The 2002 United States Senate elections featured a series of fiercely contested elections 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. The Senate seats up for election, known as class 2 Senate seats, were last up for regular election in 1996. The election cycle was held on November 5, 2002, almost 14 months after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Going into the election, Democrats had a 51–49 majority due to an Independent that caucused with them, however, this was reduced to a 50–49–1 plurality following the death of Democrat Paul Wellstone and the appointment of a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota in his place. The Democrats had originally hoped to do well, as the party holding the presidency historically loses seats in midterm elections, and additionally, the Republicans had 20 seats up for election compared to 14 Democratic seats up for election. In addition, the Republicans had five open seats, while the Democrats and the Independence Party of Minnesota had one each. However, the Republicans were able to hold their 5 open seats and pick the one that was held by the IPM up, while the Democrats held their only open seat. Republicans also defeated 2 Democratic incumbents, while Democrats defeated 1 Republican incumbent.

Trent Lott led the Senate Republicans through this election cycle and was due to become the new Senate Majority Leader upon the retaking of control of the Senate by the Republicans. However, his controversial praise for Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential campaign at Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration led to Lott's stepping-down from Senate leadership, and resulted in Tennessee Republican Bill Frist being selected as the new Senate Majority Leader instead.

This was the only election cycle ever where the party of the incumbent president gained new control of a house of Congress in a midterm election. This is also the last midterm election cycle where the party controlling the White House flipped a Senate seat in a state they did not win in the preceding presidential election (in this case, Minnesota). , this was the last Senate election cycle where Republicans won Senate elections in Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Virginia.

Results summary + ↓ 48 1 51 Democratic Independent Republican

Parties Total Democratic Republican Independent Independence Others Last elections (2000) 50 50 0 0 0 100 Before these elections 49 49 1 1 0 100 Not up 36 29 1 0 — 66 Up 13 20 0 1 — 34 12 20 — 1 — 33 1 0 — — — 1 Incumbent retired 0 4 — 1 — 5 0 4 — 0 — 4 1 Independence replaced by 1 Republican — 1 0 5 0 0 0 5 Regular elections Incumbent ran 12 16 — 0 — 28 10 14 — 0 — 24 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — — 2 1 1 — — — 2 12 16 0 0 0 28 Special election Appointee ran 1 0 — 0 — 1 0 — — 0 — 0 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — — 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 Total elected 12 22 0 0 0 34 Net change 1 2 1 2 Nationwide vote 19,873,164 21,566,016 343,625 45,139/51,863 1,413,653 / 1,406,929 43,241,597 Share 45.96% 49.87% 0.79% 0.10 / 0.12% 3.27 / 3.25% 100% Result 48 51 1 0 0 100

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

Change in composition

Before the elections After the death of Paul Wellstone on October 25, 2002, and the appointment of Minnesota on November 4. D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R D D D D D I ↑ Plurality with Independent in caucus R R R R R R R R R IPM R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

After the elections D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D I R Majority → R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Key: D Democratic I Independent IPM Independence Party of Minnesota R Republican

Gains, losses and holds Retirements

One Independence and four Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

StateSenator Age at end of term AssumedofficeReplaced by Minnesota 52 2002 North Carolina 81 1973 South Carolina 100 1954 Tennessee 60 1994 Texas 60 1985

Nomination withdrawn One Democrat was originally sought to run re-election but withdrew. StateSenatorAge atend of termAssumedofficeReplaced by New Jersey 51 1997

Defeats Two Democrats and two Republicans sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

StateSenatorAge atend of termAssumedofficeReplaced by Arkansas 53 1997 Georgia 60 1997 Missouri (special) 68 2001 New Hampshire 61 1990

Post-election changes One Republican resigned on December 2, 2002, and was replaced by a Republican appointee. StateSenatorReplaced by Alaska(Class 3)

Final pre-election predictions Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent was running for re-election) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party had in winning that seat. Most election predictors used: "tossup": no advantage "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean" "lean": slight advantage "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory Constituency Incumbent 2002 election ratings State Senator Lastelection Sabato's Crystal BallResult Alabama Jeff Sessions 52.45% R Sessions58.58% R Alaska Ted Stevens 76.71% R Stevens78.17% R Arkansas Tim Hutchinson 52.70% R Pryor 53.86% D Colorado Wayne Allard 51.41% R Allard 50.70% R Delaware Joe Biden 60.04% D Biden 58.22% D Georgia Max Cleland 48.87% D Chambliss52.77% R Idaho Larry Craig 57.02% R Craig65.16% R Illinois Dick Durbin 56.09% D Durbin60.33% D Iowa Tom Harkin 51.81% D Harkin54.18% D Kansas Pat Roberts 62.02% R Roberts 82.52% R Kentucky Mitch McConnell 55.45% R McConnell64.68% R Louisiana Mary Landrieu 50.17% D Landrieu51.70% D Maine Susan Collins 49.18% R Collins58.44% R Massachusetts John Kerry 52.21% D Kerry80.03% D Michigan Carl Levin 58.36% D Levin 60.61% D Minnesota Dean Barkley Appointed Coleman49.53% R Mississippi Thad Cochran 71.03% R Cochran84.58% R Missouri Jean Carnahan Appointed Talent 49.80% R Montana Max Baucus 49.56% D Baucus 62.74% D Nebraska Chuck Hagel 56.14% R Hagel82.76% R New Hampshire Bob Smith 49.25% R Sununu50.12% R New Jersey Bob Torricelli 52.12% D Lautenberg53.88% D New Mexico Pete Domenici 64.73% R Domenici65.03% R North Carolina Jesse Helms 52.64% R Dole53.56% R Oklahoma Jim Inhofe 56.68% R Inhofe57.30% R Oregon Gordon Smith 49.80% R Smith 56.21% R Rhode Island Jack Reed 63.31% D Reed78.43% D South Carolina Strom Thurmond 53.38% R Graham54.40% R South Dakota Tim Johnson 51.32% D Johnson 49.62% D Tennessee Fred Thompson 61.37% R Alexander 54.28% R Texas Phil Gramm 54.78% R Cornyn55.30% R Virginia John Warner 52.48% R Warner82.58% R West Virginia Jay Rockefeller 76.65% D Rockefeller63.11% D Wyoming Mike Enzi 54.06% R Enzi72.95% R

Race summary Special elections during the 107th Congress In these special elections, the winner was seated in the fall of 2002; ordered by election date, then state.

State Incumbent Result Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Missouri(Class 1) Jean Carnahan Democratic 2001 Interim appointee lost election.New senator elected November 5, 2002.Republican gain.

Elections leading to the next Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2003; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State Incumbent Result Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Alabama Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Alaska Republican 1968 1970 (special)19721978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Arkansas Republican 1996 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Colorado Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Delaware Democratic 19721978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Georgia Democratic 1996 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Idaho Republican 19901996 Incumbent re-elected. Illinois Democratic 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Iowa Democratic 198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Kansas Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Kentucky Republican 198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Louisiana Democratic 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Maine Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Democratic 198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Democratic 1978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota Independence 2002 Interim appointee ineligible to run.Republican gain. Mississippi Republican 1978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Montana Democratic 1978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Nebraska Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire Republican 19901996 Incumbent lost renomination.Republican hold. New Jersey Democratic 1996 Incumbent renominated but withdrew.Democratic hold. New Mexico Republican 19721978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. North Carolina Republican 19721978198419901996 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. Oklahoma Republican 1994 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Oregon Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Democratic 1996 Incumbent re-elected. South Carolina Republican 1954 (write-in)1954 1956 1956 1960196619721978198419901996 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. South Dakota Democratic 1996 Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee Republican 1994 1996 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. Texas Republican 198419901996 Incumbent retired.Republican hold.Incumbent resigned November 30, 2002, to give Cornyn preferential seniority.Winner appointed December 2, 2002. Virginia Republican 1978198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. West Virginia Democratic 198419901996 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming Republican 1996 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races In eleven races the margin of victory was under 10% District Winner Margin South Dakota Democratic 0.16% Missouri (special) Republican (flip) 1.1% Minnesota Republican (flip) 2.2% Louisiana Democratic 3.4% New Hampshire Republican 4.4% Colorado Republican 4.9% Georgia Republican (flip) 6.9% Arkansas Democratic (flip) 7.0% North Carolina Republican 8.6% Tennessee Republican 9.9% New Jersey Democratic 9.9%

Alabama

Since around 1980, Alabama voters had increasingly voted for Republican candidates at the federal level, especially in Presidential elections. By contrast, Democratic candidates had been elected to many state-level offices and comprised a longstanding majority in the Alabama Legislature.

Incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions was not challenged in the primary, and comfortably won re-election to a second term over state Auditor Susan Parker .

Sessions was not challenged in the primary.

McPhillips received a large amount of support in the southern part of the state, but Parker won the most votes. Sowell endorsed Parker for the run-off.

Alaska

Incumbent Ted Stevens ran for and won a seventh term. He faced perennial candidate Frank Vondersaar, the Democratic nominee, journalist Jim Sykes, the Green Party nominee, and several other independent candidates in his bid for re-election. Ultimately, Stevens crushed his opponents to win what would be his last term in the Senate, allowing him to win with the largest margin of victory for any Senate election in Alaska, as well as the highest percentage of the vote in any of his elections.

Arkansas

Incumbent Republican Tim Hutchinson ran for a second term, but lost re-election to Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor.

Colorado

Incumbent Republican Wayne Allard won re-election to a second term over former U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland.

Delaware

Incumbent Democrat Joe Biden comfortably won re-election to a sixth term.

Georgia