The 2002 Tennessee State Senate election was held on Tuesday November 5, 2002, to determine which party would control the Tennessee Senate for the following two years in the 103rd Tennessee General Assembly. The seventeen odd-numbered districts of the 33 seat Tennessee Senate were up for election.
Prior to the election 18 seats were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans. Primary elections were held on August 1, 2002. The general election saw both parties holding on to the same amount of seats as the previous election, meaning that Democrats retained control of the Tennessee Senate.
Retirements Two incumbent Republicans did not run for re-election in 2002. Those incumbents were: District 13: Gene Elsea retired. District 23: Marsha Blackburn retired to successfully run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 7th congressional district.
Incumbents defeated In the primary election Republicans District 1: Tommy Haun (R) lost renomination to Steve Southerland.
Democrats District 17: Robert Rochelle (D) lost renomination to Sherry Fisher.
In the general election Republicans District 27: Bobby Carter (R) lost re-election to Don McLeary.
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Cook Political Report | October 4, 2002
Results summary PartyCandidatesVotesSeats%BeforeUpWonAfter+/–Democratic14332,48744.04%187718Republican14412,49054.27%15101015 Independent410,0041.33%0000Total754,981100.00%3333Source:
Closest races Three races were decided by a margin of under 10%: District Winner Margin District 17 data-sort-value=1 (gain) 5.60% District 13 data-sort-value=1 8.42% District 27 data-sort-value=1 (gain) 8.76%
Results by district +DistrictDemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResultVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%District 1––25,111100.00%––25,111100.00%Republican holdDistrict 38,12919.30%30,75873.03%3,2327.67%42,119100.00%Republican holdDistrict 518,63634.52%35,34565.48%––53,981100.00%Republican holdDistrict 717,21038.09%26,81259.34%1,1592.57%45,181100.00%Republican holdDistrict 917,28239.75%26,19560.25%––43,477100.00%Republican holdDistrict 11––41,443100.00%––41,443100.00%Republican holdDistrict 1322,76945.79%26,96054.21%––49,729100.00%Republican holdDistrict 1530,94258.11%21,69140.74%6141.15%53,247100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 1725,59247.20%28,62452.80%––54,216100.00%Republican gainDistrict 1927,872100.00%––––27,872100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2132,70863.42%18,86536.58%––51,573100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 23––55,870100.00%––55,870100.00%Republican holdDistrict 2528,67762.94%16,88737.06%––45,564100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2727,70654.62%23,01845.38%––50,724100.00%Democratic gainDistrict 2927,480100.00%––––27,480100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 3111,18621.89%34,91168.32%4,9999.79%51,096100.00%Republican holdDistrict 3336,298100.00%––––36,298100.00%Democratic hold
Candidates and results District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33__NOTOC__
District 1 Republican primary
General election
District 3 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 5 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 7 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 9 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 11 Republican primary
General election
District 13 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 15 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 17 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 19 Democratic primary
General election
District 21 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 23 Republican primary
General election
District 25 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 27 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 29 Democratic primary
General election
District 31 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 33 Democratic primary
General election
See also 2002 Tennessee elections 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election 2002 Tennessee House of Representatives election
References