2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina

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 and the first time happened at this seat.

2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina

← 1996 November 5, 2002 2008 →

Nominee Elizabeth Dole Erskine Bowles Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,248,664 1,047,983 Percentage 53.56% 44.96%

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

Democratic primary

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

• 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

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

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

• 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

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

Candidates

• 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

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[5]	P	P
2	Oct. 19, 2002	East Carolina University WCTI-TV WNCT-TV	Wes Goforth Alan Hoffman	C-SPAN[6]	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[7]	Lean R	November 4, 2002

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Elizabeth Dole (R)	Erskine Bowles (D)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA[8]	October 28–30, 2002	611 (LV)	± 4.0%	50%	46%	4%

Results

2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina^[9]

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

• 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

• 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: Elizabeth City)

See also

• 2002 United States Senate elections

Notes

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