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![]() County results Owens: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Heath: 40–50% 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Colorado |
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The 2002 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to elect the governor of Colorado. Bill Owens, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic nominee Rollie Heath to win a second term. Owen's win set the record for biggest win by a Republican in a Colorado gubernatorial election (Democrats won by larger margins in 1982, 1948, and 1928, with Billy Adams' 35 point blowout in that year being the greatest victory for a candidate of any party). [1] As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican was elected Governor of Colorado and the only time in the past half-century that a Republican won a majority in the state.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Owens (incumbent) | 189,705 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 189,705 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Rollie Heath | 98,897 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 98,897 | 100.00 |
No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Democratic |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||
Bill Owens | Rollie Heath | |||||
1 | Sep. 7, 2002 | Club 20 KJCT-TV | Jerry Groswald | C-SPAN | P | P |
2 | Sep. 24, 2002 | City Club of Denver | C-SPAN | P | P | |
3 | Oct. 17, 2002 | KUSA (TV) The Denver Post | Jim Benemann | C-SPAN | P | P |
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report [3] | Safe R | October 31, 2002 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball [4] | Safe R | November 4, 2002 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Owens (inc.) | 884,583 | 62.62% | +13.58% | |
Democratic | Rollie Heath | 475,373 | 33.65% | −14.77% | |
Green | Ronald Forthofer | 32,099 | 2.27% | – | |
Libertarian | Ralph Shnelvar | 20,547 | 1.45% | −0.23% | |
Majority | 409,210 | 28.97% | +28.34% | ||
Turnout | 1,412,602 | ||||
Republican hold |