2002 United States Senate elections

← 2000 November 5, 2002 2004 →
← 1996 2008 →
34 of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Trent Lott Tom Daschle Party Republican Democratic Leader since June 12, 1996 January 3, 1995 Leader's seat Mississippi South Dakota Seats before 49 49 Seats after 51 48 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 21,566,016[1] 19,873,164[1] Percentage 49.9% 46.0% Seats up 20 13 Races won 22 12   Third party Fourth party   Party Independence Independent Seats before 1 1[b] Seats after 0 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 45,139[1][a] 343,625[1] Percentage 0.1% 0.8% Seats up 1 0 Races won 0 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Tom Daschle Democratic ElectedMajority Leader Bill Frist Republican

The2002 United States Senate elections featured a series of fiercely contested elections that resulted in a victory for theRepublican Party, which gained two seats and thus a narrow majority from theDemocratic Party in theUnited States Senate. The Senate seats up for election, known asclass 2 Senate seats, were last up for regular election in1996. The election cycle was held on November 5, 2002, almost 14 months after theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks.

Going into the election, Democrats had a 51–49 majority due to an Independent that caucused with them, however, this was reduced to a 50–49–1 plurality following the death of DemocratPaul Wellstone and the appointment of a member of theIndependence Party of Minnesota in his place. The Democrats had originally hoped to do well, as the party holding thepresidency historically loses seats in midterm elections, and additionally, the Republicans had 20 seats up for election compared to 14 Democratic seats up for election. In addition, the Republicans had five open seats, while the Democrats and theIndependence Party of Minnesota had one each. However, the Republicans were able to hold their 5 open seats and pick the one that was held by the IPM up, while the Democrats held their only open seat. Republicans also defeated 2 Democratic incumbents, while Democrats defeated 1 Republican incumbent. Together with gains made in the House of Representatives, this election was 1 of 3 mid-term elections in which the party in control of the White House did not lose Congressional seats (the others were1934 and1998).

Trent Lott led the Senate Republicans through this election cycle and was due to become the newSenate Majority Leader upon the retaking of control of the Senate by the Republicans. However, his controversial praise forStrom Thurmond's1948segregationistDixiecrat presidential campaign at Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration led to Lott's stepping-down from Senate leadership, and resulted in Tennessee RepublicanBill Frist being selected as the new Senate Majority Leader instead.

This was the only election cycle ever where the party of the incumbent president gained new control of a house of Congress in a midterm election. This is also the last midterm election cycle where the party controlling the White House flipped a senate seat in a state they did not win in the preceding presidential election (in this case, Minnesota). As of 2025^[update], this was the last Senate election cycle where Republicans won Senate elections inMinnesota,New Mexico,Oregon, andVirginia.

Parties							Total
		Democratic	Republican	Independent	Independence	Others
Last elections (2000)		50	50	0	0	0	100
Before these elections		49	49	1	1	0	100
Not up		36	29	1	0	—	66
Up		13	20	0	1	—	34
	Class 2 (1996→2002)	12	20	—	1	—	33
	Special: Class 1	1	0	—	—	—	1
Incumbent retired		0	4	—	1	—	5
	Held by same party	0	4	—	0	—	4
	Replaced by other party	1 Independence replaced by 1 Republican				—	1
	Result	0	5	0	0	0	5
Regular elections
Incumbent ran		12[c]	16[d]	—	0	—	28
	Won re-election	10	14	—	0	—	24
	Lost re-election	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	2
	Lost or withdrew renomination but held by same party	1	1	—	—	—	2
	Result	12	16	0	0	0	28
Special election
Appointee ran		1	0	—	0	—	1
	Won election	0	—	—	0	—	0
	Lost election	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	1
	Result	0	1	0	0	0	1
Total elected		12	22	0	0	0	34
Net change		1	2		1		2
Nationwide vote		19,873,164	21,566,016	343,625	45,139/51,863[a]	1,413,653 / 1,406,929[a]	43,241,597
	Share	45.96%	49.87%	0.79%	0.10 / 0.12%	3.27 / 3.25%	100%
Result		48	51	1	0	0	100

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives^[1]

After the death ofPaul Wellstone on October 25, 2002, and the appointment of Minnesota on November 4.

One Independence and four Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

One Democrat was originally sought to run re-election but withdrew.

Two Democrats and two Republicans sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

One Republican resigned on December 2, 2002, and was replaced by a Republican appointee.

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of theincumbent (if the incumbent was running for re-election) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state'sCook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party had in winning that seat. Most election predictors used:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

In these special elections, the winner was seated in the fall of 2002; ordered by election date, then state.

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2003; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

In eleven races the margin of victory was under 10%^[13]

Alabama election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Jeff Sessions Susan Parker Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 792,561 538,878 Percentage 58.6% 39.8%

County results Sessions:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Parker:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Jeff Sessions Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions Republican

Since around 1980, Alabama voters had increasingly voted for Republican candidates at the federal level, especially in Presidential elections. By contrast, Democratic candidates had been elected to many state-level offices and comprised a longstanding majority in theAlabama Legislature.

Incumbent RepublicanJeff Sessions was not challenged in the primary,^[14] and comfortably won re-election to a second term overstate AuditorSusan Parker .^[13]

Sessions was not challenged in the primary.^[14]

McPhillips received a large amount of support in the southern part of the state, but Parker won the most votes. Sowell endorsed Parker for the run-off.

Alaska election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Ted Stevens Frank Vondersaar Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 179,438 24,133 Percentage 78.17% 10.51%   Nominee Jim Sykes Party Green Popular vote 16,608 Percentage 7.24%

Results by state house district Stevens:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Ted Stevens Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ted Stevens Republican

IncumbentTed Stevens ran for and won a seventh term. He facedperennial candidate Frank Vondersaar, the Democratic nominee, journalistJim Sykes, the Green Party nominee, and several other independent candidates in his bid for re-election. Ultimately, Stevens crushed his opponents to win what would be his last term in the Senate, allowing him to win with the largest margin of victory for any Senate election in Alaska, as well as the highest percentage of the vote in any of his elections.

Arkansas election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Mark Pryor Tim Hutchinson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 433,306 370,653 Percentage 53.90% 46.10%

County results Pryor:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Hutchinson:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Tim Hutchinson Republican Elected U.S. Senator Mark Pryor Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanTim Hutchinson ran for a second term, but lost re-election toArkansas Attorney GeneralMark Pryor.

Colorado election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Wayne Allard Tom Strickland Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 717,893 648,130 Percentage 50.7% 45.8%

County results Allard:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Strickland:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Wayne Allard Republican Elected U.S. Senator Wayne Allard Republican

Incumbent RepublicanWayne Allard won re-election to a second term over formerU.S. AttorneyTom Strickland.

Delaware election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Joe Biden Raymond Clatworthy Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 135,253 94,793 Percentage 58.2% 40.8%

County results Biden:     50–60%     60–70% Clatworthy:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Joe Biden Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Joe Biden Democratic

Incumbent DemocratJoe Biden comfortably won re-election to a sixth term.

Georgia election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Saxby Chambliss Max Cleland Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,071,153 931,857 Percentage 52.8% 45.9%

Chambliss:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Cleland:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Max Cleland Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss Republican

Incumbent DemocratMax Cleland ran for re-election to a second term, but lost to Republican U.S. RepresentativeSaxby Chambliss.

Chambliss's campaign used the refrain ofnational defense and security, but drew criticism for television ads that paired images of Cleland andOsama bin Laden andSaddam Hussein, and for questioning the commitment tohomeland security of his opponent, a triple amputee and decoratedVietnam veteran.^[23][24] Republican SenatorJohn McCain ofArizona said of one ad: "It's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."^[25] McCain, along with Republican SenatorChuck Hagel of Nebraska, made significant complaints to the Republican National Committee until the ads were taken down.^[26] Nevertheless, Chambliss defeated Cleland by nearly seven percentage points.

Idaho election

← 1996 November 4, 2002 2008 →

Nominee Larry Craig Alan Blinken Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 266,215 132,975 Percentage 65.2% 32.6%

County results Craig:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Blinken:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Larry Craig Republican Elected U.S. Senator Larry Craig Republican

Incumbent RepublicanLarry Craig easily won re-election to a third term over formerU.S. Ambassador to BelgiumAlan Blinken.

Illinois election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Dick Durbin Jim Durkin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,103,766 1,325,703 Percentage 60.33% 38.02%

County results Durbin:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Durkin:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Dick Durbin Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Dick Durbin Democratic

Incumbent DemocratDick Durbin won re-election to a second term. Durbin faced off againststate Representative and future Illinois House minority leaderJim Durkin, whom he was able to beat, ensuring his return to the Senate.

Durbin won re-election to a second term easily, carrying a majority of the states 102 counties.

Iowa election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Tom Harkin Greg Ganske Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 554,278 447,892 Percentage 54.18% 43.78%

County results Harkin:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Ganske:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     80-90%

Senator before election Tom Harkin Democratic Elected Senator Tom Harkin Democratic

Incumbent DemocratTom Harkin won re-election to a fourth term. Harkin was opposed in the general election byUnited States CongressmanGreg Ganske, who fought off a surprisingly difficult challenger in the Republican primary. Though Harkin had narrowly defeated his opponentsix years earlier, he was able to defeat Ganske by a fairly comfortable margin to win re-election.

Kansas election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Pat Roberts Steven Rosile George Cook Party Republican Libertarian Reform Popular vote 641,075 70,725 65,050 Percentage 82.5% 9.1% 8.4%

County results Roberts:     50–60%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

U.S. senator before election Pat Roberts Republican Elected U.S. Senator Pat Roberts Republican

IncumbentPat Roberts won re-election to a second term overwhelmingly because no Democrat filed to run.

Kentucky election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Mitch McConnell Lois Combs Weinberg Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 731,679 399,634 Percentage 64.7% 35.3%

County results McConnell:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Weinberg:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Mitch McConnell Republican Elected U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell Republican

Incumbent RepublicanMitch McConnell easily won re-election to a fourth term.

Louisiana election

← 1996 November 5 and December 7, 2002 2008 →

Nominee Mary Landrieu Suzanne Haik Terrell Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 638,654 596,642 Percentage 51.7% 48.3%

Landrieu   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Terrell   50–60%   60–70%

U.S. senator before election Mary Landrieu Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu Democratic

Incumbent DemocratMary Landrieu narrowly won re-election to a second term.

During the run-off, Landrieu was out-spent three-to-one by Republican contenderSuzanne Haik Terrell, the Louisiana Elections Commissioner. Terrell also had prominent Republicans including PresidentGeorge W. Bush and Vice PresidentDick Cheney visit Louisiana to campaign on her behalf. Republicans, confident of victory having gained seats in the electionsto the House of Representatives and to the Senate, solidifying control of the former and taking control of the latter, publicly called the election "Operation Icing on the Cake".^[32][33] Some Democrats^[who?] responded by calling their efforts "Operation Wipe that Smirk off of Bush's Face"^[34] and dubbed Landrieu's subsequent narrow run-off victory, "Operation Pie in the Face".^[35]

Landrieu pulled off what many^{[by whom?]} considered to be an upset victory. The Republicans believed they would most likely win the race. Before the election many Republicans called the raceoperation icing on the cake. After Landrieu won the runoff Democrats dubbed her victoryoperation pie in the face. The race was close. In terms of rural parishes the vote was split fairly evenly. Landrieu did well inCaddo Parish home ofShreveport, and inEast Baton Rouge Parish home ofEast Baton Rouge. Ultimately though it was Landrieu's huge win inOrleans Parish home ofNew Orleans that pushed her over the finish line. Haik Terrell conceded defeat to Landrieu at 12:38 p.m. EST, congratulating Landrieu on her victory. Landrieu would go on to be re-elected to a third term in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Maine election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Susan Collins Chellie Pingree Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 295,041 209,858 Percentage 58.4% 41.6%

County results Municipality results Collins:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Pingree:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Tie:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Susan Collins Republican Elected U.S. Senator Susan Collins Republican

Incumbent RepublicanSusan Collins comfortably won re-election to a second term.

Chellie Pingree, State Senator and Senate Majority Leader attacked Collins for supporting theBush tax cuts.^[36] Both candidates opposed theIraq War in the fall of 2002.^[37] However, Collins then supported the congressional resolution to attack Iraq, while Pingree opposed it.^[38]

Collins, a popular moderate, was supported by somehealth care groups,environmentalists andgay rights advocates. She handily defeated State SenatorChellie Pingree ofNorth Haven in one of the few U.S. Senate elections in which both major parties nominated women in U.S. history.^[39]

Massachusetts election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee John Kerry Michael Cloud Party Democratic Libertarian Popular vote 1,605,976 369,807 Percentage 72.3% 16.7%

County results Municipality results Kerry:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election John Kerry Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Kerry Democratic

Incumbent DemocratJohn Kerry won re-election to a fourth term againstLibertarian Michael Cloud. The lack of a Republican party candidate caused Cloud to receive the largest percentage of votes for a U.S. Senate candidate in the Libertarian Party's history, though this record has since been eclipsed byJoe Miller inAlaska in 2016, and again byRicky Dale Harrington inArkansas in 2020.

Michigan election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Carl Levin Andrew Raczkowski Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,896,614 1,185,545 Percentage 60.6% 37.9%

Levin:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Raczkowski:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Carl Levin Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Carl Levin Democratic

Incumbent DemocratCarl Levin comfortably won re-election to a fifth term overstate RepresentativeAndrew Raczkowski.

Minnesota election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Norm Coleman Walter Mondale Party Republican Democratic (DFL) Popular vote 1,116,697 1,067,246 Percentage 49.5% 47.3%

Coleman:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Mondale:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Dean Barkley Independence Elected U.S. Senator Norm Coleman Republican

Incumbent DemocratPaul Wellstone was running for re-election to a third term, butdied in a plane crash eleven days before the election. TheDemocratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) chose formerVice President and 1984 Presidential candidateWalter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale lost to RepublicanSaint Paul MayorNorm Coleman. The day before the election,Independence GovernorJesse Ventura had appointedDean Barkley (IP) to serve the rest of Wellstone's term.^[43] As of 2023^[update], this was the last Senate election in Minnesota won by a Republican.

In the primaries, Paul Wellstone defeated Dick Franson 93% to 5% and Norm Coleman defeated Jack Shepard 95% to 5%.

At the time of his death, Wellstone was slightly ahead in the polls. After Walter Mondale was chosen as the DFL candidate, in a poll taken a few days before the election Mondale was leading 51% to 45%. Early onElection Day, Mondale was leading in votes. By nightfall, however, Norm Coleman pulled ahead, winning by 49.5 percent to 47.3 percent.

Paul Wellstone still appeared on the ballot despite his death, despite a court order replacing Wellstone's name with Mondale's.

Mississippi election

← 1996 2008 →

Nominee Thad Cochran Shawn O'Hara Party Republican Reform Popular vote 533,269 97,226 Percentage 84.6% 15.4%

County results Cochran:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

U.S. senator before election Thad Cochran Republican Elected U.S. Senator Thad Cochran Republican

Incumbent RepublicanThad Cochran overwhelmingly won re-election to a fifth term. The Democratic Party did not field a candidate, resulting in Reform Party candidate Shawn O'Hara winning 15.42% of the vote.

Missouri special election

← 2000 2006 →

Nominee Jim Talent Jean Carnahan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 935,032 913,778 Percentage 49.8% 48.7%

County results Talent:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Carnahan:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Jean Carnahan Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Jim Talent Republican

In the2000 election, Mel Carnahan, who had died in a plane crash three weeks before, remained on the ballot for election to the Senate. Carnahan beat his Republican opponent,John Ashcroft, who did not legally contest being defeated by a dead candidate. Carnahan's successor as governor,Roger B. Wilson, fulfilled his pre-election promise to appoint Carnahan's widow in her husband's place and a special election was scheduled for 2002.^[44][45]

The election would decide who would serve the rest of Senator-electMel Carnahan's term, after he died. The winner would serve four more years until the next election in 2006. GovernorRoger Wilson had appointed Carnahan's widowJean to serve temporarily. She then ran for the remainder of the term. Republican former U.S. RepresentativeJim Talent defeated her narrowly. While the race would have flipped control of the Senate from the Democrats to the Republicans, the Senate was adjourned, so no change in leadership occurred until the 108th Congress began in January 2003.

National security and Carnahan's vote against fellow MissourianJohn Ashcroft as attorney general were major issues in the campaign. Republicans argued Carnahan owed her vote to Ashcroft, who had lost his bid for re-election to the Senate to Carnahan's husband.^[47] Talent, citing Carnahan's votes against homeland-security legislation and missile defense, accused her of being soft on national security, which she objected to, saying he was "doubt[ing] her patriotism."^[48]

Jack Abramoff contributed $2,000 to Talent's 2002 senatorial campaign,^[49] andPreston Gates & Ellis, a former Abramoff employer, had also contributed $1,000 to Talent's campaign.^[50] Talent later returned both contributions.^[51] Talent's win returned Republican control of the Senate which had been under slight Democratic dominance resulting fromVermont junior senatorJim Jeffords's decision to renounce theRepublican Party, turning independent and making the choice to caucus with the Democrats.

Talent's victory was certified November 21, 2002, one day before Congress adjourned, which prevented Republicans from claiming a senate majority. He automatically became a Senator the following day because, under federal law, he formally took office as soon as special election results were certified and the day after both chambers of Congress adjourned. Because Republicans would hold the majority in the following Congress, they saw no need to hold a special session in the 107th to take advantage of their brief majority.^[52][53]