| ←2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 → 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 +3 |
 | |
| 2002 gubernatorial election results | |
| Legend | |
| Republican hold Republican gain Democratic hold Democratic gain Independent hold | |
Elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2002, in the middle ofRepublican PresidentGeorge W. Bush's first term. Republicans won unified control ofCongress, picking up seats in both chambers of Congress, making Bush the first president sinceFranklin D. Roosevelt in1934 to gain seats in both houses 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 theSeptember 11 attacks. Thus, the elections were heavily overshadowed by theWar on Terror.
Republicans won a net gain of two seats in theSenate and so gained control of a chamber that they had lost in 2001 after SenatorJim Jeffords left the Republican Party. Republicans picked up eight seats in the House of Representatives, making this one of three mid-term elections in which the party of the incumbent president did not lose seats in either the House or the Senate (the other two being1934 and1998). It was the sixth midterm election in which the President's party increased its number of seats in the House, after1814,1822,1902,1934, and1998. Along with the Senate elections of 1914, 1934, 1962, 1970, 2018, and 2022, this was the seventh of eight times that the President's party gained seats in a midterm election since the passage of the 17th Amendment.
This is the only election in history where the president's party gained a chamber of Congress in a midterm election, the most recent midterm in which the president's party did not lose control of at least one house of Congress, and the most recent midterm election in which a political party maintained atrifecta on the government.
Despite being the incumbent party in theWhite House, which is usually a disadvantage for thepresident's party duringmidterm congressional elections,Republicans achieved gains in both chambers of theUnited States Congress.
During the 2002 U.S. Senate elections, all thirty-three regularly scheduledClass II Senate seats as well as a special election in Missouri were held.
In the end, theRepublican Party achieved an overall net gain of two seats with victories inGeorgia,Minnesota, andMissouri, while theDemocrats took a seat inArkansas. Thus, the balance of power in the Senate changed from a 51–49 Democratic majority to a 51–49 Republican majority.
During the 2002 House elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives plus 5 of the 6nonvoting delegates fromterritories and theDistrict of Columbia were up for election that year. These elections were the first to be held following redistricting in apportionment according to the2000 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 theAmerican Civil War that the president's party picked up seats in the House of Representatives, following the1934 and1998 elections.[2]
In addition to all regularly scheduled House elections, there were twospecial elections held, one forOklahoma's 1st congressional district on January 8 and another forHawaii's 2nd congressional district on November 30.
During the 2002 gubernatorial elections, the governorships of the 36 states, 2 territories, and theDistrict of Columbia were up for election.
Going into the elections, Republicans held the governorships of 27 states and one territory (that being theNorthern 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 beingAngus King (I-Me.) andJesse Ventura (IPM-Minn.)). Following the elections, Republicans sustained a net loss of one state governorship (but did gain the governorship of the territory ofGuam); Democrats had 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 orthird parties. Thus, the balance of power (excluding nonstate entities) would change from a 27–21 Republican majority to a 26–24 Republican majority.
In some states where the positions were elective offices, voters elected candidates for state executive-branch offices (lieutenant governor (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;commissioner of insurance, agriculture, or labor; etc.) and state judicial-branch offices (seats onstate supreme courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).
In 2002, the seats of thelegislatures of forty-six states and five nonstate entities were up for election. Republicans flipped control of six chambers: theColorado Senate, theGeorgia Senate for the first time since 1870, theMissouri House of Representatives for the first time since 1955, theTexas House of Representatives for the first time since 1873, theWashington Senate, and theWisconsin Senate. Meanwhile, Democrats flipped control of theIllinois Senate. Additionally, theArizona Senate went from a Democratic-led coalition to Republican control. TheMaine Senate went from an evenly divided power-sharing government to a Democratic one. while theOregon Senate went from Republican to tied.
Republicans had initially won control of theNorth Carolina House of Representatives by one seat, but RepublicanMichael P. Decker switched parties to become a Democrat, producing a tied chamber.[3]
As a result, Republicans held a majority of state legislative seats for the first time in half a century.[4]
Nationwide, there were some cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others that elected members in 2002.
A total of 37 transportation measures, levies, and issues were on the November 2002 ballot.[5]
Various major American cities held their mayoral elections in 2002, including the following:
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