2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina

2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina
	County results; Dole: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Bowles: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
U.S. senator before election; Jesse Helms; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Elizabeth Dole; Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jesse Helms announced in August 2001 that he would retire due to health issues. Republican Elizabeth Dole won the open seat, becoming the first non-incumbent elected Republican Senator in the state's history. This was the first open seat election since 1974.

Democratic primary[edit]

During the primary campaign, Bowles was considered the choice of the party establishment, receiving support from former Governor Jim Hunt and the AFL-CIO.^[1]

Candidates[edit]

Dan Blue, State Representative
Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff
Cynthia D. Brown, Durham City Councilwoman
Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State of North Carolina

Results[edit]

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Erskine Bowles	277,329	43.4%
	Democratic	Dan Blue	184,216	28.8%
	Democratic	Elaine Marshall	97,392	15.2%
	Democratic	Cynthia D. Brown	27,799	4.4%
	Democratic	Others	52,289	8.2%
Total votes			639,025	100.0%

Republican primary[edit]

Dole was described as the "handpicked" choice of the White House, and received the support of President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as outgoing Senator Jesse Helms.^[1]

Candidates[edit]

Elizabeth Dole, former United States Secretary of Labor, former United States Secretary of Transportation, former Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, and wife of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole
James Snyder Jr., former state representative
Jim Parker, physician^[3]
Ada Fisher, physician and activist

Results[edit]

Republican primary results^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elizabeth Dole	342,631	80.4%
	Republican	James Snyder Jr.	60,477	14.2%
	Republican	Jim Parker	8,752	2.1%
	Republican	Ada Fisher	6,045	1.4%
	Republican	Others	8,201	1.9%
Total votes			426,106	100.0%

General election[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Erskine Bowles (D), former White House Chief of Staff
Elizabeth Dole (R), former United States Secretary of Labor, United States Secretary of Transportation, Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, and wife of U.S. Senator Bob Dole
Sean Haugh (L)

Debates[edit]

2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina debates
No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn
					Elizabeth Dole	Erskine Bowles
1	Oct. 14, 2002	Meredith College WRAL-TV WTVD-TV	David Crabtree Larry Stogner	C-SPAN	P	P
2	Oct. 19, 2002	East Carolina University WCTI-TV WNCT-TV	Wes Goforth Alan Hoffman	C-SPAN	P	P

Predictions[edit]

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[5]	Lean R	November 4, 2002

Polling[edit]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Elizabeth Dole (R)	Erskine Bowles (D)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA	October 28–30, 2002	611 (LV)	± 4.0%	50%	46%	4%

Results[edit]

2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Elizabeth Dole	1,248,664	53.56%	+0.92%
	Democratic	Erskine Bowles	1,047,983	44.96%	−0.96%
	Libertarian	Sean Haugh	33,807	1.45%	+0.46%
	Write-in		727	0.03%	+0.02%
Total votes			2,331,181	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[edit]

Wake (largest town: Raleigh)
Guilford (Largest city: Greensboro)
Mecklenburg (Largest city: Charlotte)
Buncombe (largest town: Asheville)
Watauga (largest municipality: Boone)
Martin (largest town: Williamston)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[edit]

Perquimans (Largest city: Hertford)
Granville (largest city: Oxford)
Duplin (Largest city: Wallace)
Jones (Largest city: Maysville)
Madison (Largest city: Mars Hill)
Haywood (Largest city: Waynesville)
Yancey (largest municipality: Burnsville)
Pasquotank (largest municipality: BElizabeth CIty)

Notes[edit]

^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Broder, David (September 9, 2002). "N.C.'s Democratic Senate Primary Still Open to Upset". Washington Post.
^ State Board of Elections^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "CANDIDATE FAULTS DOLE, GOP\ JIM PARKER SAYS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE DOLE CAMPAIGN AREN'T PLAYING FAIR". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ State Board of Elections^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^ State Board of Elections

[key-6] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[:0-1] Broder, David (September 9, 2002). "N.C.'s Democratic Senate Primary Still Open to Upset". Washington Post.

[2] State Board of Elections^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] "CANDIDATE FAULTS DOLE, GOP\ JIM PARKER SAYS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE DOLE CAMPAIGN AREN'T PLAYING FAIR". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved February 13, 2022.

[4] State Board of Elections^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

[7] State Board of Elections

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Democratic primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Results[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Results[edit]

General election[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Debates[edit]

Predictions[edit]

Polling[edit]

Results[edit]

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[edit]

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]