2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
	November 5, 2002
	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

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

[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]

Federal elections in Massachusetts
U.S. President	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
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"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts

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