2002 United States Senate elections

Republicans defeated incumbent Democratic Senators Max Cleland of Georgia, and Jean Carnahan of Missouri, while incumbent Republican Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas lost to Democrat Mark Pryor. Democrat Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was running for re-election, but he died in a plane crash shortly before the election and his seat was won by a Republican.

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		1[lower-alpha 2]	4	—	1	—	6
	Held by same party	1	4	—	0	—	5
	Replaced by other party	1 Independence replaced by 1 Republican				—	1
	Result	1	5	0	0	0	6
Incumbent ran		12	16	—	0	—	28
	Won re-election	10	14	—	0	—	24
	Lost re-election	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans		—	—	—	3
	Lost renomination but held by same party	0	1	—	—	—	1
	Result	11	17	0	0	0	28
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[lower-alpha 1]	1,413,653 / 1,406,929[lower-alpha 1]	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]

Alabama election

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

County results

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 the Alabama Legislature.

Incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions was not challenged in the primary,[7] and easily won re-election to a second term.[6]

Sessions was not challenged in the primary.[7]

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

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%

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

Incumbent Ted Stevens ran for and won a sixth term. He faced perennial candidate Frank Vondersaar, the Democratic nominee, journalist Jim 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

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

County Results

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

Incumbent Republican Tim Hutchinson ran for a second term, but lost re-election to Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor.

Republican State Representative Jim Bob Duggar challenged incumbent Tim Hutchinson in the primary.

Colorado election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Republican Wayne Allard won re-election to a second term.

Delaware election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Democrat Joe Biden won re-election to a sixth term.

Georgia election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Democrat Max Cleland ran for re-election to a second term, but lost to Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Chambliss's campaign used the refrain of national defense and security, but drew criticism for television ads that paired images of Cleland and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and for questioning the commitment to homeland security of his opponent, a triple amputee and decorated Vietnam veteran.[16][17] Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said of one ad: "It's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."[18] McCain, along with Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, made significant complaints to the Republican National Committee until the ads were taken down.[19] Nevertheless, Chambliss defeated Cleland by nearly seven percentage points.

Idaho election

November 4, 2002

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

County results

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

Incumbent Republican Larry Craig won re-election to a third term.

Illinois election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Democrat Dick Durbin won re-election to a second term. Durbin faced off against State Representative Jim Durkin, whom he was able to easily 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

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

County Results

Senator before election Tom Harkin Democratic Elected Senator Tom Harkin Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin won re-election to a fourth term. Harkin was opposed in the general election by United States Congressman Greg Ganske, who fought off a surprisingly difficult challenger in the Republican primary. Though Harkin had narrowly defeated his opponent six years earlier, he was able to defeat Ganske by a fairly comfortable margin to win re-election.

Kansas election

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

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

Incumbent Pat Roberts won re-election to a second term easily because no Democrat filed to run.

Kentucky election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Republican Mitch McConnell won re-election to a fourth term.

Louisiana election

November 5 and December 7, 2002

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

Parish Results

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

Incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu won re-election to a second term.

During the run-off, Landrieu was out-spent three-to-one by Republican contender Suzanne Haik Terrell, the Louisiana Elections Commissioner. Terrell also had prominent Republicans including President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney visit Louisiana to campaign on her behalf. Republicans, confident of victory having gained seats in the elections to 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".[25][26] Some Democrats responded by calling their efforts "Operation Wipe that Smirk off of Bush's Face"[27] and dubbed Landrieu's subsequent run-off victory, "Operation Pie in the Face".[28]

Landrieu pulled off what many considered to be an upset victory. The Republicans believed they would most likely win the race. Before the election many Republicans called the race operation icing on the cake. After Landrieu won the runoff Democrats dubbed her victory operation pie in the face. The race was close. In terms of rural parishes the vote was split fairly evenly. Landrieu did well in Caddo Parish home of Shreveport, and in East Baton Rouge Parish home of East Baton Rouge. Ultimately though it was Landrieu's huge win in Orleans Parish home of New 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.

Maine election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Republican Susan Collins won re-election to a second term.

Chellie Pingree, State Senator and Senate Majority Leader attacked Collins for supporting the Bush tax cuts.[29] Both candidates opposed the Iraq War in the fall of 2002.[30] However, Collins then supported the congressional resolution to attack Iraq, while Pingree opposed it.[31]

Collins, a popular moderate, was supported by health care groups, environmentalists and gay rights advocates. She handily defeated State Senator Chellie Pingree of North Haven in one of the few U.S. Senate elections in which both major parties nominated women in U.S. history.[32]

Massachusetts election

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

Municipal results

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

Incumbent Democrat John Kerry won re-election to a fourth term against Libertarian 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 by Joe Miller in Alaska in 2016, and again by Ricky Dale Harrington in Arkansas in 2020.

Michigan election

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

County Results

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

Incumbent Democrat Carl Levin won re-election to a fifth term.

Minnesota election

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

County results

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

Incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone was running for re-election to a third term, but died in a plane crash eleven days before the election. The Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) chose former Vice President and 1984 Presidential candidate Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale lost to Republican Mayor of Saint Paul Norm Coleman. The day before the election, Independence Governor Jesse Ventura had appointed Dean Barkley (IP) to serve the rest of Wellstone's term.[36] As of 2021, this is 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 on Election 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

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

County Results

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

Incumbent Republican Thad 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

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

County results

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

In the 2000 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.[37][38]

The election would decide who would serve the rest of Senator-elect Mel Carnahan's term, after he died. The winner would serve four more years until the next election in 2006. Governor Roger Wilson had appointed Carnahan's widow Jean to serve temporarily. She then ran for the remainder of the term. Republican Jim 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 Talent could not take office and no change in leadership occurred until the 108th Congress began in January 2003.

National security and Carnahan's vote against fellow Missourian John 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.[40] 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."[41]

Jack Abramoff contributed $2,000 to Talent's 2002 senatorial campaign,[42] and Preston Gates & Ellis, a former Abramoff employer, had also contributed $1,000 to Talent's campaign.[43] Talent later returned both contributions.[44] Talent's win returned Republican control of the Senate which had been under slight Democratic dominance resulting from Vermont junior senator Jim Jeffords's decision to renounce the Republican 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 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.[45][46]

Montana election

November 4, 2002

Nominee Max Baucus Mike Taylor Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 204,853 103,611 Percentage 62.7% 31.7%

U.S. senator before election Max Baucus Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Max Baucus Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Max Baucus won re-election to a fifth term.[47]

The election got national attention when Baucus's opponent, state senator Mike Taylor, accused Baucus of having implied that Taylor was gay in a campaign ad. The ad was paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, though designed by the Baucus campaign. The ad, which alleged that Taylor had embezzled funds from the cosmetology school he once owned, showed footage from the early 1980s of Taylor massaging another man's face while wearing a tight suit with an open shirt. Due to financial shortages making it impossible for him to continue the race and having concerns about the effect the race was having on his family, Taylor dropped out of the race and Baucus won with 63 percent of the vote.[49]

Nebraska election

November 7, 2002

Nominee Chuck Hagel Charlie Matulka Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 397,438 70,290 Percentage 82.8% 14.6%

U.S. senator before election Chuck Hagel Republican Elected U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Republican

Incumbent Republican Chuck Hagel won re-election to a second term.

New Hampshire election

Nominee John E. Sununu Jeanne Shaheen Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 227,229 207,478 Percentage 50.8% 46.4%

County results

U.S. senator before election Bob Smith Republican Elected U.S. Senator John E. Sununu Republican

Incumbent Republican/Independent U.S. Senator Bob Smith was defeated in the Republican primary and denied renomination.[51] Republican John E. Sununu won the open seat. As of 2017 This is the last time a Republican has won the Class 2 Senate seat in New Hampshire.

Senator Bob Smith, the incumbent Republican Senator, briefly left the party in 1999 to run for president as an independent, claiming that the Republican platform was "not worth the paper it's written on".[52] He rejoined the GOP a few months later, saying he made a mistake.[52] Nonetheless, the party never fully forgave him, and some of his fellow Republican Senators went so far as to endorse his primary opponent, Rep. John Sununu,[53] who would go on to win by 8 points.

During the campaign, there was a major scandal that involved the use of a telemarketing firm hired by that state's Republican Party (NHGOP) for election tampering. The GOP Marketplace, based in Northern Virginia, jammed another phone bank being used by the state Democratic Party and the firefighters' union for efforts to turn out voters on behalf of New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen on Election Day. The tampering involved using a call center to jam the phone lines of a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) operation. In the end, 900 calls were made for 45 minutes of disruption to the Democratic-leaning call centers. In addition to criminal prosecutions, disclosures in the case came from a civil suit filed by the state's Democratic Party against the state's Republican Party (now settled). Four of those involved were convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, federal crimes and sentenced to prison for their involvement as of 2018. One conviction was reversed by an appeals court, a decision prosecutors appealed. James Tobin, the defendant freed on appeal, was later indicted on charges of lying to the FBI during the original investigation.

New Jersey election

Nominee Frank Lautenberg Doug Forrester Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,138,193 928,439 Percentage 53.88% 43.95%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Robert Torricelli Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg Democratic

The race was to originally feature Democrat Robert Torricelli, who was running for a second term in the seat he had won when former Senator Bill Bradley elected not to run for a fourth term in 1996 and who had been the state's senior Senator following Frank Lautenberg's retirement at the end of the 106th United States Congress, against former West Windsor Township mayor Douglas Forrester, who had won the Republican nomination.

Torricelli, however, had been the target of an ethics probe and eventually dropped out of the race on September 30 due to ethical concerns and poor poll numbers against Forrester, a relatively unknown opponent.[56] The New Jersey Democratic Party convinced the retired Lautenberg to join the race after Torricelli dropped out. In the case of The New Jersey Democratic Party v. Samson, 175 N.J. 178 (2002), Forrester sued to stop Democratic Party efforts to have Lautenberg replace Torricelli. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously on October 2 that the party could switch Lautenberg's name in for Sen. Torricelli's on the ballot.[57] Forrester received the endorsement of President George W. Bush.[58]

In the general election, Lautenberg defeated Forrester and became the state's junior Senator for the second time when he was sworn in on January 3, 2003 (Bradley, elected in 1978, was the senior Senator during Lautenberg's first fourteen years in office and Jon Corzine, who was elected to Lautenberg's old Senate seat, became the senior Senator in 2003 as Lautenberg's previous eighteen years in the Senate were not counted towards seniority.

New Mexico election

Nominee Pete Domenici Gloria Tristani Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 314,193 168,886 Percentage 65.0% 35.0%

County results

U.S. senator before election Pete Domenici Republican Elected U.S. Senator Pete Domenici Republican

Incumbent Republican Pete Domenici won re-election to a sixth term. As of 2018, this is the last Senate election in New Mexico won by a Republican.

North Carolina election

Nominee Elizabeth Dole Erskine Bowles Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,248,664 1,047,983 Percentage 53.56% 44.96%

County Results

Senator before election Jesse Helms Republican Elected Senator Elizabeth Dole Republican

Incumbent Republican Jesse Helms decided to retire due to health issues. Republican Elizabeth Dole won the open seat over Democrat Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff.

Oklahoma election

Nominee Jim Inhofe David Walters Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 583,579 369,789 Percentage 57.30% 36.31%   Nominee James Germalic Party Independent Popular vote 65,056 Percentage 6.39%

County Results

U.S. senator before election James Inhofe Republican Elected U.S. Senator James Inhofe Republican

Incumbent Republican Jim Inhofe won re-election to a second term over Democrat David Walters, a former Governor of the state.