| ||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 55.3%5.8 [1] | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Bush: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% McBride: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Florida |
---|
Government |
The 2002 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, for the post of Governor of Florida. Incumbent Republican governor Jeb Bush defeated Democratic candidate Bill McBride. Bush became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election to a second term. [2] [3] This election was the last time until 2022 that a Florida gubernatorial candidate won the general election by double digits or that a Republican won Miami-Dade County.
Jeb Bush announced that he would run for re-election in June 2001 after first being elected in 1998. [4] Bush was unopposed for the GOP nomination, and spent the summer amassing a war chest of over $5.6 million towards his re-election campaign. [5]
Reno led throughout much of the campaign for the Democratic nomination, boasting name recognition and employing a grassroots strategy. In early June, she led McBride in the polls by a margin of 53%-25%, [7] but trailed in a hypothetical head-to-head against Bush. Reno's primary campaign was dubbed the "Little red pickup truck tour", so-named because she toured the state in her 1999 Ford Ranger. [7] [8]
Over the summer, Reno's lead dwindled. McBride, backed by big money donors, was able to exploit Reno's paltry war chest, and sometime aloof campaign. [5] Reno's connections to the Clinton Administration, and her handling of both the Waco siege and the Elián González affair were frequent topics in the primary. [5]
In the final few weeks, McBride narrowed the gap to a dead heat going into the September 10 primary. [9]
McBride won the nomination by less than 4,800 votes. [9]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Bill McBride | 602,352 | 44.4 | |
Democratic | Janet Reno | 597,558 | 44.0 | |
Democratic | Daryl Jones | 157,107 | 11.6 | |
Total votes | 1,357,017 | 100 |
Reno disputed the results after the primary was marred by problems. Several areas had technical glitches and delayed openings of the poll especially in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, both of which Reno performed strongly in. [4] As a result of the problems, Governor Bush kept the polls open for two additional hours. [11]
McBride selected Tom Rossin, minority leader of the Florida Senate, as his running mate. [12]
McBride's campaign focused on the importance of public education, supporting policies such as teacher pay rises and less emphasis on standardized tests. McBride was helped towards the end of the campaign by visits from national Democratic figures such as former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and Jesse Jackson. [2] Though McBride himself did not make the topic an issue of his campaign, nationwide Democrats saw the race as an opportunity to avenge Al Gore's controversial loss in Florida during the 2000 presidential election and the subsequent recount. [13] Likewise Republicans saw this race a preview of 2004.
President George W. Bush made numerous visits to Florida to support his brother for re-election. [3] Bush had a strong fundraising advantage over McBride in what was seen as one of the pivotal races in the 2002 midterm elections. [2] Republican adverts targeted McBride as a failed lawyer and as a tax and spender. [14]
The two main candidates faced each other in two debates on 27 September and 22 October in the most expensive Florida gubernatorial election yet. [15] [16] [17] Polls towards the end of the campaign showed Bush with a lead over McBride. [14] [16] Department of Justice observers were stationed at some of the polls, [2] but unlike the problems during the 2000 presidential election and the Democratic primary, voting went smoothly. [18]
At the same time as the election, an initiative was passed to limit class sizes. This had been opposed by Bush due to the cost of implementing it but had been supported by McBride. [18]
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report [19] | Tossup | October 31, 2002 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball [20] | Lean R | November 4, 2002 |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size [a] | Margin of error | Jeb Bush (R) | Bill McBride (D) | Other / Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SurveyUSA [21] | November 2–4, 2002 | 792 (LV) | ± 3.6% | 45% | 39% | 5% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jeb Bush (incumbent) | 2,856,845 | 56.0 | +0.7 | |
Democratic | Bill McBride | 2,201,427 | 43.2 | −1.5 | |
No Party Affiliation | Bob Kunst | 42,039 | 0.8 | +0.8 | |
Write-ins | 270 | 0.01 | +0.0 | ||
Majority | 655,418 | 12.8 | +2.3 | ||
Turnout | 5,100,581 | 54.8 | +6.6 | ||
Republican hold | Swing |
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for president of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries.
The 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich won re-election to a second four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich did not complete his term, as he was impeached and removed from office in 2009. This was the first election since 1964 that a Democrat was re-elected governor.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2006, in 36 states and two territories. The elections coincided with the midterm elections of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
William McBride was an American lawyer and politician.
The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor of Texas. The election was a rare five-way race, with incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry running for re-election against Democrat Chris Bell and Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, as well as Libertarian nominee James Werner.
The 2006 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Jeb Bush was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a third consecutive term. The election was won by then-Republican Charlie Crist, the state's Attorney General. The election was notable in that for the first time, the state elected a Republican governor in three consecutive elections.
The 2002 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry, who had ascended to the governorship after the resignation of George W. Bush to become President of the United States, was elected to his first full term in office, winning 58% of the vote to Democrat Tony Sanchez's 40%.
The 1998 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor George W. Bush was re-elected in a landslide over 4-term Democratic Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, winning 68% of the vote to Mauro's 31%. Bush carried 239 counties, while Mauro carried just 15. Exit polls revealed that Bush won 27% of the African-American vote, which was the highest percentage for any Republican statewide candidate, and 49% of the Latino vote. Bush was sworn in for a second term as governor on January 19, 1999.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2002, in 36 states and two territories. The Republicans won eight seats previously held by the Democrats, as well as the seat previously held by Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, who was elected on the Reform Party ticket but had since renounced his party affiliation. The Democrats won 10 seats previously held by the Republicans, as well as the seat previously held by Maine governor Angus King, an independent. The elections were held concurrently with the other United States elections of 2002.
The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the nationwide presidential election. Florida, a swing state, had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. The outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting because of the extended process of counting and recounting Florida's presidential ballots. State results tallied on election night gave 246 electoral votes to Republican nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush and 255 to Democratic nominee Vice President Al Gore, with New Mexico (5), Oregon (7), and Florida (25) too close to call that evening. Gore won New Mexico and Oregon over the following few days, but the result in Florida was decisive, regardless of how those two states had voted.
The 2004 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2004, to elect the governor of Indiana.
The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2003, to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour defeated incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove by a margin of 6.78%.
The 2003 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held to elect the Governor of Kentucky on November 4, 2003. Republican candidate Ernie Fletcher defeated Democrat Ben Chandler and became the first Republican governor of Kentucky in 32 years.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2010 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Governor Bob Riley was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. The party primaries were held on June 1, 2010, with a Republican runoff on July 13. In the general election, Robert J. Bentley defeated Democrat Ron Sparks. This was the first election in which Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. This was also the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican carried Colbert County, Franklin County, and Lawrence County in a gubernatorial race.
The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Republican-turned-Independent incumbent Governor Charlie Crist chose not to run for a second term and he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martínez. This resulted in an open race for Governor of Florida in which Republican Rick Scott narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, other elections to the House and Senate, as well as various state and local elections. The primary election was held August 14, 2012. Incumbent Senator Bill Nelson won reelection to a third term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative Connie Mack IV by 13%, winning 55% to 42%. Nelson defeated Mack by over 1 million votes.
The 1994 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic governor Lawton Chiles won re-election over Republican Jeb Bush, who later won Florida’s governorship in 1998 when Chiles was term-limited. This race was the second-closest gubernatorial election in Florida history since Reconstruction, due to the strong Republican wave of 1994. As of 2024, this is the last time a Democrat was elected Governor of Florida.
The 1998 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to determine the Governor for the State of Florida. Two-term Democratic incumbent Governor Lawton Chiles was term-limited and could not run for re-election. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, who had previously run for governor in 1994 was the Republican nominee, and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay was the Democratic nominee. Bush defeated MacKay by nearly 11% of the vote, and won his first of two terms as governor.
The 2018 Nevada gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Nevada. Incumbent Republican governor Brian Sandoval was ineligible to run for re-election, due to the absolute two-term limit established by the Nevada Constitution. Nevada is one of eight U.S. states that prohibits its governors or any other state and territorial executive branch officials from serving more than two terms, even if they are nonconsecutive.