2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota

none March 2026 September 2023 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota South Dakota presidential no 1996 United States Senate election in South Dakota 1996 2008 United States Senate election in South Dakota 2008 November 5, 2002 150x150px Tim Johnson official portrait, 2009.jpg Tim Johnson Democratic Party (United States) 167,481 49.62% File:John Thune official photo (cropped).jpg John Thune Republican Party (United States) 166,957 49.47% 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota results map by county.svg 260px County resultsJohnson: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d056c >90%Thune: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% U.S. Senator Tim Johnson Democratic Party (United States) Tim Johnson Democratic Party (United States) The 2002 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson narrowly won re-election to a second term over future senator and Senate Majority Leader John Thune by a margin of 524 votes, or 0.15%. This made the election the closest race of the 2002 Senate election cycle. This was one of the four Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that George W. Bush won in the 2000 presidential election. Thune has held South Dakota's other Senate seat since 2005, and became the Senate Majority Leader after the 2024 elections. Democratic primary Candidates Tim Johnson, incumbent U.S. Senator Herman Eilers Results Democratic primary resultshttp://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_electioninfo02_statewideprimaryofficialret.shtm#US https://web.archive.org/web/20060216194544/http://www.sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/pastelections_electioninfo02_statewideprimaryofficialret.shtm#US 2006-02-16 Sen-D Tim Johnson (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 65,438 94.84% Herman Eilers Democratic Party (United States) 3,558 5.16% 68,996 100.00% General election Candidates Kurt Evans (L), teacher Tim Johnson (D), incumbent U.S. Senator John Thune (R), U.S. Representative Campaign Thune ran against Tim Johnson, who narrowly won his first senate election in 1996. Thune launched a television advertising campaign mentioning al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, contending that both are seeking nuclear weapons and that this country needs a missile defense system, something Johnson voted against 29 times and that Thune supports. The incumbent attacked Thune for politicizing national security.http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0F6804A403B019B7&p_docnum=13&p_queryname=22 Rothrock Library 2010-09-18 https://archive.today/20120707220212/http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0F6804A403B019B7&p_docnum=13&p_queryname=22 2012-07-07 dead President George W. Bush campaigned for Thune in late October.http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0F6BEB729417F6F0&p_docnum=19&p_queryname=22 Rothrock Library 2010-09-18 https://archive.today/20120707063934/http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0F6BEB729417F6F0&p_docnum=19&p_queryname=22 2012-07-07 dead More than $20 million was spent in the election. Both candidates had raised over $5 million each.http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=12DD1BD23AD1CCE0&p_docnum=14&p_queryname=22 Rothrock Library 2010-09-18 https://archive.today/20120701102420/http://0-infoweb.newsbank.com.wave.lccc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=12DD1BD23AD1CCE0&p_docnum=14&p_queryname=22 2012-07-01 dead Debates Complete video of debate, August 27, 2002 Complete video of debate, October 7, 2002 Complete video of debate, October 21, 2002 Complete video of debate, October 24, 2002 Predictions SourceRankingAs ofSabato's Crystal Ballhttp://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/senate_all.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20021118115505/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/senate_all.htm November 18, 2002 Senate Races www.centerforpolitics.org en-US November 4, 2002 June 25, 2021 dead mdy-all Lean DNovember 4, 2002 Results Johnson narrowly prevailed over Thune by a mere 524 votes. Despite the extremely close results, Thune did not contest the results and conceded defeat on the late afternoon of November 9. Johnson's narrow victory may be attributed to his strong support in Oglala Lakota County, and to Thune also underperforming in typically Republican areas. Johnson was sworn in for a second term on January 3, 2003. Thune was elected to South Dakota's other Senate seat in 2004, defeating incumbent minority leader Tom Daschle. He served alongside Johnson until the latter retired in 2015. General election resultshttp://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2002/2002Stat.htm#41 Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Party (United States) Tim Johnson (incumbent) 167,481 49.62% -1.70% Republican Party (United States) John Thune 166,957 49.47% +0.79% Libertarian Party (United States) Kurt Evans 3,070 0.91% 334,438 100.00% N/A Democratic Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Union (largest city: Dakota Dunes) Davison (largest city: Mitchell) Gregory (largest city: Gregory) Hamlin (largest city: Estelline) Lincoln (largest city: Sioux Falls) Turner (largest city: Parker) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Bennett (largest city: Martin) Corson (largest city: McLaughlin) Mellette (largest city: White River) See also 2002 United States Senate elections References External links Official campaign websites (archived) Tim Johnson (D) for Senate John Thune (R) for Senate South Dakota 2002 Category:2002 South Dakota elections Category:John Thune