New York gubernatorial election, 2002

New York gubernatorial election, 2002

1998 ← November 5, 2002 → 2006

Candidate George Pataki Carl McCall Tom Golisano Party Republican Democratic Independence Popular vote 2,262,255 1,534,064 654,016 Percentage 48.2% 32.7% 13.9%

County results by state. Red denotes counties where Pataki won, blue denotes counties where McCall won, and green denotes counties where Golisano won.

Governor before election George Pataki Republican Elected Governor George Pataki Republican

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The New York gubernatorial election of 2002 was an election for the state governorship held on November 5, 2002. Governor George Pataki, the two-term Republican incumbent, was re-elected with 48% of the vote, defeating both the Democratic nominee, State Comptroller Carl McCall and Independence Party candidate Tom Golisano.

Background

In New York state politics, the proliferation of parties and ballot lines ensures that each candidate attempts to be listed under multiple ballot lines. Besides his standard Republican nomination, Governor Pataki sought the nominations of the Conservative and the Independence Party. Golisano, who sought (and ultimately won) the nomination of the Independence Party, also ran against the Governor in the Conservative primary, spending over $20 million during the primaries, or over $2000 per vote. Pataki secured the Republican and Conservative listings, while Golisano successfully defended his hold on the Independence Party ticket.

Comptroller Carl McCall defeated Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic State Convention, and Cuomo withdrew less than a week before the primary, but this was too late to get his name off the Liberal line. Since Liberal supporters could no longer support the Democratic candidate but vote for the Liberal line (and thus ensure that the Liberals would maintain ballot access), Cuomo's defeat effectively helped to destroy the Liberal party.

Pataki was easily reelected; McCall received 33 percent of the vote, carrying New York City (other than Staten Island) and nearly carrying Albany County while Golisano received 14%, carrying western New York's Monroe County.

Primaries

Republican

Candidate	Conservative Vote	percentage	Independence Vote	percentage
George Pataki	18,185	(86.86%)	9,026	(48.53%)
Tom Golisano	2,751	(13.14%)	9,572	(51.47%)

Democratic

Candidate	Democratic Vote	percentage
Comptroller Carl McCall	539,883	(85.28%)
Andrew Cuomo	93,195	(14.72%)

General Election Results

New York gubernatorial election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	George Pataki	2,262,255	49.40%	-4.91%
	Democratic	Carl McCall	1,534,064	33.50%	+0.34%
	Independence	Tom Golisano	654,016	14.28%	+6.59%
	Right to Life	Gerald Cronin	44,195	0.97%	-0.28%
	Green	Stanley Aronowitz	41,797	0.91%	-0.63%
	Marijuana Reform	Thomas K. Leighton	21,977	0.48%	-0.18%
	Liberal	Andrew M. Cuomo	15,761	0.34%	-0.68%
	Libertarian	Scott Jeffrey	5,013	0.11%	+0.01%
Majority			728,191	15.90%	-5.25%
Turnout			4,579,078
	Republican hold		Swing

External links

• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism coverage of election
• Gotham Gazette coverage of election
• Marist Poll coverage of election