2002 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections, 2002

November 5, 2002
38 governorships 36 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 27 governorships 21 governorships Seats before 27 21 Seats after 26 24 Seat change 1 3
Results:   Republican holds   Republican pickups   Democratic holds   Democratic pickups

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2002 in 36 states and two territories. The Republicans won eight seats previously held by the Democrats, as well the seat previously held by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, who was elected on the Reform Party ticket but had since renounced his party affiliation. The Democrats won 10 seats previously held by the Republicans, as well as the seat previously held by Maine governor Angus King, an independent. Overall, the Republicans suffered a net loss of one seat while the Democrats made a net gain of three. The Republicans managed to maintain their majority of state governorships, but it was reduced to a margin of only two seats. The elections were notable for the sheer number of state governorships that changed parties – 20 in total, constituting more than half of the seats up for election. The elections were also notable for the inroads that both major parties made in regions where their support had historically been low or waning.

In addition to the elections held in 36 states, elections were also held in the unincorporated territories of Guam and the United States Virgin Islands. The Democrats held their seat in the United States Virgin Islands, while the Republicans won an open seat in Guam previously held by the Democrats.

The elections were held concurrently with the other United States elections of 2002.

Democratic gains

• Arizona – State Attorney General Janet Napolitano won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Jane Dee Hull
• Illinois – Representative Rod Blagojevich won an open seat held by retring Gov. George H. Ryan, becoming the first Democratic governor since 1976.
• Kansas – State Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Bill Graves
• Maine – Representative John Baldacci won an open seat held by Independent term-limited Gov. Angus King
• Michigan – State Attorney General Jennifer Granholm won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. John Engler
• New Mexico – former U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Gary Johnson
• Oklahoma – State Sen. Brad Henry won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Frank Keating
• Pennsylvania – former Mayor of Philadelphia and DNC Chairman Ed Rendell won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Tom Ridge
• Tennessee – former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Don Sundquist
• Wisconsin – State Attorney General Jim Doyle defeated incumbent Gov. Scott McCallum
• Wyoming – U.S. Attorney Dave Freudenthal won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Jim Geringer

Republican gains

• Alabama – Representative Bob Riley narrowly defeated incumbent Gov. Don Siegelman
• Alaska – U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Tony Knowles
• Georgia – State Senator Sonny Perdue defeated incumbent Gov. Roy Barnes and became first GOP Governor in Georgia since the 1870s.
• Guam – Territorial Legislative Majority Leader Felix Perez Camacho won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez.
• Hawaii – Linda Lingle won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, becoming the first Republican Governor since 1962.
• South Carolina – Representative Mark Sanford defeated incumbent Gov. Jim Hodges
• Maryland – Representative Robert Ehrlich won an open seat held by term-limited Gov. Parris Glendening, becoming the first Republican Governor since Spiro Agnew in 1966.
• Minnesota – State House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty won an open seat held by retring Independent Gov. Jesse Ventura in difficult, three-way (GOP, DFL and IMP) race
• New Hampshire – Craig Benson won an open seat held by retring Gov. Jeanne Shaheen
• Vermont – State Treasurer Jim Douglas won an open seat held by retring Gov. Howard Dean

Election results

A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Don Siegelman	Democratic	Defeated, 49.0%	Bob Riley (Republican) 49.2% John Sophocleus (Libertarian) 1.7%
Alaska	Tony Knowles	Democratic	Term-Limited, Republican victory	Frank Murkowski (Republican) 55.8% Fran Ulmer (Democratic) 40.7% Diane Benson (Green) 1.3% Don Wright (Alaskan Indep.) Raymond VinZant (Rep. Mod.) 0.7% Billy Toien (Libertarian) 0.5%
Arizona	Jane Hull	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Janet Napolitano (Democratic) 46.2% Matt Salmon (Republican) 45.2% Richard Mahoney (Independent) 6.9% Barry Hess (Libertarian) 1.7%
Arkansas	Mike Huckabee	Republican	Re-elected, 53%	Jimmie Lou Fisher (Democratic) 46%
California	Gray Davis	Democratic	Re-elected, 47.4%	Bill Simon (Republican) 42.4% Peter Camejo (Green) 5.3% Gary Copeland (Libertarian) 2.2% Reinhold Gulke (American Ind.) 1.7% Iris Adam (Natural Law) 1.1%
Colorado	Bill Owens	Republican	Re-elected, 62.6%	Rollie Heath (Democratic) 33.7% Ronald Forthofer (Green) 2.3% Ralph Shnelvar (Libertarian) 1%
Connecticut	John Rowland	Republican	Re-elected, 56.1%	Bill Curry (Democratic) 43.9%
Florida	Jeb Bush	Republican	Re-elected, 56%	Bill McBride (Democratic) 43.1%
Georgia	Roy Barnes	Democratic	Defeated, 46.3%	Sonny Perdue (Republican) 51.4% Garrett Hayes (Libertarian) 2.3%
Hawaii	Ben Cayetano	Democratic	Term-Limited, Republican victory	Linda Lingle (Republican) 51.6% Mazie Hirono (Democratic) 47% Kau`i Hill (Natural Law) 0.7% Tracy Ryan (Libertarian) 0.4% Jim Brewer (Independent) 0.3%
Idaho	Dirk Kempthorne	Republican	Re-elected, 56.3%	Jerry Brady (Democratic) 41.7% Daniel Adams (Libertarian) 2%
Illinois	George Ryan	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Rod Blagojevich (Democratic) 52.2% Jim Ryan (Republican) 45.1% Cal Skinner (Libertarian) 2.1%
Iowa	Tom Vilsack	Democratic	Re-elected, 52.7%	Doug Gross (Republican) 44.5% Jay Robinson (Green) 1.4% Clyde Cleveland (Libertarian) 1.3%
Kansas	Bill Graves	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Kathleen Sebelius (Democratic) 52.9% Tim Shallenburger (Republican) 45.1% Ted Pettibone (Reform) 1.1% Dennis Hawver (Libertarian) 1.0%
Maine	Angus King	Independent	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	John Baldacci (Democratic) 47.2% Peter Cianchette (Republican) 41.5% Jonathan Carter (Green) 9.3% John Michael (Independent) 2.1%
Maryland	Parris Glendening	Democratic	Term-Limited, Republican victory	Bob Ehrlich (Republican) 51.6% Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (Democratic) 47.7% Spear Lancaster (Libertarian) 0.7%
Massachusetts	Jane Swift (acting)	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Mitt Romney (Republican) 49.8% Shannon O'Brien (Democratic) 44.9% Jill Stein (G-R) 3.5% Carla Howell (Libertarian) 1.1% Barbara Johnson (Independent) 0.7%
Michigan	John Engler	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Jennifer Granholm (Democratic) 51.4% Dick Posthumus (Republican) 47.4% Douglas Campell (Green) 0.8% Joseph Pilchak (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.4%
Minnesota	Jesse Ventura	Reform Party/Independence	Retired, Republican victory	Tim Pawlenty (Republican) 44.4% Roger Moe (Democratic) 36.5% Tim Penny (Independence) 16.2% Ken Pentel (Green) 2.3% Kari Sachs (Socialist Workers) 0.1% Lawrence Aeshliman (Constitution) 0.1%
Nebraska	Mike Johanns	Republican	Re-elected, 68.9%	Stormy Dean (Democratic) 27.5% Paul Rosberg (Nebraska) 3.8%
Nevada	Kenny Guinn	Republican	Re-elected, 68.3%	Joe Neal (Democratic) 22% None of the above 4.7% Dick Geyer (Libertarian) 1.6% David Holmgren (Indep. American) 1.4% Jerry Norton (Independent) 1.1% Charles Laws (Green) 1%
New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Craig Benson (Republican) 58.6% Mark Fernald (Democratic) 38.2% John Babiarz (Libertarian) 2.9%
New Mexico	Gary Johnson	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Bill Richardson (Democratic) 56% John Sanchez (Republican) 39% David Bacon (Green) 5%
New York	George Pataki	Republican, Conservative	Re-elected, 49.4%	Carl McCall (Democratic), (Working Families 33.5% Tom Golisano (Independence) 14.3% Jerry Cronin (Right to Life) 0.9% Stanley Aronowitz (Green) 0.9% Thomas Leighton (Marijuana Reform) 0.5% Andrew Cuomo (Liberal) 0.3% Scott Jeffrey (Libertarian) 0.1%%
Ohio	Bob Taft	Republican	Re-elected, 57.7%	Tim Hagan (Democratic) 38.3% John Eastman (Independent) 3.9%
Oklahoma	Frank Keating	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Brad Henry (Democratic) 43.3% Steve Largent (Republican) 42.6% Gary Richardson (Independent) 14.1%
Oregon	John Kitzhaber	Democratic	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Ted Kulongoski (Democratic) 49% Kevin Mannix (Republican) 46.1% Tom Cox (Libertarian) 4.58%
Pennsylvania	Mark Schweiker	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Ed Rendell (Democratic) 53.4% Mike Fisher (Republican) 44.4% Ken Krawchuk (Libertarian) 1.14% Michael Morrill (Green) 1.07%
Rhode Island	Lincoln Almond	Republican	Term-Limited, Republican victory	Don Carcieri (Republican) 54.8% Myrth York (Democratic) 45.2%
South Carolina	Jim Hodges	Democratic	Defeated, 47.1%	Mark Sanford (Republican) 52.9%
South Dakota	Bill Janklow	Republican	Term-Limited, Republican victory	Mike Rounds (Republican) 56.8% Jim Abbott (Democratic) 41.9% James Carlson (Independent) 0.7% Nathan Barton (Libertarian) 0.6%
Tennessee	Don Sundquist	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Phil Bredesen (Democratic) 50.7% Van Hilleary (Republican) 47.6%
Texas	Rick Perry	Republican	Re-elected, 57.8%	Tony Sanchez (Democratic) 40% Jeff Daiell (Libertarian) 1.6% Rahul Mahajan (Green) 1%
Vermont	Howard Dean	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Jim Douglas (Republican) 44.9% Doug Racine (Democratic) 42.4% Cornelius Hogan (Independent) 9.7% Cris Ericson (Make Marijuana Legal) 0.8% Michael Badamo (VT Progressive) 0.6% Joel Williams (Libertarian) 0.4% Patricia Hejny (VT Grassroots) 0.3% Marilynn Christian (Restore Justice-Freedom) 0.3% Pete Diamondstone (Liberty Union) 0.3%
Wisconsin	Scott McCallum	Republican	Defeated, 41.4%	Jim Doyle (Democratic) 45.1% Ed Thompson (Libertarian) 10.5% Jim Young (Green) 2.5%
Wyoming	Jim Geringer	Republican	Term-Limited, Democratic victory	Dave Freudenthal (Democratic) 50% Eli Bebout (Republican) 47.9% Dave Dawson (Libertarian) 2.12%

Territory	Incumbent	Party	Status	Competing candidates
Guam	Carl Gutierrez	Democratic	Term-limited, Republican victory	Felix Perez Camacho (Republican) 55.4% Robert Underwood (Democratic) 44.6%
United States Virgin Islands	Charles Turnbull	Democratic	Re-elected, 50.15%	John de Jongh (Independent) 24.64% Chucky Hansen (Independent) 7.76% Michael Bornn (Republican) 7.18% Gerard James (Independent) 5.07% Cora Christian (Independent) 3.06% Lloyd Williams (Independent) 1.48%

External links

• Election 2002 – Governor. CNN.