2002 Massachusetts elections

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 5, 2002 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The election included:

• statewide elections for U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer, and Auditor;
• district elections for U.S. Representatives, State Representatives, State Senators, and Governor's Councillors; and
• ballot questions at the state and local levels.

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held September 17, 2002.

Republicans Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey were elected governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, over Democratic candidates Shannon O'Brien and Chris Gabrieli, Green-Rainbow candidates Jill Stein and Tony Lorenzen, Libertarian candidates Carla Howell and Rich Aucoin, and independent candidates Barbara C. Johnson and Joe Schebel.

Democrat William F. Galvin was re-elected Secretary of the Commonwealth for a third term. He defeated perennial candidate Jack E. Robinson III in the general election.

Democrat Thomas Reilly ran unopposed.

• Michael P. Cahill, State Representative from Beverly
• Timothy P. Cahill, Norfolk County Treasurer
• Stephen J. Murphy, member of the Boston City Council
• Jim Segel, former State Representative from Brookline and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association

• Dan Grabauskas, Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles
• Bruce A. Herzfelder, businessman

Democrat A. Joseph DeNucci was re-elected Auditor. He defeated Libertarian Kamal Jain and Independent John James Xenakis.

Democratic incumbent John Kerry was re-elected over his Libertarian challenger Michael Cloud.

see 2002 Massachusetts Senate election^[3]

see 2002 Massachusetts House election^[3]

See 2002 Massachusetts Governor's Council election

There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which Massachusetts voters considered in this election. There were also various local ballot questions around the commonwealth.

Abolishing the state income tax. A law to eliminate any state personal income tax for income or other gain realized on or after July 1, 2003.^[8]

English Language Education in Public Schools Initiative: Abolishing bilingual education and replacing it with a one-year program of rapid English immersion. A law that would require that, with limited exceptions, all public-school children must be taught all subjects in English.^[9]

Taxpayer funding for Clean Elections. A non-binding question relative to the funding of political campaigns for public office, with the "no" vote indicating voters were not in favor of publicly funded elections.^[9] This was a reversal of opinion against the Clean Elections Law passed by voter referendum in 1988.^[9] The law was repealed by the legislature as part of the 2003 state budget.^[11] The legislature had refused to fund the law, which prompted state courts to order the sale of a disused state hospital, state-owned automobiles, and desks and sofas in the offices of legislative leaders Thomas M. Finneran, Salvatore F. DiMasi, and Joseph F. Wagner.^[11]

• "Nov 5, 2002 general election", PD43+ Massachusetts Election Statistics, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts