2002 United States Senate election in West Virginia

2002 United States Senate election in West Virginia

←  1996 November 5, 2002 2008  →

Nominee Jay Rockefeller Jay Wolfe Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 275,281 160,902 Percentage 63.11% 36.89%

County results Rockefeller:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Wolfe:      50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Jay Rockefeller Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller Democratic

The 2002 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 5. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Republican Jay Wolfe.

This was one of the six Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that George W. Bush won in the 2000 presidential election.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Jay Rockefeller, incumbent U.S. Senator

Republican

• Jay Wolfe, State Senator and nominee for U.S. Senate for 1988

Campaign

Wolfe ran a Grassroots campaign. Rockefeller was the heavy favorite. ^{[1] [2]} Rockefeller had $2.9 million cash on hand to Wolfe at $100,536 (In mid-October). Wolfe was endorsed by President George W. Bush and the National Rifle Association of America, but it wasn't enough to make the election competitive. ^[3]

Predictions

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

Results

2002 United States Senate election in West Virginia ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jay Rockefeller (incumbent)	275,281	63.11%	−13.54%
	Republican	Jay Wolfe	160,902	36.89%	+13.54%
Total votes			436,183	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Doddridge (largest municipality: West Union)
• Morgan (largest municipality: Berkeley Springs)
• Grant (largest municipality: Petersburg)
• Ritchie (largest municipality: Harrisville)

See also

• 2002 United States Senate elections

References

1. Gizzi, John (August 19, 2002). "Races of the week: Wolfe vs. Rockefeller". Human Events. 58 (31): 14, 21. ProQuest   235818357.
2. Wrenn, Deanna (October 29, 2002). "Poll puts incumbent in the lead: ; Wolfe says he still plans on beating Rockefeller Nov. 5". Charleston Daily Mail. p. 1A. ProQuest   331821155.
3. McCreary, Joedy (November 1, 2002). "Wolfe hopes grass-roots push unseats Rockefeller". The Charleston Gazette. p. 3A. ProQuest   331099095.
4. "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
5. "Our Campaigns - WV US Senate Race - November 05, 2002". Archived from the original on October 14, 2007.