2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota
January 01, 1970
The 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson narrowly won re-election to a second term over Republican John Thune by a margin of 524 votes, or 0.15%. This made the election the closest race of the 2002 Senate election cycle.
2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota
Thune ran against Tim Johnson, who narrowly won his first senate election in 1996. Thune launched a television advertising campaign mentioning al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, contending that both are seeking nuclear weapons and that this country needs a missile defense system, something Johnson voted against 29 times and that Thune supports. The incumbent attacked Thune for politicizing national security.[2] President George W. Bush campaigned for Thune in late October.[3] More than $20 million was spent in the election. Both candidates had raised over $5 million each.[4]
Johnson narrowly prevailed over Thune by a mere 524 votes. Despite the extremely close results, Thune did not contest the results and conceded defeat on the late afternoon of November 9. Johnson's narrow victory may be attributed to his strong support in Oglala Lakota County, and to Thune also underperforming in typically Republican areas. Johnson was sworn in for a second term on January 3, 2003. Thune was elected to South Dakota's other Senate seat in 2004, defeating incumbent minority leader Tom Daschle. He served alongside Johnson until the latter retired in 2015.
^"Rothrock Library". Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
^"Rothrock Library". Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
^"Rothrock Library". Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
^. www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^"Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
January 01, 1970
2002, united, states, senate, election, south, dakota, held, november, 2002, incumbent, democratic, senator, johnson, narrowly, election, second, term, over, republican, john, thune, margin, votes, this, made, election, closest, race, 2002, senate, election, c. The 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 5 2002 Incumbent Democratic U S Senator Tim Johnson narrowly won re election to a second term over Republican John Thune by a margin of 524 votes or 0 15 This made the election the closest race of the 2002 Senate election cycle 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota 1996 November 5 2002 2008 Nominee Tim Johnson John Thune Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 167 481 166 957 Percentage 49 62 49 47 County resultsJohnson 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 gt 90 Thune 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 U S senator before election Tim Johnson Democratic Elected U S Senator Tim Johnson Democratic Thune later won South Dakota s other U S Senate seat in 2004 2010 2016 and 2022 Contents 1 Democratic primary 1 1 Candidates 1 2 Results 2 General election 2 1 Candidates 2 2 Campaign 2 3 Debates 2 4 Predictions 2 5 Results 2 5 1 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican 2 5 2 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic 3 See also 4 ReferencesDemocratic primary editCandidates edit Tim Johnson incumbent U S Senator Herman Eilers Results edit Democratic primary results 1 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Tim Johnson incumbent 65 438 94 84 Democratic Herman Eilers 3 558 5 16 Total votes 68 996 100 00 General election editCandidates edit Kurt Evans L teacher Tim Johnson D incumbent U S Senator John Thune R U S Representative Campaign edit Thune ran against Tim Johnson who narrowly won his first senate election in 1996 Thune launched a television advertising campaign mentioning al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein contending that both are seeking nuclear weapons and that this country needs a missile defense system something Johnson voted against 29 times and that Thune supports The incumbent attacked Thune for politicizing national security 2 President George W Bush campaigned for Thune in late October 3 More than 20 million was spent in the election Both candidates had raised over 5 million each 4 Debates edit Complete video of debate August 27 2002 Complete video of debate October 7 2002 Complete video of debate October 21 2002 Complete video of debate October 24 2002 Predictions edit Source Ranking As of Sabato s Crystal Ball 5 Lean D November 4 2002 Results edit Johnson narrowly prevailed over Thune by a mere 524 votes Despite the extremely close results Thune did not contest the results and conceded defeat on the late afternoon of November 9 Johnson s narrow victory may be attributed to his strong support in Oglala Lakota County and to Thune also underperforming in typically Republican areas Johnson was sworn in for a second term on January 3 2003 Thune was elected to South Dakota s other Senate seat in 2004 defeating incumbent minority leader Tom Daschle He served alongside Johnson until the latter retired in 2015 General election results 6 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Tim Johnson incumbent 167 481 49 62 1 70 Republican John Thune 166 957 49 47 0 79 Libertarian Kurt Evans 3 070 0 91 Total votes 334 438 100 00 N A Democratic hold Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican edit Union Largest city Dakota Dunes Davison largest city Mitchell Gregory largest city Gregory Hamlin largest city Estelline Lincoln largest city Sioux Falls Turner largest city Parker Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic edit Bennett largest city Martin Corson Largest city McLaughlin Mellette Largest city White River See also edit2002 United States Senate electionsReferences edit http www sdsos gov electionsvoteregistration pastelections electioninfo02 statewideprimaryofficialret shtm US Archived 2006 02 16 at the Wayback Machine Sen D Rothrock Library Archived from the original on July 7 2012 Retrieved September 18 2010 Rothrock Library Archived from the original on July 7 2012 Retrieved September 18 2010 Rothrock Library Archived from the original on July 1 2012 Retrieved September 18 2010 Senate Races www centerforpolitics org November 4 2002 Archived from the original on November 18 2002 Retrieved June 25 2021 Office of the Clerk U S House of Representatives Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota amp oldid 1196952462, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
