican Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, 2010 nominee Joe Miller, State Natural Resources Commissioner Daniel S. Sullivan, and Air Force veteran John Jaramillo ran for the GOP nomination. In the August 19 primary, Sullivan won the Republican nomination with 40% and defeated Begich in the general election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Arkansas
Two-term incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor had been re-elected with 80% of the vote without Republican opposition in 2008. Pryor was running for a third term.


2014 United States Senate elections, Arkansas
Freshman Representative Tom Cotton of Arkansas's 4th congressional district was the Republican nominee. In the general election, Cotton defeated Pryor.


2014 United States Senate elections, Colorado
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Udall had been elected with 53% of the vote in 2008. Udall was running for re-election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Colorado
Congressman Cory Gardner of Colorado's 4th congressional district was the Republican nominee; his late entry into the race caused numerous Republicans to withdraw their candidacies. Gaylon Kent was the Libertarian Party nominee. Unity Party of America founder and National Chairman Bill Hammons was the Unity Party nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Delaware
Democrat Chris Coons won in the 2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware caused by Joe Biden's election as Vice President, winning by a 57% to 41% margin. Coons sought re-election. His Republican opponent was engineer Kevin Wade, whom Coons went on to defeat in the general election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Georgia
Two-term incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss had been re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2008 in a runoff election with former state Representative Jim Martin; Georgia requires run-off elections when no Senate candidate wins over 50% of the vote. Chambliss did not seek a third term.


2014 United States Senate elections, Georgia
Political activist Derrick Grayson, Representatives Jack Kingston of Georgia's 1st congressional district, Paul Broun of Georgia's 10th congressional district, and Phil Gingrey of Georgia's 11th congressional district all declared their candidacy for the Republican nomination, as did former Secretary of State Karen Handel. In the May 20 primary, no candidate received a majority of votes, so the top two candidates faced each other in a runoff; Perdue narrowly won against Kingston in the runoff primary election on July 22 with 50.9% of the vote.


2014 United States Senate elections, Georgia
Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light and the daughter of former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, won the Democratic nomination. Other declared Democratic candidates included former State Senator Steen Miles, psychiatrist Branko Radulovacki, and former US Army Ranger Todd Robinson. Amanda Swafford, a former Flowery Branch, Georgia city councilwoman, received the Libertarian Party of Georgia nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, Hawaii (special)
Daniel Inouye, the second longest serving United States Senator in U.S. history, died on December 17, 2012, after respiratory complications. Hawaii law allows the Governor of Hawaii, to appoint an interim Senator "who serves until the next regularly-scheduled general election, chosen from a list of three prospective appointees that the prior incumbent's political party submits". Governor Neil Abercrombie did so, selecting Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz to fill the Senate seat. Inouye had been re-elected in 2010 with 72% of the vote. Schatz was challenged in the Democratic primary by Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii's 1st congressional district, who Inouye had hoped would be his successor. Schatz defeated Hanabusa in the primary with 48.5% to 47.8%.


2014 United States Senate elections, Hawaii (special)
Campbell Cavasso, former State Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2010, was the Republican nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Idaho
One-term incumbent Republican Jim Risch had been elected with 58% of the vote in 2008. Risch sought a second term.


2014 United States Senate elections, Illinois
Three-term incumbent and Senate Majority Whip Democrat Dick Durbin had been re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2008. Durbin ran for a fourth term.


2014 United States Senate elections, Illinois
State Senator Jim Oberweis was the Republican nominee. He defeated primary challenger Doug Truax with 56% of the vote.


2014 United States Senate elections, Iowa
Five-term incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008. Harkin announced on January 26, 2013, that he would not seek a sixth term. Congressman Bruce Braley was the Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Iowa
Doug Butzier, who was the Libertarian Party's nominee, died in a plane crash on October 13, 2014, but still appeared on the ballot.


2014 United States Senate elections, Kansas
Three-term incumbent Republican Pat Roberts had been re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2008. Roberts sought a fourth term. He faced a primary challenge from radiologist Milton Wolf, a conservative Tea Party supporter. Roberts defeated Wolf in the Republican primary by 48% to 41%. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor won the Democratic nomination. Randall Batson from Wichita was on the general election ballot as a Libertarian. Also, Greg Orman qualified for the ballot as an independent.


2014 United States Senate elections, Kansas
On September 3, Taylor announced he was dropping out of the election, leading to speculation that Democrats would support Orman's candidacy. On September 18, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that Taylor's name had to be removed from the ballot.


2014 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
Five-term Republican incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had been re-elected with 53% of the vote in 2008. McConnell sought re-election to a sixth term. McConnell defeated businessman Matt Bevin in the Republican primary on May 20.


2014 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, with support from much of Kentucky's Democratic leadership, won the Democratic primary. Actress Ashley Judd publicly claimed to be considering a run for the Democratic nomination, but ultimately decided against it.


2014 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
Ed Marksberry pursued an independent bid after dropping out of the Democratic field in September 2013.


2014 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
Three-term incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu had been re-elected with 52% of the vote in 2008. Landrieu ran for a fourth term.


2014 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
Louisiana uses a unique jungle primary system that eschews primaries in favor of run-off elections between the top two candidates; this run-off can be avoided if the winning candidate receives over 50% of the vote. Democrats Wayne Ables, Vallian Senegal, and William Waymire ran against Landrieu in the election, a Democrats Wayne Ables, Vallian Senegal, and William Waymire ran against Landrieu in the elections did Republicans Bill Cassidy (representative of Louisiana's 6th congressional district), Thomas Clements (small business owner), and retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness. Electrical Engineer Brannon McMorris ran as a Libertarian.


2014 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
Because Republican candidate Maness took almost 14% of the votes in the primary, there was a runoff election on December 6, 2014 between Landrieu (42%) and Cassidy (41%). Cassidy won the runoff with 56% of the vote.


2014 United States Senate elections, Maine
Three-term incumbent Republican Susan Collins was seeking a fourth term. Shenna Bellows, former Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, was the Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Massachusetts
Five-term incumbent and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry had been re-elected with 66% of the vote in 2008. Kerry resigned in early 2013 to become U.S. Secretary of State. Governor Deval Patrick appointed Democrat Mo Cowan to the seat. Democratic Congressman Ed Markey beat Republican Gabriel E. Gomez in the June 25, 2013 special election by a 55% to 45% margin. Markey had served the remainder of Kerry's term before running for re-election in 2014. Hopkinton Town Selectman Brian Herr was the Republican nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Michigan
Six-term incumbent Senator and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee Democrat Carl Levin, the longest-serving senator in Michigan's history, had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008. Levin announced on March 7, 2013 that he would not seek re-election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Michigan
Three term Democratic Representative Gary Peters of MI-14 was the Democratic nominee. He defeated Republican former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land who was unopposed for the Republican nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, Minnesota
One-term incumbent Democrat Al Franken unseated one-term Republican Norm Coleman by 312 votes in a contested three-way race with 42% of the vote in 2008; the third candidate in the race, former Senator Dean Barkley of the Independence Party of Minnesota, won 15% of the vote. Franken sought re-election. State Representative Jim Abeler, St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg, co-CEO of Lazard Middle Market Mike McFadden, bison farmer and former hair salon owner Monti Moreno, state Senator Julianne Ortman, and U.S. Navy reservist Phillip Parrish ran for the Republican nomination. McFadden won the Republican primary and is the Republican nominee in the general election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Minnesota
Hannah Nicollet of the Independence Party of Minnesota also ran.


2014 United States Senate elections, Mississippi
Six-term incumbent Republican Thad Cochran, re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2008, ran for re-election. Cochran was the last incumbent Senator to declare his plans, leading to widespread speculation that he might announce his retirement. Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel, a conservative Mississippi state senator, ran against Cochran in the Republican primary. Neither McDaniel nor Cochran was able to get 50% of the vote in the first round of the primary, so a runoff election was held June 24.


2014 United States Senate elections, Mississippi
Cochran won the runoff election by 51% to 49%, with the help of Democratic voters eligible to vote in the state's open primaries who chose Cochran as their preferred Republican. McDaniel filed a lawsuit to challenge the results of the run-off, but the challenge was rejected on appeal by the Supreme Court of Mississippi.


2014 United States Senate elections, Montana
Six-term incumbent Democrat Max Baucus, the longest-serving senator in Montana's history, had been re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2008. Baucus announced on April 23, 2013 that he would retire in 2014, rather than seek re-election to a seventh term. Baucus was appointed as the United States Ambassador to China, leading him to resign from the Senate in February 2014.


2014 United States Senate elections, Montana
Following Baucus's confirmation as ambassador, Governor Steve Bullock appointed the Lieutenant Governor John Walsh to fill the vacant senate seat. Former Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger was defeated by Walsh in the Democratic primary. Amid controversy over alleged plagiarism in a 2007 research paper, Walsh pulled out of the race. The Montana Democratic Party held a special nominating convention on August 16 to choose a replacement for Walsh. First-term State Representative Amanda Curtis won the nomination, thereby becoming the new Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Montana
Congressman Steve Daines won the Republican nomination over state Representative Champ Edmunds of Missoula and David Leaser of Kalispell.


2014 United States Senate elections, Nebraska
One-term incumbent Republican Mike Johanns had been elected with 58% of the vote in 2008. He did not seek a second term. Term limited Republican Governor Dave Heineman considered running for the Republican nomination, but ultimately decided not to do so. Former state Treasurer Shane Osborn, attorney Bart McLeay, banker Sid Dinsdale, and Midland University President Ben Sasse ran for the Republican nomination. In the May 13 primary, Sasse won the Republican nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, New Hampshire
One-term incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen had been elected with 52% of the vote in 2008. Shaheen ran for re-election. Shaheen defeated Republican nominee Scott Brown, who had represented neighboring Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 to 2013.


2014 United States Senate elections, New Jersey
Incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg had been re-elected with 56% of the vote in 2008. After announcing he would not seek re-election, Lautenberg died in June 2013, aged 89, after a long period of ill health.


2014 United States Senate elections, New Jersey
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, defeated Republican nominee Steve Lonegan by 55%-to-45% in a 2013 special election to replace interim Republican appointee Jeffrey Chiesa. Booker ran for re-election in 2014. 1978 and 1982 Republican candidate and political operative Jeff Bell was the Republican nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, New Mexico
One-term incumbent Democrat Tom Udall had been elected with 61% of the vote in 2008. Former Doña Ana County Republican Party Chairman David Clements and former New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh sought the Republican nomination. Weh won the June 3 primary but lost to Udall in the general election.


2014 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
One-term incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan had been elected with 53% of the vote against incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole in 2008. Hagan was seeking re-election.


2014 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
State House Speaker Thom Tillis was the Republican nominee. Sean Haugh won the Libertarian nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, Oklahoma
There were 2 elections in Oklahoma, due to the resignation of Tom Coburn.


2014 United States Senate elections, Oklahoma, Oklahoma (regular)
Three-term incumbent Republican Jim Inhofe had been re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2008. Inhofe sought re-election. Matt Silverstein, an insurance agency owner, ran for the Democratic nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, Oklahoma, Oklahoma (special)
Two-term incumbent Republican Tom Coburn had been re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2010, and was not scheduled to be up for election again until 2016. However, Coburn announced his intention to resign at the end of the 113th Congress. A special election to fill his seat took place in November 2014, concurrent with the other Senate elections. Congressman James Lankford was the Republican nominee. State Senator Connie Johnson was the Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Oregon
One-term incumbent Democrat Jeff Merkley was narrowly elected with 49% of the vote in 2008. Merkley was running for a second term. State representative Jason Conger, attorney Tim Crawley, IT consultant Mark Callahan, neurosurgeon Dr. Monica Wehby, and former Linn County Republican Chair Jo Rae Perkins all ran for the Republican nomination, with Wehby ultimately winning the nomination in the May 20 primary.


2014 United States Senate elections, Rhode Island
Three-term incumbent Democrat Jack Reed had been re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2008. Reed defeated Republican nominee Mark Zaccaria in the 2014 election.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
There were 2 elections in South Carolina, due to the resignation of Jim DeMint.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Carolina, South Carolina (regular)
Two-term Republican Lindsey Graham had been re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2008. Graham won the Republican nomination over a field that included state senator Lee Bright. State Senator Brad Hutto won the Democratic nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Carolina, South Carolina (special)
Jim DeMint had been elected to a second term in 2010, but resigned from the Senate in January 2013 to become president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. Governor Nikki Haley appointed Congressman Tim Scott as DeMint's replacement. Scott, an African-American, was the Republican nominee to serve out the remainder of DeMint's term. Scott is the first African-American Republican since shortly after Reconstruction to represent a Southern state. Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson won the Democratic nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Three-term incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008. Johnson announced on March 26, 2013 that he would not run for re-election. Former Congressional aide Rick Weiland was the Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Among Republicans, former two-term Governor Mike Rounds announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination on November 29, 2012. Rounds won the Republican nomination over state senator Larry Rhoden, state representative Stace Nelson, and physician Annette Bosworth.


2014 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Former Republican U.S. Senator Larry Pressler and Republican State Senator Gordon Howie ran as independents. Pressler did not commit to caucusing with either party, while Howie said he would caucus with the Senate Republicans.


2014 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
Two-term incumbent Republican Lamar Alexander had been re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2008. Alexander sought re-election to a third term. On August 7, 2014, Alexander won the Republican nomination over six challengers, including State Representative Joe Carr.


2014 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
On November 4, 2014, Alexander faced Democratic nominee Gordon Ball, Libertarian Party nominee Joshua James, Constitution Party nominee Joe Wilmothm, and independent Danny Page also ran in the general election.


2014 United States Senate elections, Texas
Two-term incumbent Republican John Cornyn, the Senate Minority Whip, had been re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2008. Cornyn sought re-election, and won the 2014 Republican primary with 59% of the vote. David Alameel, a dentist, and Kesha Rogers, a volunteer for The Lyndon LaRouche Policy Institute, faced each other in a run-off election for the Democratic nomination. Alameel won the run-off and was the Democratic nominee.


2014 United States Senate elections, Virginia
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Warner had been elected with 65% of the vote in 2008; he sought re-election. Ed Gillespie, former RNC Chairman and presidential adviser, ran for the Republican nomination. Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian nominee for Governor in 2013, also ran.


2014 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Five-term incumbent Democrat Jay Rockefeller had been re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2008. He announced on January 11, 2013 that he would not seek re-election to a sixth term. Secretary of State Natalie Tennant won the Democratic nomination.


2014 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
On November 26, 2012, Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito announced her plans to run for the seat, in hopes of becoming the first Republican Senator elected from West Virginia since 1956. Moore Capito won the Republican nomination and the general election, the first woman to serve as United States Senator from West Virginia.


2014 United States Senate elections, Wyoming
Three-term incumbent Republican Mike Enzi had been re-elected with 76% of the vote in 2008. Enzi sought re-election. Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, briefly entered the race for the Republican nomination, but dropped her bid in January 2014. On August 19, Enzi won the Republican primary election with 82% of the vote, and Democrat Charlie Hardy, a former Catholic priest, won his party's primary election with 48% of the vote.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii
The 2014 United States Senate election in Hawaii took place on November 4, 2014, the general Election Day in the United States, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii
Incumbent Democratic Senator Brian Schatz was appointed to the office in December 2012, following the death of longtime senator Daniel Inouye. The special election determined who would serve the remainder of Inouye's term, which ended on January 3, 2017.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii
The Hawaii primary elections took place on August 9, 2014, but the Democratic primary remained unresolved until August 15 due to areas affected by damage from Tropical Storm Iselle. Schatz narrowly fended off a primary challenge from U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa and then went on to defeat the Republican nominee, former State Representative Campbell Cavasso, in a landslide.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Background
Daniel Inouye announced that he planned to run for a record tenth term in 2016, when he would have been 92 years old. He also said, "I have told my staff and I have told my family that when the time comes, when you question my sanity or question my ability to do things physically or mentally, I don't want you to hesitate, do everything to get me out of here, because I want to make certain the people of Hawaii get the best representation possible." Inouye died on December 17, 2012. Prior to his death, Inouye left a letter encouraging Governor Neil Abercrombie to appoint Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa to succeed Inouye should he become incapacitated.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Background
Hawaii law allows the Governor to appoint an interim Senator "who serves until the next regularly-scheduled general election, chosen from a list of three prospective appointees that the prior incumbent's political party submits". Abercrombie appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Brian Schatz as U.S. Senator, citing Hanabusa's seniority on the United States House Committee on Armed Services as a chief reason not to appoint her to the position.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Democratic primary, Delay in election result
Primary elections in Hawaii were held on August 9, 2014. However, two precincts in Puna on Hawaiʻi Island did not open due to damage from Hurricane Iselle, and the approximately 8,255 voters in those precincts instead voted on August 15. The two leading Democratic candidates, Colleen Hanabusa and Brian Schatz, were initially separated by only 1,635 votes, meaning that the final outcome was officially uncertain until voting in Puna was finished.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Democratic primary, Delay in election result
However, an analysis by Hawaii News Now showed that Hanabusa would need to win approximately 65% of the vote in the outstanding precincts to overtake Schatz, something she had not managed in any other precinct in the state. Thus, Schatz was seen as the likely winner. After voting in Puna was completed, Schatz was declared the winner by a slightly increased margin of 1,769 votes. Hanabusa conceded on August 19.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Republican primary, Results
Vote totals listed do not include two precincts that will vote on August 15.


2014 United States Senate special election in Hawaii, Independent primary, Results
Neither of the candidates polled enough votes to meet Hawaii's strict criteria for independents to participate in the general election.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
The 2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Oklahoma, concurrently with the regularly-scheduled election to Oklahoma's other 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.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
This special election was held to fill the remaining two years of incumbent Republican Senator Tom Coburn's second term. Coburn, a strong supporter of term limits, had announced even before he was elected to the Senate in 2004 that he would only serve for two terms. After he was re-elected in 2010, he reaffirmed that he would not run for re-election in 2016.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
In January 2014, Coburn announced he would resign early at the end of the 113th United States Congress on January 3, 2015. As pursuant to Oklahoma law, he submitted an "irrevocable letter of resignation" to take effect on that day. Thus, the special election was held while he was still in office.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
Unlike most states, except in very specific circumstances, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin did not have the power to appoint a replacement senator. Instead, state law required her to schedule the special election "as soon as practicable".


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
Primary elections were held on June 24, 2014. The Republicans nominated U.S. Representative James Lankford; as no candidate in the Democratic primary received more than 50% of the vote, a primary runoff election was held on August 26 between State Senator Connie Johnson and perennial candidate Jim Rogers, which Johnson won. In the general election, Lankford defeated Johnson in a landslide and was sworn in on the day Coburn's resignation took effect. Lankford easily won re-election to a full six-year term in 2016.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
By April 2014, Lankford and T.W. Shannon were seen as the main contenders for the Republican nomination, with Brogdon a potential spoiler who was running even further to the right than they did. Although there was reported to be "little daylight ideologically" between Lankford and Shannon, and both are associated with the Tea Party movement, Shannon attracted the support of figures including Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Sarah Palin and organizations including FreedomWorks and the Senate Conservatives Fund. They criticized Lankford for his votes to raise the debt ceiling and for being a member of the Republican House leadership.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
Supporters of Lankford, including the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, pointed out Shannon's ties to the establishment-supporting Congressman Tom Cole, accused Cruz, Lee, Palin and the others of being "outsiders" who were attempting to meddle in the state's primary, and also pointed out that the aforementioned had previously criticized Coburn, whom they were now praising in an attempt to woo him into supporting Shannon.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
Local Tea Party groups also criticised the national conservatives, saying in an open letter that they had endorsed Shannon without consulting them or examining his record, that Shannon was a "poser" who "had never stepped foot" in a Tea Party meeting before announcing his run for the Senate and "no longer attends grassroots meetings nor does he seek the grassroots support".


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
In June, Coburn responded to attack ads calling Lankford a "Washington insider" who "votes with liberals" by saying that "political advertisements by groups... supporting T.W. Shannon have crossed an important line — they simply aren't truthful and they mischaracterize James Lankford's service in Congress." He also called Lankford "a man of absolute integrity" who was "one of the most honest, thoughtful and sincere men I have met in my time in Washington." He also praised Lankford's "life experience", "perspective" and willingness to fight the "status quo", but stopped short of fully endorsing him. He did however say that "as a voter", the negative ads from pro-Shannon groups made him question Shannon's ability to govern.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
By mid-June, Lankford was considered to have the momentum, a reversal of fortunes, though a runoff was considered likely. Shannon's negative advertisements were considered to have backfired, in contrast to Lankford's advertisements, which were largely positive. Lankford also raised and spent more money than Shannon, who was not significantly helped financially by national conservative groups, who had focused their attention on the primary runoff in Mississippi between incumbent senator Thad Cochran and conservative challenger Chris McDaniel.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
The runoff in Mississippi was held on the same day as the primary in Oklahoma and Alexandra Jaffe of The Hill reported that Shannon's best hope was to force a runoff, which would allow the national groups to refocus on Oklahoma. Outside spending for Shannon was $1.8m compared to $170,000 for Lankford but Lankford spent $1.8m to Shannon's $1.1m.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
In what was considered a surprise result, Lankford defeated Shannon by over 20%, negating the need for a runoff. Lankford ran a strong, well-organised campaign, considered by Congressman Tom Cole to be "probably the best organization in the state that was operating at this time".


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
He was also helped by his "existing statewide presence grounded in the state's burgeoning Baptist community", which goes back to his time before politics when he ran the Falls Creek Baptist Youth Camp, and the fact that his congressional district is based in Oklahoma City, where turnout was predicted to be high because there was also a competitive race in the Republican primary to succeed him. To attempt to counteract that, Shannon targeted the media market in Tulsa.


2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, Republican primary
Finally, unlike in other races, there was no split between the establishment and the Tea Party, with Shannon not capitalising on an "anti-establishment" wave that benefited others like Ben Sasse in Nebraska. Cole summarised: "We don't need people coming in and telling us who conservatives are, [because] everybody is a conservative. There are no moderates." State Senator David Holt, who supported Shannon, said that Coburn's comments about Lankford were the most important factor, saying that "Senator Coburn is enormously respected in Oklahoma, and when it appeared that he had a preference, I think that the voters listened."


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina
The 2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 2014, concurrently with the regular election for the other South Carolina Senate seat. The special-election Senate seat was formerly held by Republican Jim DeMint, who resigned on January 1, 2013 to become president of the Heritage Foundation.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina
Nikki Haley, the Republican Governor of South Carolina, announced the appointment of U.S. Representative Tim Scott to fill the seat. Scott ran in the special election and won by beating Democratic candidate and Richland County councilwoman Joyce Dickerson in the November election.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina
The election was noted for being the second Senate election since the Seventeenth Amendment (after Illinois in 2004) in which both major party nominees were black, the third being the 2016 Senate election in which Scott also ran.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background
On December 6, 2012, Senator Jim DeMint announced his intention to resign effective January 1, 2013, to become the president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background
Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina, appointed a replacement to fill the seat until the special election. Haley indicated that she would not appoint a "placeholder" to the seat, but would appoint someone who would stand in a 2014 special election to serve the remaining two years of DeMint's term. On December 17, 2012, Haley announced that she would appoint Scott to DeMint's seat following his resignation.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background, Senate replacement process
According to sources close to Governor Haley, as of December 11, 2012, she had narrowed the list of potential appointees down to five:


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background, Senate replacement process
Other politicians mentioned as possible replacements for DeMint included U.S. Representatives Mick Mulvaney and Joe Wilson, former U.S. Representative Gresham Barrett state representative Nathan Ballentine, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, former Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, former South Carolina Republican Party chair Katon Dawson, and Haley's deputy chief of staff Tedd Pitts.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background, Senate replacement process
Liberal comedian Stephen Colbert, a South Carolina native, expressed interest in being appointed the seat, asking his fans to tweet Haley that she should appoint him. Chad Walldorf, the owner of the Sticky Fingers restaurant chain, had also been mentioned as a potential placeholder.


2014 United States Senate special election in South Carolina, Background, Polling on DeMint's replacement
A Public Policy Polling poll released on December 10, 2012, which asked respondents who they wanted to replace DeMint, showed Colbert with the highest total. Colbert had support at 20 percent, followed by Scott at 15 percent, Gowdy at 14 percent, and Sanford at 11 percent. Haley said that she would not appoint Colbert to the seat.


2014 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia
The 2014 Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a shadow member to the United States House of Representatives to represent the District of Columbia. Unlike non-voting delegates, the Shadow Representative is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated. Incumbent Shadow Representative Nate Bennett-Fleming did not run for reelection and Franklin Garcia was elected in his place. The election was held concurrently with a mayoral election.


2014 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Other primaries
The Republican and Statehood Green parties held primaries, but no candidates declared and the contests saw only write-in votes.


2014 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia, General election
The general election took place on November 8, 2016. Garcia was the only candidate on the ballot and won reelection to a second term.


2014 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia
The 2014 United States Senate election in the District of Columbia took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a shadow member to the United States Senate to represent the District of Columbia. The member is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated by the United States Senate.


2014 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia, Primary elections, Other primaries
D.C. Statehood Green candidate David Schwartzman and Libertarian candidate John Daniel were unopposed in their party primaries. A Republican primary was held with no candidates.


2014 United States Soccer Federation presidential election
The 2014 United States Soccer Federation presidential election was held in Chicago on March 1, 2014 to determine the next President of the United States Soccer Federation. Sunil Gulati ran unopposed and entered his third four-year term after having served as U.S. Soccer’s President since 2006.


2014 United States Virgin Islands general election
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Wnettles03 (talk | contribs) at 17:57, 9 September 2020 (Added Color for ICM). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2014 United States Virgin Islands general election
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on 4 November 2014. Voters chose the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, and the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands.


2014 United States Virgin Islands general election, Governor
Governor John deJongh was term-limited and could not seek a third term in office in 2014. Kenneth Mapp went on to win the election after a run off, defeating Donna Christian-Christensen in a landslide with almost 64% of the vote.


2014 United States Virgin Islands general election, U.S. House of Representatives
Donna Christian-Christensen did not seek re-election to her delegate seat to run for Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. Stacey Plaskett went on to win the general election with 90% of the vote.


2014 United States Virgin Islands general election, Legislature of the Virgin Islands
All fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands were contested.


2014 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election
The 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. Incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh is term-limited and cannot run for re-election to a third term in office. Since no candidate received a majority in the general election, as required by the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, a runoff was held between Donna Christian-Christensen and Kenneth Mapp, the two top vote receivers. Mapp went on to win the run off in a landslide victory, with almost 64% of the vote.


2014 United States Virgin Islands referendum
A two-part referendum was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 4 November 2014. Voters were asked whether they approve of extending the term of office of Senators from two to four years, and whether the cultivation and use of cannabis for medical and research purposes should be allowed.


2014 United States Virgin Islands referendum
The proposal to increase senatorial terms was rejected by 82% of voters, while the medical cannabis proposal was approved by 57% of voters.


2014 United States Virgin Islands referendum, Background
The proposal to hold a referendum on increasing the term length of Senators was approved by the Legislature on 27 September 2014 by a vote of 7–6 with one abstention. The proposal would only be implemented if a majority of those voting in the simultaneous general elections.


2014 United States Virgin Islands referendum, Background
In 2012 Senator Terrance Nelson proposed holding referendums on the use of medical cannabis and allowing the production, processing, manufacturing and distributing of industrial hemp. Although the holding of a referendum on medical cannabis referendum was blocked by the Legislature, it did allow a referendum on industrial hemp, which was approved by 57% of voters. Nelson again proposed holding a referendum on medical cannabis in 2014, and this time it was approved by a vote of 12–2. Unlike the term length question, the cannabis one was non-binding.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship
The 2014 Labatt United States Women's Curling Championship was held from March 1 to 8 at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was held in conjunction with the 2014 United States Men's Curling Championship.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship, Road to the Nationals
A total of ten teams will be able to participate in the women's national championship by qualifying through the High Performance Program, through the World Curling Tour Order of Merit, or through a challenge round.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship, Teams
There will be ten teams participating in this year's national championship. The teams are listed as follows:


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship, Round robin results
All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−7).


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification
Qualification for the 2014 United States Women's Curling Championship consisted of three different paths. Four teams qualified directly through the High Performance Program or the Order of Merit system. The number of the remaining entrants to the national championships was cut down to six teams through a challenge round held in early January.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification system
Teams can qualify to participate in the men's national championship through the High Performance Program, through the World Curling Tour Order of Merit, or through a challenge round.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification system
Two spots in the nationals were awarded to two teams on the United States Curling Association's High Performance National Program. The teams qualified through the High Performance Program were those skipped by Allison Pottinger and Cassandra Potter. Two more spots were awarded to the top two men's teams on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit standings table at the year's end. The teams qualified through the Order of Merit were those skipped by Courtney George and Nina Spatola.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification system
The remaining six spots in the nationals will be awarded to the teams that earn qualification spots through the challenge round. The challenge round will be held in a triple knockout format.


2014 United States Women's Curling Championship – Qualification, Challenge Round
The challenge round for the women's nationals will be held from January 10 to 12 at the Grafton Curling Club in Grafton, North Dakota.


2014 United States elections
The 2014 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's second term. Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives and won control of the Senate.


2014 United States elections
Republicans won a net gain of nine Senate seats, the largest Senate gain for either party since the 1980 United States elections. In the House, Republicans won a net gain of thirteen seats, giving them their largest majority since the onset of the Great Depression. In state elections, Republicans won a net gain of two seats and flipped control of ten legislative chambers. Various other state, territorial, and local elections and referenda were held throughout the year.


2014 United States elections
With total spending reaching $3.7 billion, the midterm election, at the time, was the most expensive in history, being surpassed by the 2018 midterm election four years later. The 2014 election also saw the lowest turnout since 1942, with just 36.4% of eligible voters voting.


2014 United States elections, Issues
Major issues of the election included income inequality, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as "Obamacare"), which Republicans sought to repeal. Democrats promoted their proposal to increase the minimum wage. In the weeks prior to the 2014 election, Republicans harshly criticized the Obama administration for its handling of the 2013-2016 ebola virus outbreak in Western Africa . However, immediately after the election, Republicans dropped Ebola as an issue. 2016 and 2020 studies found that Republican rhetoric on Ebola may have helped Republican candidates in the 2014 election.


2014 United States elections, Issues
Although it generated much debate in early 2014, the Keystone Pipeline ultimately received little attention in the election, with environmentalists instead focused on fighting global warming and supporting the EPA's proposed regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Another potentially important issue, net neutrality, received little attention during the campaign.


2014 United States elections, Issues
National exit polling showed that 45% of voters said the economy was their most important issue. This was a decline from 2010 and 2008 (when 59% of voters and 63% of voters, respectively, named it as their top issue), but was still the most common issue cited by voters as most important to them. Smaller numbers of voters named health care, foreign policy, or illegal immigration as their top issues, or same-sex marriage, Ebola, or the legalization of marijuana as their top issues.


2014 United States elections, Federal elections
With a final total of 247 seats (56.78%) in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the U.S. Congress since the 71st Congress in 1929.


2014 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, Senate elections
All 33 seats in Senate Class II were up for election. Additionally, three special elections were held to fill vacancies in Class III.


2014 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, Senate elections
Of the 36 Senate races, the Republican Party won 24 (a net gain of nine seats, which represents the largest gain for a party in the Senate since 1980, and the largest Senate gain in a midterm since 1958) and the Democratic Party won 12, thus resulting in the Republicans regaining control of the Senate for the first time since 2006, with a total of 54 seats. The race in Louisiana headed to a run-off on December 6, 2014, in which Rep. Bill Cassidy (R) defeated 3-term incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu 55.9% to 44.1%.


2014 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Elections were held to select the delegates for the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories. The only seat in the House not up for election was the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term. The Republican party won 247 seats (a net gain of 13 seats) and the Democratic Party, 188 seats. Thus, the Republicans gained their largest majority in the House since 1928. Nationwide, Republicans won the popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.7 percent.


2014 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
On March 11, there was a special election for Florida's 13th congressional district, won by the Republican Party.


2014 United States elections, State elections, Gubernatorial elections
Elections were held for the governorships of 36 U.S. states and three U.S. territories. The Republican Party won 24 of the 36 state governorships for a net gain of two seats, as they picked up open Democratic-held seats in Arkansas, Maryland and Massachusetts and defeated incumbent Governor Pat Quinn in Illinois, while Republican incumbents Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Sean Parnell of Alaska respectively lost to Democrat Tom Wolf and independent Bill Walker. This cycle marked the first time an incumbent Governor running for re-election in Pennsylvania lost in the modern era. The final total, as a result, was 31 Republican governors, 18 Democratic governors, and one Independent governor.


2014 United States elections, State elections, State legislative elections
Elections to state legislatures were held in 46 states, with a total of 6049 seats up for election (82 percent of the total number of state legislative seats in the United States). Republicans gained control of 10 legislative chambers: both chambers of the Nevada Legislature, the Minnesota House of Representatives, New Hampshire House of Representatives, the New Mexico House of Representatives, the West Virginia House of Delegates, the Colorado Senate, the Maine Senate, the New York Senate, and the Washington Senate. This increased the total number of Republican-controlled state houses from 57 to 67.


2014 United States elections, State elections, State legislative elections
The day after the election, Republicans, who achieved a 17–17 tie in the West Virginia Senate, gained control of that chamber as well thanks to the defection of State Senator Daniel Hall, thus increasing their total gains to 11, for a final total of 68 state houses won. The election left the Republicans in control of the highest amount of state legislatures in the party's history since 1928, and also left the Democrats in control of the smallest amount of state legislatures since 1860.


2014 United States elections, Local elections
Numerous elections were held for officeholders in numerous cities, counties, school boards, special districts, and others around the country.


2014 United States elections, Turnout
Nationwide voter turnout was 36.4%, down from 40.9% in the 2010 midterms and the lowest since the 1942 elections, when just 33.9% of voters turned out, though that election came during the middle of World War II.


2014 United States elections, Turnout
The states with the highest turnout were Maine (59.3%), Wisconsin (56.9%), Alaska (55.3%), Colorado (53%), Oregon (52.7%) Minnesota (51.3%), Iowa (50.6%), New Hampshire (48.8%), Montana (46.1%) and South Dakota (44.6%), all of which except for Iowa and Montana featured a competitive gubernatorial race and all of which except for Maine and Wisconsin also featured competitive Senate races. The states with the highest turnout that had no Senate or gubernatorial race that year were North Dakota (44.1%) and Washington state (38.6%).


2014 United States elections, Turnout
The states with the lowest turnout were Indiana (28%), Texas (28.5%), Utah (28.8%), Tennessee (29.1%), New York (29.5%), Mississippi (29.7%), Oklahoma (29.8%), New Jersey (30.4%) and West Virginia and Nevada (31.8%). Indiana and Utah had no Senate or gubernatorial elections and the others all had races for at least one of the posts, but they were not considered competitive. Turnout in Washington, D.C. was (30.3%).


2014 United States elections, Turnout
According to  Young Americans aged between 18 and 29 accounted for 13%, down from 19% in the presidential election two years before.


2014 United States elections, Turnout
Analysis by the Pew Research Center found that 35% of non-voters cited work or school commitments, which prevented them from voting, 34% said they were too busy, unwell, away from home or forgot to vote, 20% either didn't like the choices, didn't know enough or didn't care and 10% had recently moved, missed a registration deadline or didn't have transportation.


2014 United States elections, Turnout
The New York Times counts apathy, anger and frustration at the relentlessly negative tone of the campaigns as the reasons of low turnout and stated, "Neither party gave voters an affirmative reason to show up at the polls."


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, Allegations of misconduct
Connecticut State Representative Christina Ayala (Democrat) was arrested in September 2014 on 19 voting fraud charges, specifically "eight counts of fraudulent voting, 10 counts of primary or enrollment violations and one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence." In September 2015 she pleaded guilty to state election law violations, received a one-year sentence (suspended) along with two years 'conditional discharge', and agreed not to seek elective office for two years. Her mother, Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala, was also the subject of an investigation in the case, but was not charged.


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, Allegations of misconduct
California State Senator Roderick Wright (Democrat) resigned from office in September 2014 and was sentenced to 90 days in Los Angeles county jail for perjury and voter fraud. Despite being convicted months earlier for 8 felonies, Wright was allowed to take a paid leave of absence as State Senator.


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, Allegations of misconduct
In Chicago, election judges said they had received automated phone calls between October–November 3 with apparently false instructions about voting or required training, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. In Pontiac, Michigan, local Democrats cited reports of voter harassment and intimidation by Republicans over questioning legally-cast ballots with election workers repeatedly having had to ask them to step aside. A clerk called police for help.


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, New voting restrictions
In June 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, permitting nine (mostly Southern) states to change their election laws without advance federal approval. Since 2010, 22 states enacted new voting restrictions. The 2014 federal election was the first federal election where 15 states enacted new voting restrictions, many of which faced challenges in court.


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, Voting machine issues
Scattered issues with voting machines occurred, with miscalibrated machines recorded a vote cast for one candidate as a vote for another candidate. They occurred in Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and North Carolina.


2014 United States elections, Controversies and other issues, Voting machine issues
In Bexar County, Texas, the Republican candidate for governor, Greg Abbott, was accidentally replaced on the ballot by David Dewhurst on one machine, on which 12 votes were cast before the problem was caught.


2014 United States elections, Milestones
A series of milestones were set for women, African-Americans, and Hispanics, among others, in the U.S. Congress and American politics in general. These include:


2014 United States elections, Table of federal and state results
Bold indicates a change in partisan control. Note that not all states held gubernatorial, state legislative, and United States Senate elections in 2014.


2014 United States elections, Viewership
Cable TV viewers 25 to 548:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern


2014 United States federal budget
The 2014 United States federal budget is the budget to fund government operations for the fiscal year (FY) 2014, which began on October 1, 2013 and ended on September 30, 2014.


2014 United States federal budget
President Obama submitted the FY2014 budget proposal on April 10, 2013, two months past the February 4 legal deadline due to negotiations over the United States fiscal cliff and implementation of the sequester cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The House of Representatives passed its proposal, H.Con.Res 25, prior to the submission of the President's budget proposal, as did the Senate (S.Con.Res 8). The House and Senate budget resolutions were not  reconciled as a final budget.


2014 United States federal budget
At the time the fiscal year 2014 budget was debated, budgeting issues were controversial. Government spending had recently been limited by an automatic sequestration process that resulted when Congress and President Obama failed to meet spending reduction targets set by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The House and Senate were at the time controlled by different parties with different fiscal agendas.


2014 United States federal budget
Failure to pass an initial continuing resolution caused the federal government shutdown of 2013. The government was then funded through a series of two continuing resolutions. Final funding for the government was enacted as an omnibus spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, enacted on January 17, 2014.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
The House Budget Committee reported out the House Budget Bill () on March 15, 2013 which was introduced and sponsored by budget committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to the United States House of Representatives. It passed the House on March 21, 2013, 221-207.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
Along with setting forth the congressional budget for the federal government for fiscal year 2014, it proposed budget levels for fiscal 2015 through 2023 with respect to federal revenues, new budget authority, outlays, deficits, public debt, and debt held by the public. The proposed budget would also reform the U.S. tax code to create only two income tax brackets (with 10% and 25% tax rates), end the Alternative Minimum Tax, and reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
The bill instructs the House Ways and Means Committee to reform the existing tax code by removing various tax credits and exemptions (which are unspecified in the bill itself). The bill would also repeal Obamacare by "eliminating the subsidized insurance exchanges and the Medicaid expansion that make up the core of the law," and would "convert Medicare into a system of private insurance plans financed by federal vouchers."


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
The bill received commentary from all sides of the political spectrum. The spending cuts found in the House Bill were supported by many Republicans. Tom McClintock (R-CA) supported the bill, noting that the Democrats' rival bill included too much new spending, putting the United States at risk of an economic crisis like the one found in Greece. Todd Rokita (R-IN) supported the spending cuts and accused the Democrats of stealing from future generations to pay for their deficit spending.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
Barbara Lee (D-CA) criticized the bill, renaming it from "Path to Prosperity" to "Path to Poverty," a reference to some of the bill's cuts to welfare program spending. The provision to alter the Medicare system by changing it into a voucher system for people under 55  was strongly criticized by Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on March 21, 2013, who claimed that older Americans would end up with higher out-of-pocket expenses for worse care (as a result of legislators giving up on fixing a dying system). The House Bill was also criticized by some Republican lawmakers for not going far enough to cut spending.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
Due to the closer balance between the two parties in the House, the Republican leadership worked hard to limit the number of defections from conservative Republicans. It was voted on by the House of Representatives on March 21, 2013, and passed with a simple majority, 221-207. The 221 votes in favor of passage were all from Republicans. Of those voting, every Democrat voted against passage, along with 10 Republicans.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
The 10 Republican Representatives who voted against the House Bill were, Justin Amash (R-MI), Paul Broun (R-GA), Rick Crawford (R-AR), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Chris Gibson (R-NY), Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Joe Heck (R-NV), Walter Jones (R-NC), Tom Massie (R-KY), and David McKinley (R-WV) Some of these Representatives voted against the passage of the House Bill because they preferred the Republican Study Committee's budget instead. Representative McKinley voted against the budget because he objected to the cuts to Medicare, wanted to make changes to the foreign aid budget, and failed to exempt some bureaucracies (such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation) from budget cuts. Four members did not vote.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, House bill
The Senate rejected the House budget on March 21, 2013 with a vote of 40-59 and continued to work on its own budget bill, (See Senate bill, below). Republicans such as Paul Ryan have argued that the two different bills clarify the differences between the two parties on issues of spending and balanced budgets.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, Alternative House budget proposals
The Republican Study Committee budget would balance the Federal budget in four years, in part by freezing Federal spending after reducing discretionary spending to 2008 levels. The plan would also open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling by oil companies and increase the age at which seniors became eligible for Social Security and Medicare. The budget failed in a vote of 104-132, with most Democrats not voting.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, Alternative House budget proposals
The Congressional Progressive Caucus budget contained several key features, most of them dramatically opposed to the main features of both the Republican Study Committee budget, and the budget proposed by Paul Ryan. The Congressional Progressive Caucus called for cutting Pentagon spending (back to 2006 levels), increased taxes on millionaires, the elimination of some subsidies (to oil and gas companies), and would increase unemployment insurance.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, Senate bill
The Senate budget resolution () was introduced on March 15, 2013, the resolution was sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). This was the first budget the Senate had itself proposed in 4 years. It called for $3.7 trillion in federal spending and increased taxes, and it anticipated government debt continuing to accumulate. Along with setting forth the congressional budget for the federal government for fiscal year 2014, it proposed budget levels for fiscal 2015 through 2023 with respect to federal revenues, new budget authority, outlays, deficits, public debt, and debt held by the public.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, Senate bill
The Senate resolution also required Senate committees to: (1) review programs and tax expenditures in their jurisdictions to identify waste, fraud, and abuse or duplication, and to increase the use of performance data to inform committee work; (2) review the matters for congressional consideration identified on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) High Risk list report and the annual report to reduce program duplication; and (3) make recommendations to the Senate Budget Committee to improve governmental performance in their annual views and estimates reports.


2014 United States federal budget, Budget proposals, Senate bill
It called on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its annual Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook, to: (1) report changes in direct spending and revenue associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, including the net impact on deficit, both with on-budget and off-budget effects; and (2) provide an analysis of the budgetary effects of 30%, 50%, and 100% of Americans losing employer sponsored health insurance and accessing coverage through federal or state exchanges.