The three contests for Governor in the 2015 General Election are now official and complete. The site has been updated to reflect the final data, including new county maps for the 2015 Gubernatorial General Election. The excel/csv dataset is also available for purchase on the store page.
Category Archives: Election Results
Wisconsin 2014 Gubernatorial Map by Municipality
Wisconsin 2014 Gubernatorial Election Result Map by Municipality
The 2014 General Election result map for Governor in the state of Wisconsin tabulated by Municipality is complete (shown at right). The contest was between incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker and Democratic candidate Mary Burke (results page). The final statewide percentages are almost an exact repeat of the 2010 contest between Scott Walker and Tom Barrett (results page). The 2014 result was Walker over Burke 52.26% to 46.59% and the 2010 result was Walker over Barrett 52.25% to 46.48%!
At the county and municipality level, the results are quite similar as well. Walker wins 1,508 municipalities with an average margin of 272 votes (median margin of 93 votes) to Burke’s 381 with an average margin of 715 votes and a median margin of 41 votes (the Democratic data are dominated by two municipalities – Milwaukee City with a margin of 109,679 and Madison City with a margin of 70,846). The largest Republican margin is in Brookfield City (Waukesha County) with 9,929 votes. Seven municipalities are ties. In 2010, Walker won 1,480 municipalities to Barrett’s 399 with 15 ties. The largest swings were in the north-central part of the state with Iron and Taylor Counties leading the Republican Swing percentage while the south and north-west portions of the state had Democratic Swings. Detailed maps are available here.
2014 General Election Data Certified
Data for the 2014 General Election for U.S. Senate and Governor are all updated to certified results (except for Tennessee Governor, where the data is final, awaiting certification in January). Datasets for U.S. Senate, Governor, and U.S. House of Representatives are all updated and available on the store page.
More than 360,000 Voters Leave Ballot Blank in Uncontested Alabama Senate Contest
Alabama 2014 Election Results – U.S. Senate
In the 2014 General Election contest for U.S. Senate in Alabama, more than 360,000 voters left their ballot blank. The race featured incumbent Senator Jeff Session running for re-election without a named opponent printed on the ballot. The ballot did include, however, an option to vote for a write-in a candidate. On November 24, the Alabama Secretary of State certified the 2014 General Election Results, publishing the final tally of the vote as 795,606 for Republican Jeff Sessions (97.25%) and 22,484 write-ins (2.75%). The county-level result, shown at right, is a solid “>90%” in every county, with exception of Macon County, where the write-in tally just cleared 10%. Full results are available here.
Looking deeper into the data though, its clear that most voters that did not want to vote for the incumbent Senator simply left their ballots blank.
Alabama 2014 US Senate Vote Dropoff
The drop-off vote from Governor to U.S. Senate (the difference in total vote between the two contests) is 362,323 votes (30.6%). The total Republican Vote for Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate contest is only 5.7% more than Republican Robert Bentley received in the Gubernatorial vote – 795,606 vs. 750,231, a difference of 43,375 – full Gubernatorial results can be seen here. At the county level, the drop-off varies considerably, from the smallest drop-off of 10.4% in Blount County to the largest of 80.5% in Greene County. A map of the results can be seen at right.
| Map Key | >10% | >20% | >30% | >40% | >50% | >60% | >70% | >80% |
| Dropoff |
Alabama 2014 Gubernatorial Vote for Republican
In one example, Macon County, Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Parker Griffith received 4,830 votes (85.3%) to Robert Bentley’s 829 (14.6%) and three write-in votes – a total of 5,662 votes. In the U.S. Senate contest, Jeff Sessions, picked up 1,133 votes to 127 write-ins. The number of blank votes in the U.S. Senate race relative to the Governor’s race 4,402 votes (77.8%).
Predictably, the drop-off correlates with the percentage of vote for Republican, as shown in the map to the right. The sharpness of the magnitude of this correlation may be, in part, due to the existence of the straight-party option. As seen in this sample ballot, the voter can choose Alabama Democratic Party, Alabama Independence Party, or Alabama Republican Party at the very top of the ballot under “Straight Party Voting”. If the voter chooses the “Alabama Democratic Party” option, no vote for US Senate is cast.
| Map Key | >90% | >80% | >70% | >60% | >50% | >40% | >30% | >20% |
| Republican |
Shannon County, SD Votes to Change Name
Shannon County, SD
The residents of Shannon County, SD have voted to change the name of the county to Oglala Lakota County. The vote tally from the November 4th election is
| Yes | 2,161 | 80.4% |
| No | 526 | 19.6% |
The process has several more steps until the name change becomes official, including a joint resolution of the South Dakota Legislature followed by a proclamation from the governor. The name change then becomes official on the first day of the first month following the proclamation. South Dakota Statute 7-1-71 and Statute 7-1-72 state:
7-1-71. Legislative resolution to change name. The Governor at the next convention of the annual session of the State Legislature shall communicate the result of an election held pursuant to § 7-1-69 in such county to the presiding officer of each branch of the Legislature, and thereupon the Legislature shall designate by joint resolution the new name of such county.
7-1-72. Governor’s proclamation of new county name. Upon the designation made by the Legislature pursuant to § 7-1-71, the Governor shall publicly proclaim the result of the election held pursuant to § 7-1-69 and of the new name of the county. The new name of such county shall be in full force and effect on the first day of the month following such proclamation by the Governor.
Shannon County Change of County Name Precinct Results Map
The vote for the “Shannon County Change of County Name” took place on the same day as the 2014 General Election, but on a separate paper ballot. A sample ballot with question wording may be seen here.
The map at the right shows the full Shannon County precinct result for the vote. All precincts voted in favor of the change except for Cuny Table, the precinct with the fewest votes in the northwest corner, where they voted against the change 22 to 19. Five precincts voted with more than 80% in favor.
| Map Key | >50% | >60% | >70% | >80% |
| Yes | ||||
| No |
The map key is shown at the right. The table below show the precinct-level data from the vote.
Shannon County Name Change Precinct Results
| Precinct Name | Yes Vote | No Vote | Yes % | No % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,161 | 526 | 80% | 20% |
| Batesland | 69 | 43 | 62% | 38% |
| Cuny Table | 19 | 22 | 46% | 54% |
| Kyle | 299 | 69 | 81% | 19% |
| Manderson | 150 | 27 | 85% | 15% |
| Oglala | 336 | 90 | 79% | 21% |
| Pine Ridge 1 | 538 | 116 | 82% | 18% |
| Pine Ridge 3 | 375 | 75 | 83% | 17% |
| Porcupine | 322 | 62 | 84% | 16% |
| Rockyford | 53 | 22 | 71% | 29% |
Shannon County was Barack Obama’s best county in the 2012 General Election (see statistics page), where he won with 93.4% of the vote. Mitt Romney only managed 6.0%. Full 2012 Shannon County presidential results are available here.
Walsh County, ND 2012 Vote Recanvassed in 2013
Walsh County, ND
Walsh County, ND data for 2012 have been updated on the atlas to reflect the recanvass of the results by the County Auditor in April, 2013. The Auditor said that there were insufficient ballots printed for the 2012 General Election, and to accommodate the voters, photocopies were made and then hand counted. This resulted in some confusion and the results were recanvassed in April of 2013. The net result was a small decrease in the official totals across all offices and all candidates. Romney’s net vote dropped by 157 from 2,813 to 2,656 and Obama lost 139 votes from 2,124 to 1,985. Similar vote reductions occurred for candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representative, and Governor.
Nebraska 2014 Republican Gubernatorial Primary
Nebraska 2014 Republican Gubernatorial Primary
The Nebraska 2014 Republican Gubernatorial Primary was a competitive six-way contest with a very flat result. No candidate received more than 27% of the vote, four candidates received more than 19%, and every one of the six candidates won in at least one county. Omaha businessman Pete Ricketts came out on top with a preliminary unofficial total of 26.5% (57,922 votes), followed closely by Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning at 25.49% (55,751 votes), State Senator Beau McCoy at 20.94% (45,804 votes), and State Auditor Mike Foley with 19.22% (42,029 votes). Trailing were Tax attorney Bryan Slone with 4.13% and State Senator Tom Carlson with 3.74%. Across the state, only three counties were won with more than 40% of the vote – the top one being Phelps County won by fifth place finisher Carlson with 49.7% (his home town is Holdrege located in Phelps County), Ricketts won Morrill County (in the panhandle) with 42%, and Foley won Lancaster County with 41%. The table below summarizes the results:
Nebraska 2014 Republican Primary Results (Unofficial)
| Candidate | Total Votes | Percentage | Counties Won | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pete Ricketts | 57,922 | 26.48% | 26 |
 | Jon Bruning | 55,751 | 25.49% | 32 |
 | Beau McCoy | 45,804 | 20.94% | 27 |
 | Mike Foley | 42,029 | 19.22% | 7 |
 | Tom Carlson | 9,034 | 4.13% | 1 |
 | Bryan Slone | 8,179 | 3.74% | 1 |
The Pie chart at right is the statewide breakdown of the vote for the six candidates. Rickett’s strongest vote margins were in the Omaha area of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, where he had a combined margin advantage of 5,427 votes. Fourth-place finisher, Foley, had the highest-margin county in Lancaster, where he topped Bruning by 5,986 votes and Ricketts by 6,363 votes. However, he did not have sufficient state-wide support to achieve victory. Bruning’s support was more dispersed, winning the most counties, concentrated in the north and west, but not having any high-margin counties. McCoy is similar to Bruning, with his support concentrated in the central and southern portions of the state. Carlson and Slone both had more than 30% support in only a single county each. Below is a full interactive mouse-over map.
Polk County has the smallest win percentage, where Bruning won with 310 votes (24.12%) to 306 for Foley, 302 for Ricketts, 299 for McCoy, Carlson at 50, and Slone at 18. An almost even 4-way split! The full results page on the atlas is located here.
Warrick County Clerk Discovers 3,791 Uncounted Ballots
Warrick County, IN
The Warrick County, Indiana Clerk has recently announced a discovery that 3,791 early ballots cast in the 2012 General Election were left uncounted in the official results published. Looking at the data, a comparison of the ballots cast in 2008 and 2012 show an overall decline in total ballots cast of 4,211 (29,195 ballots were cast in 2008 vs 24,984 cast in 2012 – a decline of 14%). This compares with a 4.6% decline in overall turnout state-wide. More strikingly, the total number of absentee ballots dropped from 10,372 to 1,981 or 81%! Another anomaly shows that the number of machine ballots increased to 22,999 from 18,823, an increase of 4,176 votes (22% increase). These data compare with the county voter registration increase of 3,367 voters (+7.2%), causing the overall turnout to fall from 62.5% to 49.9%. The table below summarizes the data:
| Ballots | 2008 | 2012 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machine | 18,823 | 22,999 | 4,176 | +22.2% |
| Absentee | 10,372 | 1,981 | -8,391 | -80.9% |
| Total | 29,195 | 24,984 | -4,211 | -14.4% |
| Reg Voters | 46,718 | 50,085 | 3,367 | +7.2% |
| Turnout | 62.5% | 49.9% | -12.6% | |
The turnout of 49.9% voter turnout ranks Warrick fourth from the bottom (89th place), just ahead of Clinton, Switzerland, and Scott. In 2008, Warrick was right in the middle of the pack (40th place). Below is a chart that shows the Warrick County normalized voter turnout from 1980 to 2012 (vs. Registered Voters). This is calculated by subtracting the statewide voter turnout from the voter turnout in Warrick County.
Warrick County, IN Normalized Turnout
The chart highlights the significant decline in normalized turnout for 2012, well outside the normal variable range for the county, pointing to a high probability of an error. Thus far, the Warrick County Clerk has not published an update to the official county vote results for the 2012 General Election. The Atlas will be updated when this occurs. Thanks to Jeff Singer for the tip.
New Jersey 2013 Governor by Municipality
New Jersey 2013 General Election Gubernatorial Map by Municipality
The municipality map for the 2013 race for Governor in New Jersey is complete and shown at right. In this solid Republican win for incumbent Governor Chris Christie, he carried 503 municipalities vs. only 61 won by Democratic challenger Barbara Buono. This is a significant improvement over Christie’s election in 2009 vs. John Corzine, where he won 413 municipalities to Corzine’s 152 (an overall net pickup of 90 for Christie). Buono carried the largest two municipalities of Newark and Jersey City, but only one other (Patterson) in the top 29 municipalities ranked by total votes cast. Buono’s strongest municipality with over 1,000 votes cast was in East Orange (Essex County) where she won 87.6% to 11.3% (a margin of 8,201 votes). Similarly, Christie’s strongest municipality with greater than 1,000 votes cast was in Colts Neck (Monmouth County) , where he won 83.4% to 15.1% (a margin of 2,152 votes). The table below summarizes the contest data:
| Gubernatorial Candidate | Lt.Gubernatorial Candidate | Political Party | Popular Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Christie | Kimberly Guadagno | Republican | 1,278,932 | 60.24% |
| Barbara Buono | Milly Silva | Democratic | 809,978 | 38.15% |
| Kenneth Kaplan | Brenda Bell | Libertarian | 12,155 | 0.57% |
| Steven Welzer | Patricia Alessandrini | Green | 8,295 | 0.39% |
| Others | - | - | 13,681 | 0.64% |
Buono’s strength was limited to the urban centers surrounding Camden, Trenton, and Newark, while Christie was strong everywhere else – especially in Ocean County and the northwestern portions of the state. Full detailed maps can be viewed on the Atlas page. Forum discussion on this contest is located in this thread.
Wisconsin 2002 Gubernatorial Map by Municipality
Wisconsin 2002 Gubernatorial Election Result Map by Municipality
At right is the Wisconsin 2002 General Election Result map for Governor by municipality. This contest was between incumbent Republican Governor Scott McCallum (whom assumed office when Governor Tommy Thompson resigned to become the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in January of 2001), the Democratic candidate Attorney General Jim Doyle, the Libertarian Mayor of Tomah Ed Thompson (the younger brother of former Governor Tommy Thompson), the Green party candidate Jim Young, and several other minor party candidates. The statewide results of the election are summarized in the table below (full statewide results available here):
Wisconsin 2002 General Election Result for Governor
| Gubernatorial Candidate | Lt. Gubernatorial Candidate | Political Party | Popular Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | James Doyle | Barbara Lawton | Democratic | 800,515 | 45.09% |
 | Scott McCallum | Margaret Farrow | Republican | 734,779 | 41.39% |
 | A. Ed Thompson | Martin Reynolds | Libertarian | 185,455 | 10.45% |
| James Young | Jeff Peterson | WI Green | 44,111 | 2.48% | |
| Others | - | - | 10,489 | 0.59% |
The results show an even split in the number of municipalities carried by Republican Scott McCallum and Democrat James Doyle. Doyle won 896 municipalities, with strong showing in the City of Milwaukee, Dane County through the central part of the state and in the Northwest counties of Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland. Scott McCallum won in 905 municipalities, showing strength in the east of the state, from the Milwaukee western suburbs, north and east through the Eastern Ridges and Lowlands. Libertarian Candidate Ed Thompson won 72 municipalities, mostly centered around his home City of Tomah (where he won Monroe County as well as neighboring Juneau County). The overall margin of victory for James Doyle was 65,736 votes – fewer than his 93,126 vote margin in just two municipalities – Milwaukee, where he won 65.8% to 26.4% over his Republican Challenger, a margin of 55,420 votes and in Madison, where he won 62.8% to 18.8% (with 10.5% for Ed Thompson), a margin of 37,706 votes.
The candidates’ best counties with more than 1,000 votes are
- Doyle: Superior (Douglas County) with 68.2% to 23.4% for McCallum and 4.5% for Thompson
- McCallum: Oostburg (Sheboygan County) with 75.9% to 24.14% for Doyle and 5.15% for Thompson
- Thompson: Tomah (Monroe County) with 55.8% to 22.4% for Doyle and 20.4% for McCallum
More information and maps are available on the Atlas town map page for the 2002 Gubernatorial Results – Wisconsin. Atlas Forum topic on this result is located here.