1914 Arizona gubernatorial election

• George W. P. Hunt, incumbent governor
• Henry A. Hughes, physician and former Democratic primary candidate for governor.

As of May 1914, Hunt had still not officially declared his intention to run for re-election. By that point in time, there were already two other Democrats who had announced their intention to run for the Democratic nomination: Fred Sutter and Henry A. Hughes.[3] Sutter had been the Superior Court Judge from Cochise County from 1912 until his resignation in July 1913. When he resigned, he had stated his intention to never run for elected office again. However, in February 1914, when Democratic leaders began to float his name as a possible candidate in the Democratic primary for the governor's seat, he did not disavow those rumors.[4] By March it was reported that he would be the conservative Democratic candidate in the primary, to oppose the more liberal Hunt,[5][6] and he officially announced his candidacy by mid-March.[7] Within a month, Sutter was considered the front runner for the nomination, over the incumbent Hunt.[8][9] There were rumors that Hunt would seek the U.S. Senate seat, rather than another term as governor.[10] Sutter's official announcement that he was a candidate for governor came on May 22 in Tucson.[11] In order not to splinter the party, Sutter withdrew from the race in early July, announcing his support for Hunt.[12] When Hunt officially began his candidacy for re-election in mid-July, with the submission of a petition to put his name on the ballot, the first signature on the petition was that of Sutter.[13]