The 2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 to elect the 40th Governor of Nebraska. Republican Candidate and former COO of TD Ameritrade Pete Ricketts defeated Democratic candidate and former Regent of the University of Nebraska Chuck Hassebrook, receiving 57.2% of the vote to Hassebrook's 39.2% This was the first open seat election, and the first time a Democrat won a county for governor since 1998. Republican primary Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy first declared his intention to run for Governor in July 2011. Considered to be the "hand-picked" successor to incumbent Governor Dave Heineman, he was endorsed by him. Sheehy was joined in the Republican primary by Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature Mike Flood in November 2012. Flood withdrew from the race less than a month later after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sheehy resigned as Lieutenant Governor and withdrew from the race in February 2013 after the Omaha World-Herald discovered that he had made 2,300 phone calls on a state-issued phone, many of them long and at night, to four women, none of whom were his wife. At the end of the month, Flood was reported to be reconsidering his decision with his wife progressing well in her treatment. In July he announced that he would not re-enter the race. Cattle rancher Charles W. Herbster, who had not formally entered the race but had been campaigning since July, became the third Republican to withdraw when he withdrew on August 23. He cited the health of his wife, who had recently undergone heart surgery. In September 2013, Omaha businessman Pete Ricketts joined the race. Ricketts, a former chief operating officer of TD Ameritrade and the son of company founder Joe Ricketts, had run unsuccessfully in 2006 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ben Nelson. State Senator Charlie Janssen, who had lagged in endorsements and fundraising, withdrew from the race on February 3, 2014. He said: "The way the field was shaping up, I didn't see a clear path to victory." He later declared his candidacy for State Auditor. In February 2014, state attorney general Jon Bruning announced that he was joining the race. His entry made him the perceived front-runner, supplanting Ricketts, who had been regarded as the leading contender up to that time. In the May 13 Republican primary, Ricketts narrowly defeated Bruning, with 26.5% of the vote to Bruning's 25.5%. His