2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota explained

Election Name:2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota
Country:Minnesota
Flag Image:File:Flag of Minnesota (1983-2024).svg
Flag Year:1983
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota
Previous Year:1996
Next Election:2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota
Next Year:2008
Election Date:November 5, 2002
Image1:Norm Coleman, official portrait (108th Congress).jpg
Nominee1:Norm Coleman
Party1:Republican Party of Minnesota
Popular Vote1:1,116,697
Percentage1:49.53%
Nominee2:Walter Mondale
Party2:Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
Popular Vote2:1,067,246
Percentage2:47.34%
Map Size:270px
U.S. Senator
Before Election:Dean Barkley
Before Party:Independence Party (Minnesota)
After Election:Norm Coleman
After Party:Republican Party of Minnesota

The 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone was running for a third term but died in a plane crash eleven days before the election. The Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) quickly chose former Vice President and 1984 presidential nominee Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale had previously held the seat from 1964 to 1976, resigning to assume the vice presidency. He narrowly lost to Republican Norm Coleman, the former mayor of Saint Paul. The day before the election, Governor Jesse Ventura appointed the 1996 Independence Party candidate, Dean Barkley, to serve the remainder of Wellstone's term.[1]

This is the only time to date since 1994 that Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota. This is also the last time in a midterm election that the party controlling the White House flipped a Senate seat in a state they did not win in the preceding presidential election. This marked the first election that Mondale had lost in Minnesota, as he had even narrowly carried it against Ronald Reagan in his landslide defeat in the 1984 United States presidential election, where he lost 49 states, winning only Minnesota and the District of Columbia. As a result of his defeat in this election, Mondale became the first, and so far only, major-party candidate in American history to have lost a general election in every single state. As of, this is the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in Minnesota.

Primary elections

DFL

Paul Wellstone defeated Dick Franson 93% to 5%.

Following Wellstone's death 11 days prior to Election Day, the DFL Party nominated Walter Mondale as its replacement candidate.

Republican

Norm Coleman defeated Jack Shepard 95% to 5%.

General election

Candidates on the ballot

* Wellstone appeared on the ballot despite his death (he had been replaced by Mondale)

Campaign

Mondale campaigned on his experience, and promised more education for students, more safety for seniors, and to "continue Wellstone's fight for people". Coleman campaigned on more jobs, less taxes, a promise of "a brighter future for Minnesota", and to "help change the tone in Washington D.C."[2]

At the time of his death, Wellstone was slightly ahead in the polls. After Mondale was chosen as the DFL candidate, he led 47% to 39% in a poll taken a few days before the election.[3]

Four days after Wellstone's death, a televised public memorial drew significant backlash for a tone that was widely characterized as more appropriate for a "political rally"[4] —a story that dominated the final days before the election.

Early on Election Day, Mondale was leading, but by nightfall Coleman pulled ahead, winning by 2.2%.[5] Many observers, including the event's host, former St. Paul mayor George Latimer, blamed the memorial's tone for the election result.[6]

Debates

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Aftermath

After Coleman was declared the winner, Mondale conceded and said in his speech: "At the end of what will be my last campaign, I want to say to Minnesota, you always treated me well, you always listened to me". His loss, combined with his landslide defeat in the United States presidential election in 1984, made him the only American major-party candidate to have lost a general election in every state. Although George McGovern had also lost 49 states in the 1972 presidential election and lost the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary in 1984, he never lost a general election in Massachusetts. Although Mondale did not seek office again, he remained active politically.

Coleman was sworn in on January 3, 2003. He served one term in the United States Senate, losing to Al Franken by a very narrow margin of just 312 votes and 0.01% in the 2008 election.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Mondale Concedes to Coleman . FOX News Network, LLC . Associated Press . November 6, 2002 . August 12, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080515134959/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,69286,00.html . May 15, 2008 . dead .
  2. Web site: Minnesota Senate Campaign Commercials C-SPAN.org . 10 April 2022 . www.c-span.org.
  3. Web site: Associated Press . October 29, 2002 . Poll: Mondale Leads Over Coleman . live . Edwardsville Intelligencer.
  4. Web site: MPR: Wellstone staff apologizes for memorial service rhetoric . 30 July 2024 . news.minnesota.publicradio.org.
  5. Web site: 2002 General Election Results . Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State . 9 August 2024.
  6. Web site: Grow . Doug . 24 October 2008 . Six years later, Wellstone memorial host Latimer still agonizes over event's political fallout . 30 July 2024 . MinnPost . en-US.
  7. Web site: Senate Races . https://web.archive.org/web/20021118115505/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/senate_all.htm . November 18, 2002 . www.centerforpolitics.org . en-US . November 4, 2002 . June 25, 2021 . dead.