# 2014 South Carolina gubernatorial election

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The 2014 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of South Carolina, concurrently with the regularly-scheduled election and special election to both of South Carolina's U.S. Senate seats, 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.
Incumbent Republican governor Nikki Haley ran for re-election to a second term in office. She faced Democratic state senator Vincent Sheheen in the general election. Republican-turned-Independent Tom Ervin had been running, but he withdrew from the race and endorsed Sheheen.
Haley defeated Sheheen again in 2014, as she won nearly 56 percent of the vote to his 41 percent.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Nikki Haley, incumbent governor

#### Withdrew

* Tom Ervin, attorney, former state representative and former circuit court judge (ran as an Independent and later dropped out of the race to endorse Vincent Sheheen)

#### Declined

* Tom Davis, state senator
* Bobby Harrell, Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
* Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., state treasurer
* Glenn F. McConnell, Lieutenant Governor
* Mick Mulvaney, U.S. representative
* William Walter Wilkins, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
* Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Nikki Haley | Someone else | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 506 | ± 4.4% | 53% | 37% | 10% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Nikki Haley | Curtis Loftis | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 506 | ± 4.4% | 66% | 18% | 17% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Nikki Haley | Glenn McConnell | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 506 | ± 4.4% | 58% | 26% | 17% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Vincent Sheheen, state senator and nominee for governor in 2010

#### Declined

* Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia
* Harry L. Ott, Jr., Minority Leader of the South Carolina House of Representatives

### Endorsements

Elected Officials
* Welborn Adams, Mayor of Greenwood
* Lovith Anderson, Mayor of Lake City
* John Douglas, Mayor of Chesterfield
* Doug Echols, Mayor of Rock Hill
* Tom Ervin, attorney, former state representative and former circuit court judge
* Jim Hodges, former governor of South Carolina
* Andy Ingram, Mayor of Cheraw
* Joseph McElveen, Mayor of Sumter
* Wayne Rhodes, Mayor of Kershaw
* Joseph Riley, Mayor of Charleston
* Richard Riley, former United States Secretary of Education and former governor of South Carolina
* Tony Scully, Mayor of Camden
* Ann Taylor, Mayor of Heath Springs
* Junie White, Mayor of Spartanburg
* Steve Wukela, Mayor of Florence

## Independent and third parties
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Steve French (Libertarian), businessman
* Morgan Bruce Reeves (United Citizens Party), former NFL player and nominee for governor in 2010
* Angry Grandpa (Charles Green) YouTuber, comedian, former nut salesman, and weed rights activist

#### Withdrew

* Tom Ervin (Independent), attorney, former Republican state representative and former circuit court judge (endorsed Sheheen)

#### Declined

* André Bauer (Independent), former Republican Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, candidate for governor in 2010 and candidate for SC-07 in 2012

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Likely R | November 3, 2014 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely R | November 3, 2014 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Likely R | November 3, 2014 |
| Real Clear Politics | Likely R | November 3, 2014 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Nikki Haley (R) | Vincent Sheheen (D) | Tom Ervin (I) | Other | Undecided |
| Daily Journal | October 27–30, 2014 | 139 | — | 46% | 45% | 2% | 4% | 3% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | October 16–23, 2014 | 1,566 | ± 4% | 50% | 33% | — | 1% | 16% |
| Susquehanna | October 2014 | 917 | ± 3.24% | 51% | 31% | 11% | 3% | 4% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | September 20–October 1, 2014 | 2,663 | ± 2% | 53% | 36% | — | 1% | 10% |
| Crantford Research | September 29, 2014 | 688 | ± 3% | 41% | 37% | 7% | — | 15% |
| Winthrop University | September 21–28, 2014 | 1,082 | ± 3% | 44% | 34% | 4% | 4% | 15% |
| Public Policy Polling^ | September 4–5, 2014 | 793 | ± 3.5% | 50% | 45% | — | — | 5% |
| American Research Group | September 2–4, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 43% | 33% | 18% | 1% | 5% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | August 18–September 2, 2014 | 833 | ± 5% | 56% | 35% | — | 1% | 9% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 25–26, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 51% | 36% | — | 6% | 7% |
| CBS News/NYT/YouGov | July 5–24, 2014 | 1,186 | ± 5.4% | 55% | 38% | — | 2% | 5% |
| Palmetto Politics Poll | July 22, 2014 | 1,000 | ± 4% | 53% | 40% | — | — | 7% |
| Palmetto Politics Poll | July 22, 2014 | 650 | ± 4% | 46% | 42% | 3% | 5% | 6% |
| Public Policy Polling^ | June 20–22, 2014 | 698 | ± 3.7% | 49% | 46% | — | — | 5% |
| Rasmussen Reports | April 14–15, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 52% | 37% | — | 3% | 7% |
| Harper Polling | October 27–28, 2013 | 676 | ± 3.77% | 48% | 39% | — | — | 13% |
| Clarity Campaign Labs | October 15–16, 2013 | 760 | ± 3.53% | 44% | 40% | — | — | 16% |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 520 | ± 4.3% | 44% | 46% | — | — | 10% |
With Loftis
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Curtis Loftis (R) | Vincent Sheheen (D) | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 520 | ± 4.3% | 37% | 46% | 17% |
With McConnell
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Glenn McConnell (R) | Vincent Sheheen (D) | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | December 7–9, 2012 | 520 | ± 4.3% | 41% | 44% | 15% |

### Results

South Carolina gubernatorial election, 2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Nikki Haley (incumbent) | 696,645 | 55.90% | +4.53% |
| | Democratic | Vincent Sheheen | 516,166 | 41.42% | −5.49% |
| | Libertarian | Steve French | 15,438 | 1.24% | N/A |
| | Independent | Tom Ervin | 11,496 | 0.92% | N/A |
| | United Citizens | Morgan B. Reeves | 5,622 | 0.45% | −1.05% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 934 | 0.07% | -0.16% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,246,301 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Abbeville (largest city: Abbeville)
* Barnwell (largest city: Barnwell)
* Chester (largest town: Chester)
* Chesterfield (Largest city: Cheraw)
* Colleton (largest city: Walterboro)
* Florence (Largest city: Florence)
* Kershaw (Largest city: Camden)
* McCormick (largest town: McCormick)
* Union (Largest city: Union)