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 County results Johnson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Thune: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in South Dakota | ||
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The2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 5, 2002. IncumbentDemocratic U.S. SenatorTim Johnson narrowly won re-election to a second term over Republican John Thune by a margin of 524 votes, or 0.15%. This made the election the closest race of the 2002 Senate election cycle.
This was one of the four Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state thatGeorge W. Bush won in the2000 presidential election.
Thune later narrowly won South Dakota's other U.S. Senate seat in2004, and was re-elected in2010,2016, and2022 in uncompetitive elections. He would become theSenate Majority Leader after the2024 elections.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Johnson (incumbent) | 65,438 | 94.84% | |
| Democratic | Herman Eilers | 3,558 | 5.16% | |
| Total votes | 68,996 | 100.00% | ||
Thune ran against Tim Johnson, who narrowly won his first senate election in 1996. Thune launched a television advertising campaign mentioningal Qaeda andSaddam Hussein, contending that both are seeking nuclear weapons and that this country needs a missile defense system, something Johnson voted against 29 times and that Thune supports. The incumbent attacked Thune for politicizing national security.[2] PresidentGeorge W. Bush campaigned for Thune in late October.[3] More than $20 million was spent in the election. Both candidates had raised over $5 million each.[4]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[5] | Lean D | November 4, 2002 |
Johnson narrowly prevailed over Thune by a mere 524 votes. Despite the extremely close results, Thune did not contest the results and conceded defeat on the late afternoon of November 9. Johnson's narrow victory may be attributed to his strong support inOglala Lakota County, and to Thune also underperforming in typically Republican areas. Johnson was sworn in for a second term on January 3, 2003. Thune was elected to South Dakota's other Senate seat in2004, defeating incumbent minority leaderTom Daschle. He served alongside Johnson until the latter retired in 2015.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Johnson (incumbent) | 167,481 | 49.62% | −1.70% | |
| Republican | John Thune | 166,957 | 49.47% | +0.79% | |
| Libertarian | Kurt Evans | 3,070 | 0.91% | ||
| Total votes | 334,438 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
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Official campaign websites (archived)
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