2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Governor of Wisconsin Scott McCallum, who had assumed office upon the resignation of Tommy Thompson, ran for his first full term in office. McCallum won his party's nomination by defeating two minor candidates, and Attorney General of Wisconsin Jim Doyle won the Democratic primary with a little more than a third of the vote in a highly competitive primary election. In the general election, the presence of Ed Thompson, former Governor Tommy Thompson's younger brother, the Mayor of Tomah, and the Libertarian Party nominee, held both McCallum and Doyle to under fifty percent of the vote, enabling Doyle to win with 45% of the vote, defeating McCallum.

2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

November 5, 2002
Turnout45.43%
 
Nominee Jim Doyle Scott McCallum Ed Thompson
Party Democratic Republican Libertarian
Popular vote 800,515 734,779 185,455
Percentage 45.1% 41.4% 10.4%

Doyle:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
McCallum:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Thompson      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Tie:      
No data:     

Governor before election

Scott McCallum
Republican

Elected Governor

Jim Doyle
Democratic

Democratic primary

The primary election for the Democratic nomination was closely contested by three competitive candidates. The race was ultimately won by Jim Doyle with around 38% of the vote.

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Jim
Doyle
Tom
Barrett
Kathleen
Falk
University of Wisconsin (Badger Poll) Sept 2–5, 2002 39% 31% 30%
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Aug 26–28, 2002 31.5% 25.7% 25.1%

Results

Democratic Primary results by county:
  Doyle—50–60%
  Doyle—40–50%
  Doyle—<40%
  Falk—50–60%
  Barrett—<40%
  Barrett—40–50%
  Barrett—50–60%
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jim Doyle 212,066 38.30%
Democratic Tom Barrett 190,605 34.43%
Democratic Kathleen Falk 150,161 27.12%
Write-in 802 0.14%
Total votes 553,634 100.00%

Republican primary

McCallum, as the incumbent governor, did not face significant opposition in the primary. He was nominated with 86% of the primary vote.

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Scott McCallum (incumbent) 198,525 86.23%
Republican William Lorge 18,852 8.19%
Republican George Pobuda 12,452 5.41%
Write-in 403 0.18%
Total votes 230,232 100.00%

Libertarian party

Green party

Reform party

  • Alan D. Eisenberg, lawyer and real estate dealer

Independent candidates

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[2] Tossup October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball[3] Lean D (flip) November 4, 2002

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Jim
Doyle (D)
Scott
McCallum (R)
Ed
Thompson (L)
Jim
Young (G)
Others
University of Wisconsin (Badger Poll) Oct 27–29, 2002 41% 34% 10% 2% 0%
University of Wisconsin (Badger Poll) Oct 25–27, 2002 38% 36% 0% 0% 0%
Market Shares Corp Oct 24–27, 2002 38% 36% 8% 4% 0%
St. Norbert College Oct 16–27, 2002 41% 33% 6% 3% 0%
We the People/Wisconsin Oct 20–21, 2002 46% 38% 8% 3% 0%
Research 2000 Oct 4–7, 2002 44% 36% 6% 3% 0%
Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Sept 26–29, 2002 40% 31% 7% 4% 0%
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sept 17–25, 2002 43% 35% 6% 1% 0%

Results

2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Jim Doyle 800,515 45.09% +6.39%
Republican Scott McCallum (incumbent) 734,779 41.39% -18.28%
Libertarian Ed Thompson 185,455 10.45% +9.82%
Green Jim Young 44,111 2.48% +2.48%
Reform Alan D. Eisenberg 2,847 0.16%
Independent Ty A. Bollerud 2,637 0.15%
Independent Mike Managan 1,710 0.10%
Independent Aneb Jah Rasta 929 0.05%
Write-in 2,366 0.13%
Plurality 65,736 3.71% -17.27%
Turnout 1,775,349 45.43% +1.10%
Democratic gain from Republican

Counties that flipped Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Republican to Libertarian

See also

References

  1. "Results of Fall Primary Election - 09/10/2002" (PDF). Wisconsin State Elections Board. p. 1. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  2. "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 | The Cook Political Report". The Cook Political Report. October 31, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  3. "Governors Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 12, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  4. "Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002" (PDF). Wisconsin State Elections Board. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
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