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2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

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2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

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FieldValue
election_name2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
countryPennsylvania
typepresidential
ongoingno
previous_election1998 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
previous_year1998
next_election2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
next_year2006
election_dateNovember 5, 2002
image_sizex150px
image1File:Ed Rendell ID2004 crop (cropped).JPG
nominee1**Ed Rendell**
running_mate1**Catherine Baker Knoll**
party1Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote1**1,913,235**
percentage1**53.41%**
nominee2Mike Fisher
running_mate2Jane Earll
party2Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote21,589,408
percentage244.37%
map_image
map_size250px
map_caption**Rendell**:
**Fisher**:
**Tie**:
titleGovernor
before_electionMark Schweiker
before_partyRepublican Party (United States)
after_electionEd Rendell
after_partyDemocratic Party (United States)
image2Image:MikeFisher (cropped).jpg

Fisher:
Tie:
The 2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Schweiker, who took office in 2001 when Tom Ridge resigned to become Homeland Security Advisor, was eligible to run for a full term, but did not do so. Democrat Ed Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia and Chair of the Democratic National Committee, emerged from a competitive primary to win the general election against Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher.

Rendell won the election, with commentators attributing his victory to "endless retail politicking" and a hard-working campaign. Fisher's strategy backfired; Rendell performed well in much of Eastern Pennsylvania and he was able to win by huge margins in even many traditionally Republican suburbs.

Rendell was the first official from Philadelphia to win the governorship since 1914. This was the first time since 1826 that a Democrat won all four of Philadelphia's suburban counties and the first time since 1970 that a Democrat won Montgomery County in a gubernatorial election.

Republican primary

Attorney General Mike Fisher ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Although incumbent Governor Mark Schweiker was eligible to run for election to a full term (he had served only a partial term after Tom Ridge resigned to become Homeland Security Advisor), he chose not to seek his party's nomination. Despite polls showing that Schweiker polled well among the same groups that backed Ridge, the Republican establishment considered Schweiker to be a weak candidate and stood steadfast behind Fisher.

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Ed Rendell, former Mayor of Philadelphia and candidate in 1986
  • Bob Casey Jr., incumbent Auditor General and son of former Governor Bob Casey Sr.

Campaign

In the Democratic primary, former mayor of Philadelphia Ed Rendell defeated Pennsylvania Auditor General Bob Casey Jr., bucking the "myth that a Philadelphian could never win" a statewide election. Despite strong support from organized labor for Casey, lackluster campaigning combined with Rendell's ability to cast himself as a strong executive allowed him to pull out a primary win.

Results

Democratic primary results

]]

General election

Campaign

Fisher emphasized Rendell's Philadelphia roots continuously during his campaign and described the mayor as an urban liberal whose programs would require huge tax increases.

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administeredSample
sizeMargin
of errorEd
Rendell (D)Mike
Fisher (R)Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSAOctober 26–28, 2002668 (LV)± 3.9%**56%**37%7%

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political ReportOctober 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 4, 2002

Results

Results by county

CountyEd Rendell
DemocraticMike Fisher
RepublicanKen Krawchuk
LibertarianMichael Morrill
GreenMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%#%Totals1,913,23553.41%1,589,40844.37%40,9231.14%38,4231.07%323,8279.04%3,581,989
Adams7,73231.99%15,95065.98%1990.82%2921.21%-8,218-33.99%24,173
Allegheny209,70853.66%169,41443.35%6,6731.71%4,9911.28%40,2948.31%390,786
Armstrong7,96539.11%11,89858.43%2881.41%2131.05%-3,933-19.32%20,364
Beaver27,32252.05%23,74445.23%7911.51%6361.21%3,5786.82%52,493
Bedford4,51630.24%10,19068.23%980.66%1300.87%-5,674-37.99%14,934
Berks56,59255.20%43,79042.71%1,0271.00%1,1191.09%12,80212.49%102,528
Blair10,35629.99%23,53068.15%3070.89%3360.97%-13,174-38.16%34,529
Bradford4,94730.83%10,81567.40%1300.81%1550.97%-5,868-36.57%16,047
Bucks127,85063.28%70,00034.64%2,6851.33%1,5160.75%57,85028.64%202,051
Butler18,14534.91%32,40062.34%7681.48%6591.27%-14,255-27.43%51,972
Cambria20,30543.39%25,55654.61%4801.03%4550.97%-5,251-11.22%46,796
Cameron57135.07%1,03263.39%100.61%150.92%-461-28.32%1,628
Carbon8,59854.79%6,60042.05%2881.84%2081.33%1,99812.74%15,692
Centre14,55741.71%19,02754.52%3971.14%9182.63%-4,470-12.81%34,899
Chester81,99657.41%58,66941.08%1,1590.81%9900.69%23,32716.33%142,814
Clarion3,93434.08%7,39764.08%1030.89%1090.94%-3,463-30.00%11,543
Clearfield10,22141.64%13,82256.32%2320.95%2691.10%-3,601-14.68%24,544
Clinton4,34147.79%4,43448.81%1151.27%1942.14%-93-1.02%9,084
Columbia7,00441.89%9,30455.65%1470.88%2631.57%-2,300-13.76%16,718
Crawford9,15535.74%15,55160.71%4981.94%4111.60%-6,396-24.97%25,615
Cumberland24,23736.31%40,96661.37%7611.14%7881.18%-16,729-25.06%66,752
Dauphin33,53742.05%44,23155.45%1,0161.27%9801.23%-10,694-13.40%79,764
Delaware123,11765.12%62,64933.14%2,0441.08%1,2600.67%60,46831.98%189,070
Elk3,91740.87%5,46857.05%1051.10%950.99%-1,551-16.18%9,585
Erie32,77441.72%43,09554.85%1,0711.36%1,6232.07%-10,321-13.13%78,563
Fayette19,08256.56%13,87841.14%4971.47%2790.83%5,20415.42%33,736
Forest61333.76%1,17064.43%140.77%191.05%-557-30.67%1,816
Franklin10,33529.93%23,68968.61%2220.64%2790.81%-13,354-38.68%34,525
Fulton1,13829.47%2,68169.42%330.85%100.26%-1,543-39.95%3,862
Greene5,01353.02%4,20944.52%890.94%1441.52%8048.50%9,455
Huntingdon3,69731.18%7,84266.13%770.65%2422.04%-4,145-34.95%11,858
Indiana9,89741.26%13,46256.12%2030.85%4241.77%-3,565-14.86%23,986
Jefferson3,87930.02%8,74567.67%1501.16%1491.15%-4,866-37.65%12,923
Juniata2,18729.76%5,02768.40%620.84%730.99%-2,840-38.64%7,349
Lackawanna40,20658.22%26,09937.79%1,8882.73%8681.26%14,10720.43%69,061
Lancaster40,79132.23%83,60766.07%8710.69%1,2801.01%-42,816-33.84%126,549
Lawrence14,62852.01%13,01046.25%2440.87%2450.87%1,6185.76%28,127
Lebanon12,71235.17%22,65962.69%4521.25%3230.89%-9,947-27.52%36,146
Lehigh48,15056.72%34,73840.92%1,0741.27%9341.10%13,41215.80%84,896
Luzerne45,64152.61%38,76044.68%8911.03%1,4541.68%6,8817.93%86,746
Lycoming9,93731.47%20,75165.72%3571.13%5321.68%-10,814-34.25%31,577
McKean3,21532.76%6,37364.94%1311.33%940.96%-3,158-32.18%9,813
Mercer14,16145.13%16,42952.36%3431.09%4441.42%-2,268-7.23%31,377
Mifflin3,36231.32%7,12266.35%1611.50%890.83%-3,760-35.03%10,734
Monroe14,57047.34%15,25849.57%4471.45%5031.63%-688-2.23%30,778
Montgomery175,15767.16%81,83531.38%2,1210.81%1,6900.65%93,32235.78%260,803
Montour1,84738.00%2,87359.10%571.17%841.73%-1,026-21.10%4,861
Northampton42,55458.52%28,22838.82%1,0881.50%8461.16%14,32619.70%72,716
Northumberland10,77441.52%14,47955.80%3821.47%3131.21%-3,705-14.28%25,948
Perry3,42626.28%9,28671.22%1651.27%1611.23%-5,860-44.94%13,038
Philadelphia339,69784.08%59,22314.66%1,9760.49%3,1290.77%280,47469.42%404,025
Pike4,04937.46%6,48259.97%1241.15%1541.42%-2,433-22.51%10,809
Potter1,35727.67%3,47170.76%380.77%390.80%-2,114-43.09%4,905
Schuylkill25,23351.47%22,69246.29%5151.05%5851.19%2,5415.18%49,025
Snyder2,59927.59%6,62370.32%670.71%1301.38%-4,024-42.73%9,419
Somerset8,08832.64%16,24465.56%1890.76%2571.04%-8,156-32.92%24,778
Sullivan85636.27%1,44161.06%311.31%321.36%-585-24.79%2,360
Susquehanna4,24433.35%8,17564.25%1040.82%2011.58%-3,931-30.90%12,724
Tioga3,27529.41%7,69669.12%620.56%1010.91%-4,421-39.71%11,134
Union3,15333.27%6,05863.93%740.78%1912.02%-2,905-30.66%9,476
Venango5,55136.54%9,18860.48%2381.57%2141.41%-3,637-23.94%15,191
Warren4,82340.45%6,82357.22%1251.05%1531.28%-2,000-16.77%11,924
Washington30,36850.67%28,36847.33%6421.07%5600.93%2,0003.34%59,938
Wayne4,39533.87%8,11862.56%1190.92%3442.65%-3,723-28.69%12,976
Westmoreland48,99244.77%58,01853.01%1,4471.32%9800.90%-9,026-8.24%109,437
Wyoming2,93835.31%5,15261.92%700.84%1611.93%-2,214-26.61%8,321
York33,24833.27%63,89463.94%1,6911.69%1,0881.09%-30,646-30.67%99,921

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

  • Allegheny (Largest city: Pittsburgh)
  • Beaver (largest city: Beaver)
  • Fayette (largest city: Uniontown)
  • Carbon (largest municipality: Lehighton)
  • Schuylkill (Largest city: Pottsville)
  • Bucks (largest municipality: Bensalem)
  • Berks (largest city: Reading)
  • Chester (largest municipality: West Chester)
  • Greene (largest municipality: Waynesburg)
  • Delaware (largest city: Upper Darby)
  • Lackawanna (largest city: Scranton)
  • Montgomery (largest city: Lower Merion)
  • Lawrence (largest municipality: New Castle)
  • Luzerne (largest municipality: Wilkes-Barre)
  • Lehigh (largest municipality: Allentown)
  • Northampton (largest municipality: Bethlehem)
  • Washington (largest municipality: Peters Township)

Notes

References

References

  1. (September 2016). ["The Best and Worst Campaigns'02"](http://www.politicspa.com/FEATURES/best+and+worst2.htm}}{{dead link). The Publius Group.
  2. Kennedy, John J.. (2006). "Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests From 1950–2004". University Press of America.
  3. (September 2016). ["The Best and Worst of Primary '02"](http://www.politicspa.com/FEATURES/best+and+worst.htm}}{{dead link). The Publius Group.
  4. (2004). "Governor, 2002 General Primary". Pennsylvania Department of State.
  5. [https://www.surveyusa.com/2002Elec.html SurveyUSA]
  6. (October 31, 2002). "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 {{!}} The Cook Political Report".
  7. (November 4, 2002). "Governors Races".
  8. (2004). "Governor, 2002 General Election". Pennsylvania Department of State.
  9. "2002 General Election (Official Returns)". Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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