2002 United States Senate election in Kentucky

2002 United States Senate election in Kentucky

←  1996 November 5, 2002 2008  →

Nominee Mitch McConnell Lois Combs Weinberg Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 731,679 399,634 Percentage 64.68% 35.32%

County results McConnell:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Weinberg:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Mitch McConnell Republican Elected U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell won re-election to a fourth term. This election was McConnell's biggest margin of victory to date. It is the only election in which he won Franklin County, and the most recent in which he won urban Jefferson and Fayette counties. The latter two were the only Kentucky counties won by either Hillary Clinton in 2016 or Joe Biden in 2020, signifying their leftward drift.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Lois Combs Weinberg, Vice Chair of the Council on Postsecondary Education in Kentucky
• Tom Barlow, former U.S. Representative from Paducah (1993–95)

Results

Democratic primary results by county

  Combs Weinberg

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Barlow

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Democratic primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lois Combs Weinberg	231,013	50.10%
	Democratic	Tom Barlow	230,055	49.90%
Total votes			461,068	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

McConnell was unopposed.

General election

Candidates

• Mitch McConnell (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Lois Combs Weinberg (D), Vice Chair of the Council on Postsecondary Education in Kentucky

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [2]	Safe R	November 4, 2002

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Mitch McConnell (R)	Lois Weinberg (D)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA [3]	October 28–30, 2002	705 (LV)	± 3.8%	66%	29%	4%

Results

General election results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mitch McConnell (incumbent)	731,679	64.68%	+9.22%
	Democratic	Lois Combs Weinberg	399,634	35.32%	−7.52%
Majority			332,045	29.35%	+16.74%
Total votes			1,131,313	100.00%
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Magoffin (Largest city: Salyersville)
• Webster (Largest city: Providence)
• Morgan (Largest city: West Liberty)
• Henderson (Largest city: Henderson)
• Letcher (Largest city: Jenkins)
• Muhlenberg (Largest city: Central City)
• Fulton (Largest city: Fulton)
• Bath (Largest city: Owingsville)
• Marion (Largest city: Lebanon)
• Menifee (Largest city: Frenchburg)
• Rowan (Largest city: Morehead)
• Jefferson (Largest city: Louisville)
• Carlisle (Largest city: Bardwell)
• Livingston (Largest city: Salem)
• Hopkins (Largest city: Madisonville)
• Marshall (Largest city: Benton)
• Graves (Largest city: Mayfield)
• Hickman (Largest city: Clinton)
• Lyon (Largest city: Eddyville)
• Montgomery (Largest city: Mount Sterling)
• Union (Largest city: Morganfield)
• Perry (Largest city: Hazard)
• Ballard (Largest city: LaCenter)
• Boyd (Largest city: Ashland)
• Harlan (Largest city: Cumberland)

See also

• 2002 United States Senate election

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

References

1. "KENTUCKY STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS REPORT OF "OFFICIAL" ELECTION NIGHT TALLY RESULT". Archived from the original on November 11, 2010.
2. "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
3. SurveyUSA
4. "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".