United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2002

United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2002

November 5, 2002

118px Nominee Norm Coleman Walter Mondale Party Republican DFL Popular vote 1,116,697 1,067,246 Percentage 49.5% 47.3%

County results

U.S. senator before election Dean Barkley Independence Elected U.S. Senator Norm Coleman Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone was running for re-election to a third term, but died in a plane crash eleven days before the election. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) chose former Vice President and 1984 Presidential candidate Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale lost to Republican Mayor of Saint Paul Norm Coleman. The day before the election, independent Governor Jesse Ventura had appointed Dean Barkley to serve the rest of Wellstone's term.

Primary elections

DFL

Paul Wellstone defeated Dick Franson 93% to 5%.

Republican

Norm Coleman defeated Jack Shepard 95% to 5%.

General election

Candidates on the ballot

• Norm Coleman (R), Mayor of Saint Paul
• Walter Mondale (D), former Vice President of the United States from Minneapolis
• Jim Moore (I), Commercial Banker from Minneapolis
• Paul Wellstone* (D), incumbent U.S. Senator from Saint Paul
• Ray Tricomo (G), Professor from Oakdale
• Miro Drago Kovatchevick (C), Systems analyst from Minneapolis

* Paul Wellstone still appeared on the ballot despite his death (he had been replaced by former Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale)

Campaign

At the time of his death, Wellstone was slightly ahead in the polls. After Walter Mondale was chosen as the DFL candidate, in a poll taken a few days before the election Mondale was leading 51% to 45%. Early on Election Day, Mondale was leading in votes. By nightfall, however, Norm Coleman pulled ahead, winning by 49.5 percent to 47.3 percent.

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Norm Coleman	1,116,697	49.53%	+8.25%
	DFL	Walter Mondale	1,067,246	47.34%	-2.98%
	Independence	Jim Moore	45,139	2.00%	-4.98%
	DFL	Paul Wellstone	11,381	0.50%	n/a
	Green	Ray Tricomo	10,119	0.48%	n/a
	Constitution	Miro Drago Kovatchevich	2,254	0.10%	n/a
	Write-ins		1,803	0.80%	n/a
Majority			49,451	2.19%	Republican pickup from Independence
Turnout			2,254,639	80.26%

Aftermath

After Norm Coleman was declared the winner, Walter 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." Mondale's loss of this election, combined with his landslide defeat in the United States presidential election in 1984, made him the only American to lose an election in all 50 states. Although Mondale did not seek office again, he remained active politically. The election victor, Norm Coleman, was sworn-in on January 3, 2003 as the first Republican to hold that Senate seat since Rudy Boschwitz left office in 1991. Coleman would serve in the United States Senate until losing to Al Franken by a very small margin in the following election.