The 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry won re-election to a fourth term against Libertarian Michael Cloud, with no Republican filing to run.
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The lack of a Republican Party candidate caused Cloud to receive the largest percentage of votes for a U.S. Senate candidate in the Libertarian Party's history at that time, though this record has since been eclipsed by Joe Miller in Alaska in 2016 and Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. in Arkansas in 2020. Cloud also won the largest number of raw votes for a Libertarian candidate at the time, since eclipsed by Harrington.
Kerry's support for the invasion of Iraq also prompted a late write-in challenge by anti-war candidate Randall Forsberg.
Democratic primary
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John F. Kerry (Incumbent) | 615,517 | 99.35% | |
| Write-in | 3,979 | 0.65% | ||
| Total votes | 619,496 | 100.00% | ||
General election
editCandidates
edit- Michael Cloud (Libertarian)
- Randall Forsberg, anti-war activist (Independent, write-in)
- John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1985 (Democratic)
Predictions
edit| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[1] | Safe D | November 4, 2002 |
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Kerry (incumbent) | 1,605,976 | 80.03% |  27.29
| |
| Libertarian | Michael Cloud | 369,807 | 18.43% | N/A | |
| Independent | Randall Forsberg (write-in) | 24,898 | 1.24% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 6,077 | 0.30% | 0.24
| ||
| Total votes | 2,006,758 | 100.00% | |||
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
edit- Barnstable (largest municipality: Barnstable)
- Essex (largest municipality: Lynn)
- Hampden (largest municipality: Springfield)
- Plymouth (largest municipality: Brockton)
- Worcester (largest municipality: Worcester)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "PD43+ >> 2002 U.S. Senate General Election". Massachusetts Elections Division. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (May 1, 2003). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002". U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 19.