2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota

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2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota
Flag of Minnesota (1983-2024).svg
←  1996 November 5, 2002 2008  →
  Norm Coleman, official portrait (108th Congress).jpg 42 Walter Mondale 3x4.jpg
Nominee Norm Coleman Walter Mondale
(replaced Paul Wellstone on the ballot)
Party Republican Democratic (DFL)
Popular vote1,116,6971,067,246
Percentage49.53%47.34%
2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota results map by county.svg
2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota results map by precinct.svg
Coleman:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Mondale:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Moore:     40–50%
Wellstone:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Write-ins:     40–50%     >90%
Tie:     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No votes
U.S. senator before election

Dean Barkley [a]
Independence

Elected U.S. Senator

Norm Coleman
Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone was running for a third term but died in a plane crash eleven days before the election. The Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) quickly chose former Vice President and 1984 presidential nominee Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale had previously held the seat from 1964 to 1976, resigning to assume the vice presidency. He narrowly lost to Republican Norm Coleman, the former mayor of Saint Paul. The day before the election, Governor Jesse Ventura appointed the 1996 Independence Party candidate, Dean Barkley, to serve the remainder of Wellstone's term. [1]

Contents

This is the last time in a midterm election that the party controlling the White House flipped a Senate seat in a state they did not win in the preceding presidential election. This marked the first election that Mondale had lost in Minnesota, as he had even narrowly carried it against Ronald Reagan in his landslide defeat in the 1984 United States presidential election, where he lost 49 states, winning only Minnesota and the District of Columbia. As a result of his defeat in this election, Mondale became the first, and so far only, major-party candidate in American history to have lost a general election in every single state. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota, and the only time since 1994.

Primary elections

DFL

Paul Wellstone defeated Dick Franson 93% to 5%.

Following Wellstone's death 11 days prior to Election Day, the DFL Party nominated Walter Mondale as its replacement candidate.

Republican

Norm Coleman defeated Jack Shepard 95% to 5%.

General election

Candidates

Deceased

  • Paul Wellstone, incumbent Senator since 1991 (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) (died October 25)

Campaign

Mondale campaigned on his experience, and promised more education for students, more safety for seniors, and to "continue Wellstone's fight for people". Coleman campaigned on more jobs, less taxes, a promise of "a brighter future for Minnesota", and to "help change the tone in Washington D.C." [2]

At the time of his death, Wellstone was slightly ahead in the polls. After Mondale was chosen as the DFL candidate, he led 47% to 39% in a poll taken a few days before the election. [3]

Four days after Wellstone's death, a televised public memorial drew significant backlash for a tone that was widely characterized as more appropriate for a "political rally" [4] —a story that dominated the final days before the election.

Early on Election Day, Mondale was leading, but by nightfall Coleman pulled ahead, winning by 2.2%. [5] Many observers, including the event's host, former St. Paul mayor George Latimer, blamed the memorial's tone for the election result. [6]

Debates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [7] Lean D (flip)November 4, 2002

Results

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Norm Coleman 1,116,697 49.53% +8.25%
Democratic (DFL) Walter Mondale 1,067,24647.34%−2.98%
Independence Jim Moore45,1392.00%−4.98%
Democratic (DFL) Paul Wellstone (incumbent)† [b] 11,3810.50%n/a
Green Ray Tricomo10,1190.48%n/a
Constitution Miro Drago Kovatchevich2,2540.10%n/a
Write-in 1,8030.08%n/a
Total votes2,254,639 100.00% n/a
Republican gain from Independence

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Aftermath

After Coleman was declared the winner, Mondale conceded and said in his speech: "At the end of what will be my last campaign, I want to say to Minnesota, you always treated me well, you always listened to me". His loss, combined with his landslide defeat in the United States presidential election in 1984, made him the only American major-party candidate to have lost a general election in every state. Although George McGovern had also lost 49 states in the 1972 presidential election and lost the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary in 1984, he never lost a general election in Massachusetts. Although Mondale did not seek office again, he remained active politically.

Coleman was sworn in on January 3, 2003. He served one term in the United States Senate, losing to Al Franken by a very narrow margin of just 312 votes or 0.01% in the 2008 election.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In October 2002, Barkley was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura to fill the vacancy caused by the death of incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone eleven days before the election. Barkley served the last two months of Wellstone's term.
  2. ↑ Absentee ballots cast for Wellstone before his death. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "Mondale Concedes to Coleman". FOX News Network, LLC. Associated Press. November 6, 2002. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Minnesota Senate Campaign Commercials | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  3. ↑ Associated Press (October 29, 2002). "Poll: Mondale Leads Over Coleman". Edwardsville Intelligencer.
  4. ↑ "MPR: Wellstone staff apologizes for memorial service rhetoric". news.minnesota.publicradio.org. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  5. ↑ "2002 General Election Results". Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  6. ↑ Grow, Doug (October 24, 2008). "Six years later, Wellstone memorial host Latimer still agonizes over event's political fallout". MinnPost. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  8. ↑ Brama, Elizabeth M. (2003). "Erlandson v. Kiffmeyer: Minnesota's Absentee Voting Laws Following the Sudden Death of Incumbent Candidate Paul Wellstone". William Mitchell Law Review . 1 (2): 404. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
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