2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
	Kerry: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
U.S. senator before election; John Kerry ; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator; John Kerry ; Democratic

Last updated April 18, 2025

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. Kerry won every county, congressional district, municipality, and precinct in the state.

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

Democratic primary results
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

Candidates

Michael Cloud (Libertarian)
Randall Forsberg, anti-war activist (Independent, write-in)
John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1985 (Democratic)

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball ^[1]	Safe D	November 4, 2002

Results

2002 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts^[2]^[3]
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

Barnstable (largest municipality: Barnstable)
Essex (largest municipality: Lynn)
Hampden (largest municipality: Springfield)
Plymouth (largest municipality: Brockton)
Worcester (largest municipality: Worcester)

References

↑ "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.

External links

2002 Statewide Election results

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[1] "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

[2] "PD43+ >> 2002 U.S. Senate General Election". Massachusetts Elections Division . Retrieved July 23, 2018.

[Clerk-3] 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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Federal elections in Massachusetts
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"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For statewide elections, see Template:State elections in Massachusetts footer.

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v t e Notable third-party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
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Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022 Puerto Rico 2024
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