.svg) | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Precinct resultsColeman: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Mondale: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Moore: 40–50% Wellstone: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Write-ins: 40–50% >90% Tie: 30–40% 40–50% 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent SenatorPaul Wellstone was running for a third term butdied in a plane crash eleven days before the election. TheDemocratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) quickly chose formerVice President and 1984 presidential nomineeWalter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale had previously held the seat from 1964 to 1976, resigning to assume the vice presidency. He narrowly lost to RepublicanNorm Coleman, the formermayor of Saint Paul. The day before the election, GovernorJesse Ventura appointed the 1996 Independence Party candidate,Dean Barkley, to serve the remainder of Wellstone's term.[1]
This is the last time in a midterm election that the party controlling the White House flipped a Senate seat in a state they did not win in the preceding presidential election. This marked the first election that Mondale had lost in Minnesota, as he had even narrowly carried it againstRonald Reagan in his landslide defeat in the1984 United States presidential election, where he lost 49 states, winning only Minnesota and theDistrict of Columbia. As a result of his defeat in this election, Mondale became the first, and so far only, major-party candidate in American history to have lost a general election in every single state. As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota, and the only time since 1994.
Paul Wellstone defeated Dick Franson 93% to 5%.
Following Wellstone's death 11 days prior to Election Day, the DFL Party nominated Walter Mondale as its replacement candidate.
Norm Coleman defeated Jack Shepard 95% to 5%.
Mondale campaigned on his experience, and promised more education for students, more safety for seniors, and to "continue Wellstone's fight for people". Coleman campaigned on more jobs, less taxes, a promise of "a brighter future for Minnesota", and to "help change the tone in Washington D.C."[2]
At the time of his death, Wellstone was slightly ahead in the polls. After Mondale was chosen as the DFL candidate, he led 47% to 39% in a poll taken a few days before the election.[3]
Four days after Wellstone's death, a televised public memorial drew significant backlash for a tone that was widely characterized as more appropriate for a "political rally"[4]—a story that dominated the final days before the election.
Early onElection Day, Mondale was leading, but by nightfall Coleman pulled ahead, winning by 2.2%.[5] Many observers, including the event's host, former St. Paul mayorGeorge Latimer, blamed the memorial's tone for the election result.[6]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Lean D(flip) | November 4, 2002 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Norm Coleman | 1,116,697 | 49.53% | +8.25% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Walter Mondale | 1,067,246 | 47.34% | −2.98% | |
| Independence | Jim Moore | 45,139 | 2.00% | −4.98% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Paul Wellstone (incumbent)†[b] | 11,381 | 0.50% | n/a | |
| Green | Ray Tricomo | 10,119 | 0.48% | n/a | |
| Constitution | Miro Drago Kovatchevich | 2,254 | 0.10% | n/a | |
| Write-in | 1,803 | 0.08% | n/a | ||
| Total votes | 2,254,639 | 100.00% | n/a | ||
| Republicangain fromIndependence | |||||
After Coleman was declared the winner, Mondale conceded and said in his speech: "At the end of what will be my last campaign, I want to say to Minnesota, you always treated me well, you always listened to me". His loss, combined with his landslide defeat in theUnited States presidential election in 1984, made him the only American major-party candidate to have lost a general election in every state. AlthoughGeorge McGovern had also lost 49 states in the1972 presidential election and lost the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary in 1984, he never lost a general election in Massachusetts. Although Mondale did not seek office again, he remained active politically.
Coleman was sworn in on January 3, 2003. He served one term in the United States Senate, losing toAl Franken by a very narrow margin of just 312 votes or 0.01% in the2008 election.
Official campaign websites (archived)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
