2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota

2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota
November 5, 2002
 
Nominee Tim Johnson John Thune
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 167,481 166,957
Percentage 49.62% 49.47%
County results
Johnson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Thune:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election

Tim Johnson
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Tim Johnson
Democratic

The 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson narrowly won re-election to a second term over future senator and Senate Majority Leader John Thune by a margin of 524 votes, or 0.15%. This made the election the closest race of the 2002 Senate election cycle.

This was one of the four Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that George W. Bush won in the 2000 presidential election. Thune has held South Dakota's other Senate seat since 2005, and became the Senate Majority Leader after the 2024 elections.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tim Johnson (incumbent) 65,438 94.84%
Democratic Herman Eilers 3,558 5.16%
Total votes 68,996 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Thune ran against Tim Johnson, who narrowly won his first senate election in 1996. Thune launched a television advertising campaign mentioning al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, contending that both are seeking nuclear weapons and that this country needs a missile defense system, something Johnson voted against 29 times and that Thune supports. The incumbent attacked Thune for politicizing national security.[2] President George W. Bush campaigned for Thune in late October.[3] More than $20 million was spent in the election. Both candidates had raised over $5 million each.[4]

Debates

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[5] Lean D November 4, 2002

Results

Johnson narrowly prevailed over Thune by a mere 524 votes. Despite the extremely close results, Thune did not contest the results and conceded defeat on the late afternoon of November 9. Johnson's narrow victory may be attributed to his strong support in Oglala Lakota County, and to Thune also underperforming in typically Republican areas. Johnson was sworn in for a second term on January 3, 2003. Thune was elected to South Dakota's other Senate seat in 2004, defeating incumbent minority leader Tom Daschle. He served alongside Johnson until the latter retired in 2015.

General election results[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tim Johnson (incumbent) 167,481 49.62% −1.70%
Republican John Thune 166,957 49.47% +0.79%
Libertarian Kurt Evans 3,070 0.91%
Total votes 334,438 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_electioninfo02_statewideprimaryofficialret.shtm#US Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Sen-D
  2. ^ "Rothrock Library". Retrieved September 18, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ^ "Rothrock Library". Retrieved September 18, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ "Rothrock Library". Retrieved September 18, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".

Official campaign websites (archived)

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