U.S. Senate election, 2002

The U.S. Senate election, 2002 was a fiercely-contested race that resulted in a victory for the Republican Party, which gained two seats and thus a narrow majority from the Democratic Party in the United States Senate.

Notable races

Democratic gains

• Arkansas: Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), who was personally unpopular, perhaps due to divorcing his wife and marrying a young staffer, was defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Pryor, Arkansas Attorney General and the son of a popular former Senator and Governor.

Republican gains

• Georgia: Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) was defeated by Representative Saxby Chambliss in a tough campaign marked by attacks on Cleland's stance on a Department of Homeland Security. Local Georgia issues may also have played a role in the campaign, with Republicans also taking the governorship over unhappiness with the Georgia state flag.
• Missouri: Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-MO) had been appointed to the Senate after her husband, Mel Carnahan, had narrowly won the 2000 election posthumously. How much Mel Carnahan's victory had been due to sympathy following his death was unclear, but his wife was unable to hold the seat, losing narrowly to former Congressman Jim Talent.
• Minnesota: Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), in the middle of a tough fight against former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, abruptly died in a plane crash. Many observers expected that this would lead to a sympathy boost for his replacement, liberal stalwart and former Vice President Walter Mondale, but the Democrats received negative press after Wellstone's funeral was marked by political speeches, and Coleman won a close race.

Democratic holds

• South Dakota: The Democratic Party also invested heavily in South Dakota to keep Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) in office by 500 votes over Republican challenger John Thune, who accused Johnson and Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) of pushing liberal policies that were different from the promises they made to South Dakota voters. Thune's strategy would work successfully when he defeated Daschle himself in 2004.
• New Jersey: Democratic incumbent Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) was dogged by scandal, and eventually quit the race so that the party could replace him with a better candidate, retired Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), who went on to win. Republicans challenged this late replacement of a weak candidate, but were not successful in the courts.
• Louisiana: Republicans ran several candidates at once against incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-LA), hoping to push her vote below 50% and force a runoff in December (according to Louisiana law). They did force a runoff, but Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell narrowly lost the runoff.

Republican holds

• New Hampshire: Incumbent Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) had previously quit and rejoined the Republican party in a dispute over his candidacy in the 2000 presidential election, and Republican leaders pushed the candidacy of John E. Sununu, who defeated Smith in the primary and went on to defeat Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, the retiring governor, in the general election.