.svg) | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Congressional district resultsVilsack: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Gross: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The2002 Iowa gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. IncumbentDemocraticGovernor of IowaTom Vilsack sought re-election to a second term as governor. He won his party's nomination uncontested, while Doug Gross, an advisor to former and future GovernorTerry Branstad, narrowly won theRepublican primary in a crowded and competitive election. In the general election, Vilsack was able to improve slightly on his margin of victory four years earlier to win what would be his second and final term as governor.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Vilsack (incumbent) | 79,277 | 98.55 | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 1,166 | 1.45 | |
| Total votes | 80,443 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Doug Gross | 71,478 | 35.88 | |
| Republican | Steve Sukup | 64,490 | 32.37 | |
| Republican | Bob Vander Plaats | 63,077 | 31.66 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 189 | 0.09 | |
| Total votes | 199,234 | 100 | ||
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Democratic | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||
| Tom Vilsack | Doug Gross | |||||
| 1 | Oct. 12, 2002 | Des Moines Register | Paul Anger | C-SPAN | P | P |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[2] | Tossup | October 31, 2002 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[3] | Lean D | November 4, 2002 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Tom Vilsack (D) | Doug Gross (R) | Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[4] | October 27–29, 2002 | 614 (LV) | ± 4.1% | 56% | 42% | 3% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Vilsack (incumbent) | 540,449 | 52.69% | +0.39% | |
| Republican | Doug Gross | 456,612 | 44.51% | −2.00% | |
| Green | Jay Robinson | 14,628 | 1.43% | ||
| Libertarian | Clyde Cleveland | 13,098 | 1.28% | ||
| Write-ins | 1,025 | 0.10% | |||
| Majority | 83,837 | 8.17% | +2.37% | ||
| Turnout | 1,025,802 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
Vilsack won four of five congressional districts, including three that elected Republicans.[6]
| District | Vilsack | Gross | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 54% | 43% | Jim Nussle |
| 2nd | 56% | 40% | Jim Leach |
| 3rd | 54% | 44% | Leonard Boswell |
| 4th | 54% | 43% | Tom Latham |
| 5th | 44% | 53% | Steve King |
Official campaign websites (archived)
.jpg)
