2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina

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2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina
Flag of South Carolina.svg
←  1996 November 5, 2002 2008  →
  Lindsey Graham.jpg No image.svg
Nominee Lindsey Graham Alex Sanders
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote600,010487,359
Percentage54.40%44.19%
2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina results map by county.svg
County results

Graham:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Sanders:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
U.S. senator before election

Strom Thurmond
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Lindsey Graham
Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 5, 2002. Longtime Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond decided to retire at the age of 100, becoming the first centenarian to ever serve in Congress; he later died in June 2003. Thurmond's record as the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history was later surpassed by West Virginia's Robert Byrd.

Contents

Representative Lindsey Graham won the open seat, becoming the first non-incumbent Republican Senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction in 1872. This was the first open Senate election in South Carolina since 1956.

Democratic primary

Alex Sanders, the former president of the College of Charleston, faced no opposition in the Democratic primary and thereby avoided a primary election.

Republican primary

Representative Lindsey Graham had no challenge for the Republican nomination and thus avoided a primary election. [1] This was due in large part because the South Carolina Republicans were preoccupied with the gubernatorial race, [2] and also because potential rivals were deterred by the huge financial war chest Graham had amassed early in the campaign. [3]

General election

Candidates

Campaign

The election campaign between Graham and Sanders pitted ideology against personality. Graham spread his message to the voters that he had a consistent conservative voting record and that his votes in Congress closely matched that of outgoing Senator Strom Thurmond. Sanders claimed that he was best to represent South Carolina in the Senate because he held membership in both the NAACP, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the NRA, and because he said that his positions more closely matched the citizens of the state. He said that he was against the death penalty for religious reasons, supported abortion rights, and was for greater government involvement in education. Graham attacked Sanders for these positions consistently throughout the campaign, but Sanders hit back at Graham for wanting to privatize social security.

Graham scored an impressive victory in the general election and the margin of victory proved that Democrats had little chance of winning an election in the state for a federal position. He achieved his victory because he rolled up strong margins the Upstate and was able to also achieve a majority in the Lowcountry, an area which Sanders had been expected to do well since he hailed from Charleston. However, strong support in the Lowcountry for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Sanford doomed Sanders chances of running up a margin in the coastal counties.

Debates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [4] Lean RNovember 4, 2002

Polling

SourceDateGraham (R)Sanders (D)
Zogby International October 11, 2002 47%35%
Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research October 13, 2002 51%34%
SurveyUSA October 20, 2002 53%44%
SurveyUSA October 27, 2002 49%48%
Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research October 29, 2002 53%36%
SurveyUSA November 4, 2002 49%48%

Results

South Carolina U.S. Senate election, 2002 [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Lindsey Graham 600,010 54.40% +1.02%
Democratic Alex Sanders 487,35944.19%+0.20%
Constitution Ted Adams8,2280.75%N/A
Libertarian Victor Kocher6,6840.61%-0.51%
No party Write-Ins 6670.06%N/A
Majority112,65110.21%+0.82%
Turnout 1,102,94853.9%-10.1%
Republican hold Swing


Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

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    References

    General
    1. ↑ Randolph, Eleanor. "How to Succeed an Eight-Term Legend in South Carolina". The New York Times . Retrieved November 17, 2019.
    2. ↑ Halbfinger, David M. "THE 2002 ELECTIONS: THE GOVERNOR RACES; G.O.P. May Retain Its Lead in Statehouses". The New York Times . Retrieved November 17, 2019.
    3. ↑ "Rep. Lindsey Graham - South Carolina District 03". OpenSecrets.
    4. ↑ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
    5. ↑ "2002 U.S. SENATE RESULTS". fec.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
    Specific
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