2002 United States Senate election in Alaska

The 2002 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Ted Stevens ran for and won a seventh term (a sixth full term) and Final term in the United States Senate. He faced perennial candidate Frank Vondersaar, the Democratic nominee, journalist Jim Sykes, the Green Party nominee, and several other independent candidates in his bid for re-election. Ultimately, Stevens defeated his opponents by an overwhelming margin to win what would be his last term in the Senate, the highest percentage of the vote of any of his elections. This would be the last Senate election in the state until 2020 in which the winning candidate received a majority of the vote.

2002 United States Senate election in Alaska

← 1996 November 5, 2002 2008 →

Nominee Ted Stevens Frank Vondersaar Jim Sykes Party Republican Democratic Green Popular vote 179,438 24,133 16,608 Percentage 78.17% 10.51% 7.24%

Results by state house district Stevens:      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Ted Stevens Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ted Stevens Republican

On the same night, Frank Murkowski was elected as Governor of Alaska. He would resign from Alaska's Class 3 U.S. Senate seat and then appoint his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to fill the vacancy on December 20.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Frank Vondersaar, perennial candidate
• Theresa Obermeyer, former Anchorage School Board Member and 1996 Democratic nominee for the United States Senate

Results

Democratic primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank Vondersaar	18,256	66.27%
	Democratic	Theresa Obermeyer	9,292	33.73%
Total votes			27,548	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Ted Stevens, incumbent United States Senator since 1968
• Mike Aubrey, construction worker

Results

Republican primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ted Stevens (Incumbent)	64,315	88.94%
	Republican	Mike Aubrey	7,997	11.06%
Total votes			72,312	100.00%

Alaskan Independence Party primary

Candidates

• Jim Dore, conservative activist

Results

Alaskan Independence Party primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independence	Jim Dore	2,665	100.00%
Total votes			2,665	100.00%

Green Party primary

Candidates

• Jim Sykes, journalist
• Thomas M. Higgins, theater technician

Green Party primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Green	Jim Sykes	1,182	76.65%
	Green	Thomas M. Higgins	360	23.35%
Total votes			1,542	100.00%

Libertarian Party primary

Candidates

• Leonard Karpinski

Results

Libertarian Party primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Leonard Karpinski	558	100.00%
Total votes			558	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[2]	Safe R	November 4, 2002

Results

2002 United States Senate election in Alaska^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ted Stevens (Incumbent)	179,438	78.17%	+1.46%
	Democratic	Frank Vondersaar	24,133	10.51%	+0.17%
	Green	Jim Sykes	16,608	7.24%	−5.29%
	Independence	Jim Dore	6,724	2.93%
	Libertarian	Leonard Karpinski	2,354	1.03%
	Write-ins		291	0.13%
Majority			155,305	67.66%	+3.47%
Turnout			229,548
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 2002 United States Senate elections