2002 United States elections

2002 United States elections

← 2001          2002          2003 → Midterm elections
Election day	November 5
Incumbent president	George W. Bush (Republican)
Next Congress	108th
Senate elections
Overall control	Republican gain
Seats contested	34 of 100 seats (33 seats of Class II +1 special election)
Net seat change	Republican +2
2002 Senate election results map
House elections
Overall control	Republican hold
Seats contested	All 435 voting seats
Popular vote margin	Republican +4.8%
Net seat change	Republican +8
2002 House of Representatives results (territorial delegate races not shown)
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	38 (36 states, 2 territories)
Net seat change	Democratic +1
2002 gubernatorial election results
Legend
Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Independent hold

The 2002 United States elections were held on November 5, in the middle of Republican President George W. Bush's first term. Republicans won unified control of Congress.

Republicans won a net gain of two seats in the Senate and so gained control of a chamber that they had lost in 2001 after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party. Republicans picked up eight seats in the House of Representatives, marking the fourth time since the American Civil War that the president's party picked up seats in the House (the others being 1902, 1934, and 1998) during a mid-term election. The elections remain the most recent mid-term in which the president's party did not lose control of at least one house of Congress. In the gubernatorial elections, Democrats won a net gain of one seat.

The elections were held just a little under fourteen months after the September 11 attacks. Thus, the elections were heavily overshadowed by the War on Terror, the impending Iraq War, the early 2000s recession, and the sudden death of Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota about one week before the election.

Federal elections[]

Despite being the incumbent party in the White House, which is usually a disadvantage for the President's party during midterm Congressional elections, Republicans achieved gains in both chambers of the United States Congress.

United States Senate elections[]

During the 2002 U.S. Senate elections, all thirty-three regularly scheduled Class II Senate seats as well as a special election in Missouri were held.

In the United States Senate elections, the Republican Party achieved an overall net gain of two seats with victories in Georgia, Minnesota, and Missouri while the Democrats took a seat in Arkansas. Thus, the balance of power in the Senate changed from 51-49 Democratic majority to 51-49 Republican majority. This represents the only time in U.S. history that the president's party gained control of a chamber of Congress in a mid-term election.^{[citation needed]}

United States House of Representatives elections[]

During the 2002 House elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives plus five of the six non-voting Delegates from territories and the District of Columbia were up for election that year. These elections were the first to be held following redistricting in apportionment according to the 2000 United States Census.

Republicans succeeded in expanding their majority in the House of Representatives by a net gain of eight, resulting in a 229-204 Republican majority. They won the nationwide popular vote by a margin of 4.8 points.^[1] This represented just the third time since the American Civil War that the president's party picked up seats in the House of Representatives, following the 1934 and 1998 elections.^[2]

In addition to all regularly scheduled House elections, there were two special elections held, one for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district on January 8 and another for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district on November 30.

State elections[]

Gubernatorial elections[]

During the 2002 gubernatorial elections, the governorships of the thirty-six states, two territories, and the District of Columbia were up for election.

Going into the elections, Republicans held the governorships of twenty-seven states and one territory (that being the Northern Mariana Islands), Democrats held those of twenty-one states, four territories, and the Mayorship of the District of Columbia, and two governorships were held by incumbents of neither party (those being Angus King (I-ME) and Jesse Ventura (MIP-MN)). Following the elections, Republicans sustained a net loss of one state governorship (but did gain the governorship of the territory of Guam), Democrats gained an overall net gain of three state governorships and held on to all other territorial governorships and the Mayorship of the District of Columbia, and there would be no governorships held by Independents or third parties. Thus the balance of power (excluding non-state entities) would be changed from 27-21 Republican majority to 26-24 Republican Majority.

Other statewide elections[]

In some states where the positions were elective offices, voters elected candidates for state executive branch offices (Lieutenant Governors (though some were elected on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, state Superintendent of Education, Commissioners of Insurance, Agriculture or, Labor, etc.) and state judicial branch offices (seats on state Supreme Courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).

State legislative elections[]

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In 2002, the seats of the Legislatures of forty-six states and five non-state entities were up for election.

Republicans captured eight legislative chambers from Democrats and also won the majority of state legislative seats for the first time in half a century.^[3]

Local elections[]

Nationwide, there were some cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others that elected members in 2002.

Mayoral elections[]

During 2002, various major American cities held their mayoral elections that year, including the following:

•  – Incumbent Mayor Bob Young (R), won re-election against former Mayor Ed McIntyre.^[4]
•  – Incumbent mayor James L. Hutchison (R) was re-elected without opposition.^[5]
•  – Incumbent Mayor (D) was re-elected.^[6]
•  – former Councilwoman Teresa Isaac (D) defeated attorney in open seat election to succeed outgoing mayor Pam Miller (D).^[7]
•  – Former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson (D) was elected mayor of the newly created Consolidated city–county of Louisville-Jefferson County^[8] (created as the result of the merger of Louisville city and Jefferson County governments).
• New Orleans – Vice president and regional general manager of Cox Communications Ray Nagin (D) won an open seat election to succeed outgoing Mayor Marc Morial (D).
•  – state Representative David Cicilline (D) won an open seat election to succeed acting Mayor John J. Lombardi. Cicilline thus became the first openly gay mayor of a state capital city and Providence would remain the largest American to have an openly gay mayor^[9] until Sam Adams' inauguration as Mayor of Portland, Oregon on January 1, 2009.
•  – Janet Taylor was elected Mayor of Salem to succeed outgoing Mayor .^[10]
• Washington, D.C. – Incumbent Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) was re-elected to a second term defeating Councilwoman Carol Schwartz (R).

References[]

External links[]

• United States Election 2002 Web Archive from the U.S. Library of Congress