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

Overall, despite the gains that they made at the federal level – an unprecedented feat in a midterm election – the Republicans suffered a net loss of one seat in this gubernatorial election cycle, 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. Additionally, a number of Democratic and Republican gains occurred in states that typically favor the other party. For instance, Republican candidates won the usually Democratic states of Maryland, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Vermont; while Democratic governors were elected in Republican-leaning states like Wyoming, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

As of , this election marks the most recent cycle in which Colorado or New York elected a Republican governor.

Election ratings

State Incumbent Lastrace Sabato Cook Result Alabama 57.92% D Riley49.17% R (flip) Alaska 51.27% D Murkowski55.85% R (flip) Arizona 60.95% R Napolitano46.19% D (flip) Arkansas 59.77% R Huckabee53.02% R California 57.97% D Davis47.26% D Colorado 49.04% R Owens62.62% R Connecticut 62.90% R Rowland56.10% R Florida 55.27% R Bush56.01% R Georgia 52.49% D Perdue51.42% R (flip) Hawaii 50.11% D Lingle51.56% R (flip) Idaho 67.70% R Kempthorne56.28% R Illinois 51.03% R Blagojevich52.19% D (flip) Iowa 52.30% D Vilsack52.69% D Kansas 73.37% R Sebelius52.87% D (flip) Maine 58.61% I Baldacci47.15% D (flip) Maryland 55.14% D Ehrlich51.55% R (flip) Massachusetts 50.87% R Romney49.18% R Michigan 62.20% R Granholm51.42% D (flip) Minnesota 36.99% Re Pawlenty44.37% R (flip) Nebraska 53.90% R Johanns68.68% R Nevada 51.63% R Guinn68.24% R New Hampshire 48.74% D Craig Benson58.62% R (flip) New Mexico 54.53% R Richardson55.49% D (flip) New York 54.32% R Pataki49.40% R Ohio 50.05% R Taft57.76% R Oklahoma 57.86% R Henry43.27% D (flip) Oregon 64.42% D Kulongoski49.03% D Pennsylvania 57.42% R Rendell53.41% D (flip) Rhode Island 50.97% R Carcieri54.76% R South Carolina 53.23% D Sanford52.85% R (flip) South Dakota 64.04% R Rounds56.77% R Tennessee 68.63% R Bredesen50.65% D (flip) Texas 68.24% R Perry57.81% R Vermont 50.45% D Douglas44.94% R (flip) Wisconsin 59.66% R Doyle45.09% D (flip) Wyoming 55.60% R Freudenthal49.96% D (flip)

Race Summary States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Alabama Don Siegelman Democratic 1998 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Alaska Tony Knowles Democratic 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Arizona Jane Dee Hull Republican 1997 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Arkansas Mike Huckabee Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. California Gray Davis Democratic 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Colorado Bill Owens Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut John G. Rowland Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Jeb Bush Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Georgia Roy Barnes Democratic 1998 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Hawaii Ben Cayetano Democratic 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Idaho Dirk Kempthorne Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Illinois George Ryan Republican 1998 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Iowa Tom Vilsack Democratic 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Kansas Bill Graves Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Maine Angus King Independent 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Maryland Parris Glendening Democratic 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Massachusetts Jane Swift Republican 2001 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican hold. Michigan John Engler Republican 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Minnesota Jesse Ventura Independence 1998 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Nebraska Mike Johanns Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Nevada Kenny Guinn Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen Democratic 1996 Incumbent retired to run for U.S. Senator.New governor elected.Republican gain. New Mexico Gary Johnson Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. New York George Pataki Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Bob Taft Republican 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Oklahoma Frank Keating Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Oregon John Kitzhaber Democratic 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Pennsylvania Mark Schweiker Republican 2001 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Rhode Island Lincoln Almond Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. South Carolina Jim Hodges Democratic 1998 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. South Dakota Bill Janklow Republican 19781986 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Tennessee Don Sundquist Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Texas Rick Perry Republican 2000 Incumbent elected to full term. Vermont Howard Dean Democratic 1991 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Wisconsin Scott McCallum Republican 2001 Incumbent lost election to full term.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Wyoming Jim Geringer Republican 1994 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain.

Territories and federal district Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates District of Columbia Anthony A. Williams Democratic 1998 Incumbent re-elected. Guam Carl Gutierrez Democratic 1994 Incumbent lost renomination.New governor elected.Republican gain. U.S. Virgin Islands Charles Turnbull Democratic 1998 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Alabama, 0.2% Oklahoma, 0.7%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Arizona, 1.0% Wyoming, 2.0% Vermont, 2.5% Oregon, 2.9% Tennessee, 3.1% Wisconsin, 3.7% Maryland, 3.9% Michigan, 4.0% Hawaii, 4.6% Massachusetts, 4.8% California, 4.9%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Georgia, 5.2% Maine, 5.7% South Carolina, 5.9% Arkansas, 6.1% Illinois, 7.1% Kansas, 7.8% Minnesota, 7.9% Iowa, 8.2% Pennsylvania, 9.0% Rhode Island, 9.5%

Alabama

The 2002 Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 5. The race pitted incumbent governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat, against Representative Bob Riley, a Republican, and Libertarian nominee John Sophocleus. As of 2023, this is the last time the Governor’s office in Alabama changed partisan control.

The result was an extremely narrow victory for Riley. The certified results showed Riley with 672,225 votes to Siegelman's 669,105, a difference of 3,120 votes, or 0.23% of the 1,367,053 votes cast. Sophocleus garnered 23,272 votes, and 2,451 votes were for write-in candidates. The close and controversial election was marked by high turnout.

Alaska

The 2002 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Republican U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski defeated Democratic Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer. Murkowski became the first Republican elected governor of Alaska since Jay Hammond in 1978.

Arizona

The 2002 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor Jane Dee Hull was term-limited. The Democratic nominee, Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano, narrowly defeated Republican Matt Salmon, a former U.S. Representative. Upon her inauguration, Napolitano became the first woman to succeed another woman as Governor of a state. Until 2022, this was the last gubernatorial election in Arizona in which the margin of victory was single digits.

Arkansas

The 2002 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002 for the post of Governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee defeated Democratic State Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher.

California

The 2002 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 5, 2002. Democrat Gray Davis defeated Republican Bill Simon by 5% and was re-elected to a second four-year term as Governor of California. Davis would be recalled less than a year into his next term.

The 2002 gubernatorial primary occurred in March 2002. Gray Davis faced no major competitor in the primary and won the nomination. Simon defeated former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in the Republican primary. Gray Davis ran a series of negative ads against Riordan in the primary. Riordan was seen as a moderate and early state polls showed him defeating Gray Davis in the general election.

Colorado

The 2002 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002 to elect the governor of Colorado. Bill Owens, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic nominee Rollie Heath to win a second term. Owen's win set the record for biggest win by a Republican in a Colorado gubernatorial election (Democrats won by larger margins in 1982, 1948, and 1928, with Billy Adams' 35 point blowout in that year being the greatest victory for a candidate of any party). As of , this is the last time a Republican was elected Governor of Colorado.

Connecticut

The 2002 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor John G. Rowland won reelection to a third consecutive term, defeating Democrat Bill Curry. Rowland became the first Connecticut Governor to win a third term in office, but did not finish his term, resigning in 2004 due to allegations of corruption. Despite losing this election, as of 2022, Curry is the last Democratic gubernatorial candidate to carry Windham County.

Florida

The 2002 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002 for the post of Governor of Florida. Incumbent Republican governor Jeb Bush defeated Democratic candidate Bill McBride. Bush became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election to a second term. This election was the last time until 2022 a Florida gubernatorial candidate won the general election by double digits or that a Republican won Miami-Dade County. This was the first time in Florida's history that a Republican Governor was re-elected.

Georgia

The 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic governor Roy Barnes sought re-election to a second term as governor. State Senator Sonny Perdue emerged as the Republican nominee from a crowded and hotly contested primary, and he faced off against Barnes, who had faced no opponents in his primary election, in the general election. Though Barnes had been nicknamed "King Roy" due to his unique ability to get his legislative priorities passed, he faced a backlash among Georgia voters due to his proposal to change the state flag from its Confederate design.

Ultimately, Perdue was able to defeat incumbent governor Barnes and became the first Republican to serve as governor of the state since Reconstruction. This was only the second election that a Republican won in the state's history, the other being in 1868. The result was widely considered a major upset.