The 2002 Rhode Island gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor Lincoln Almond was term-limited. Republican Donald Carcieri won the open seat, defeating Democrat Myrth York.

In the Republican primary election, Carcieri defeated James Bennett, who had won the endorsement of the state Republican Party.

The 2002 campaign was particularly costly to York as she spent $3.8 million of her own money to finance what was to be her last bid for elected office. A key turning point in the campaign was when York criticized Carcieri for the actions of businesses he had been associated with but refused to answer Carcieri's request that she reveal what companies her personal assets were invested in.

Republican primary A Republican primary was held on September 10.

Candidates Donald Carcieri, businessman Jim Bennett

Results

Results by county

CountyDonald CarcieriJames S. BennettTotal votes cast#%#%Bristol1,33767.15%65432.85%1,991Kent4,52977.01%1,35222.99%5,881Newport2,05558.56%1,45441.44%3,509Providence6,09162.00%3,733%38.00%9,824Washington3,30670.19%1,40429.81%4,710Totals17,22766.91%8,51833.09%25,745

Results by municipality

MunicipalityDonald CarcieriJames S. BennettTotal votes castTurnout#%#%%Barrington79670.38%33529.62%1,13112.3%Bristol34465.77%17934.23%5235.4%Burrillville 121 54.02% 103 45.98% 2243.2%Central Falls4464.71%2435.29%682.9%Charlestown13043.77%16756.23%2976.3%Coventry49067.96%23132.04%7214.1%Cranston1,22966.61%61633.39%1,8455.2%Cumberland36659.51%24940.49%6154.9%East Greenwich1,43189.94%16010.06%1,59119.3%East Providence53964.24%30035.76%8395.7%Exeter28871.64%11428.36%40214.3%Foster11369.75%4930.25%1626.4%Glocester14571.78%5728.22%2023.9%Hopkinton8849.16%9150.84%1794.5%Jamestown30068.18%14031.82%44013.5%Johnston13467.00%6633.00%2002.5%Lincoln1,08956.60%83543.40%1,92418.9%Little Compton16466.67%8233.33%24611.3%Middletown30962.30%18737.70%4967.1%Narragansett43871.69%17328.31%6116.2%New Shoreham1124.44%3475.56%454.6%Newport38155.22%30944.78%6908.0%North Kingstown1,38085.29%23814.71%1,61810.9%North Providence24474.85%8225.15%3263.0%North Smithfield22348.48%23751.52%4607.9%Pawtucket32856.36%25443.64%5823.2%Portsmouth70454.15%59645.85%1,30015.2%Providence62964.12%35235.88%9812.2%Richmond14968.98%6731.02%2165.8% Scituate31669.60%13830.40%4547.7%Smithfield37765.00%20335.00% 5805.8%South Kingstown54364.18%30335.82%8466.4%Tiverton19758.46%14041.54% 3374.7%Warren10663.46%6136.53%1672.6%Warwick2,04673.32%78327.68%2,8297.8%West Greenwich27956.25%21743.75% 4969.8%West Warwick20776.10%6523.90%2724.2%Westerly35575.85%11324.15%4684.4%Woonsocket 194 53.59% 168 46.41% 3622.9%Totals17,22766.91%8,51833.09%25,7456.3% Source:

Democratic primary A Democratic primary was held on September 10.

Candidates Antonio J. Pires, former Rhode Island state representative. Sheldon Whitehouse, Attorney General of Rhode Island, former U.S. attorney for the District of Rhode Island Myrth York, former Rhode Island senator, 1994 and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Pires Whitehouse York UndecidedTaubman Center for Public PolicyTaubman Center for Public PolicyAugust 31-September 2, 2002437± 5.0%13%26%32%29%

Results

Results by county CountyAntonio J. PiresSheldon WhitehouseMyrth YorkTotal votes cast#%#%#%Bristol1,27727.67%1,68236.45%1,65635.88%4,615Kent3,01419.31%6,26540.13%6,33340.56%15,612Newport1,03215.41%2,94343.93%2,72440.66%6,699Providence19,40424.13%30,31137.70%30,68738.17%80,402Washington2,11117.31%4,67938.37%5,40644.33%12,196Totals26,83822.45%45,88038.39%46,80639.16%119,524

Results by municipality MunicipalityAntonio J. PiresSheldon WhitehouseMyrth YorkTotal votes castTurnout#%#%#%%Barrington27817.46%69243.47%62239.07%1,59216.5%Bristol71035.52%64232.12%64732.37%1,99915.8%Burrillville 194 17.67% 436 39.71% 468 42.62% 1,09812.8%Central Falls59340.15%36224.51%52235.34%1,47729.0%Charlestown7515.89%16835.59%22948.52%47210.1%Coventry57720.67%1,06138.02%1,15341.31%2,79113.5%Cranston1,84319.68%3,81840.76%3,70639.56%9,36720.5%Cumberland2,00539.87%1,69933.78%1,32526.35%5,02924.9%East Greenwich15518.15%33739.46%36242.39%85410.6%East Providence2,02533.65%1,87831.21%2,11435.13%6,01724.6%Exeter6116.18%14638.73%17045.09%37711.5%Foster4117.23%8535.71%11247.06%2389.3%Glocester9618.64%21942.52%20038.83%5158.9%Hopkinton258.56%13646.58%13144.86%2926.7%Jamestown15016.78%34838.93%39644.30%89423.9%Johnston1,19319.24%2,81745.44%2,19035.32%6,20031.7%Lincoln77032.24%90237.77%71629.98%2,38818.9%Little Compton4816.27%13646.10%11137.63%29513.3%Middletown13814.35%42043.66%40442.00%96212.2%Narragansett66322.29%1,20840.62%1,10337.09%2,97424.3%New Shoreham1516.13%2021.51%5862.37%937.8%Newport25811.34%1,17151.47%84637.19%2,27520.2%North Kingstown43217.92%91537.95%1,06444.13%2,41114.8%North Providence1,16319.77%2,83048.10%1,89132.14%5,88423.5%North Smithfield26321.06%56745.40%41933.55%1,24917.6%Pawtucket4,34849.49%1,89121.53%2,54628.98%8,78525.6%Portsmouth25817.40%58739.58%63843.02%1,48315.3%Providence3,72614.23%10,03538.34%12,41447.43%26,17528.7%Richmond5214.09%12834.69%18951.22%3699.0% Scituate14124.06%21436.52%23139.42%58610.0%Smithfield45323.03%81041.18%70435.79% 1,96715.9%South Kingstown57516.45%1,21334.70%1,70848.86%3,49622.4%Tiverton18022.78%28135.57%32941.65% 7908.3%Warren28928.22%34833.98%38737.79%1,02412.8%Warwick1,71919.08%3,57139.64%3,71941.28%9,00917.2%West Greenwich5720.21%11340.07%11239.72% 2829.8%West Warwick50618.91%1,18344.21%98736.88%2,67618.5%Westerly21312.44%74543.52%75444.04%1,71213.0%Woonsocket 550 16.05% 1,748 51.01% 1,129 32.94% 3,42717.7%Totals26,83822.45%45,88038.39%46,80639.16%119,52420.4% Source:

General election

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political Report October 31, 2002Sabato's Crystal Ball November 4, 2002

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldCarcieri (R) MyrthYork (D) Other /UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA October 28–30, 2002 593 (LV) ± 4.2% 48% 45% 7%

Results

By county Donald CarcieriRepublican Myrth YorkDemocratic County Votes % Votes % Bristol10,70758.6%7,55541.4% Kent36,47060.2%24,13939.8% Newport17,00857.8%12,40842.2% Providence89,69750.5%87,81849.5% Washington27,94560.4%18,30939.6%

Notes

References

See also