2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

← 2000

November 5, 2002

2004 →


Nominee	Craig Benson	Mark Fernald
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	259,663	169,277
Percentage	58.7%	38.2%

Benson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Fernald: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% >90%

Governor before election

Jeanne Shaheen
Democratic

Elected Governor

Craig Benson
Republican

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The 2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Three-term incumbent Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen opted to unsuccessfully run for the United States Senate rather than seek a fourth term as governor. Republican Craig Benson, a self-funded businessman, defeated Democrat Mark Fernald, a state senator, in the general election after both won contested primary elections.

This was the only time a Republican was elected governor between 1994 and 2016.

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Democratic primary

Candidates

Mark Fernald, New Hampshire state senator
Bev Hollingworth, New Hampshire state senator

Results

Democratic Primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Fernald	34,683	53.28
	Democratic	Bev Hollingworth	27,777	42.67
	Democratic	Write-ins	2,632	4.04
Total votes			65,092	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Craig Benson, businessman
Bruce Keough, former New Hampshire state senator
Gordon J. Humphrey, former U.S. senator, 2000 Republican nominee for governor
Robert Kingsbury, perennial candidate
Joe Haas
Bob Kroepel

Results

Republican primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Craig Benson	56,099	36.65
	Republican	Bruce Keough	51,461	33.62
	Republican	Gordon Humphrey	42,698	27.90
	Republican	Robert Kingsbury	877	0.57
	Republican	Joe Haas	759	0.50
	Republican	Bob Kroepel	578	0.38
	Republican	Write-ins	575	0.38
Total votes			153,047	100.00

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[3]	Lean R (flip)	October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[4]	Likely R (flip)	November 4, 2002

Results

New Hampshire gubernatorial election, 2002^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Craig Benson	259,663	58.62%	+14.86%
	Democratic	Mark Fernald	169,277	38.21%	-10.52%
	Libertarian	John Babiarz	13,028	2.94%	+1.80%
	Write-ins		1,008	0.23%
Majority			90,386	20.40%	+15.43%
Turnout			442,976
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Counties that swung from Democratic to Republican

Coös (largest city: Berlin)
Hillsborough (largest city: Manchester)
Grafton (largest city: Lebanon)
Merrimack (largest city: Concord)
Strafford (largest city: Dover)
Sullivan (largest city: Claremont)

References

^ http://www.sos.nh.gov/stateprimary2004/dgovsum.htm
^ "Summary R Gov". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
^ "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 | The Cook Political Report". The Cook Political Report. October 31, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ "Governors Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 12, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ http://www.sos.nh.gov/general2002/sumgov.htm

External links

New Hampshire Secretary of State's office, election division

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