2002 Arizona gubernatorial Republican primary election results map by county

2002 Arizona gubernatorial Democratic primary election results map by county

2002 Arizona gubernatorial Libertarian primary election results map by county

The 2002 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor Jane Dee Hull was term-limited. The Democratic nominee,

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona attorney general is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorn ...

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

, narrowly defeated Republican

Matt Salmon Matthew James Salmon (born January 21, 1958) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 until 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he retired from office after representing ...

, a former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

. Upon her inauguration, Napolitano became the first woman to succeed another woman as governor of a state. , this was the last gubernatorial election in Arizona in which the margin of victory was single-digit margin Until

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

And last time that a winning candidate won governorship without

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Betsey Bayless Betsey Bayless (born January 10, 1944) was the 17th Secretary of State of Arizona from September 5, 1997, until January 6, 2003. She was appointed to fill the unexpired term of fellow Republican Jane Dee Hull. She was elected to a full term Novemb ...

Secretary of State of Arizona The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The secretary also serves as act ...

, former U.S. representative * Carol Springer, State Treasurer of Arizona

Declined to run

Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American retired politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

, former

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

and Indiana senator

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Alfredo Gutierrez,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Attorney General of Arizona The Arizona attorney general is the General counsel, chief legal officer of the Arizona, State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's ...

and former U.S. Attorney * Mike Newcomb, physician * Mark Osterloh, perennial candidate

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

* Gary Fallon * Barry Ness

Results

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 30, 2002

Predictions

Polling

Results

The election was extremely close: Napolitano won by just 11,819 votes out of 1,226,111 cast, the closest gubernatorial election in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in many years. Napolitano also won without carrying Maricopa County. Under Arizonan law, the losing candidate may request a recount, for which that candidate must pay, if the margin of victory is less than one percent but greater than half of one percent. In 2002, the margin of victory in 2002 was 1.0%, barely allowing a recount. It soon became apparent that Napolitano had won the election and would be the next

governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. Salmon acknowledged that the chance of his prevailing in a recount was extremely small and decided not to ask for one (recounts seldom see a swing over 1,000 votes; he was losing by over 10,000). He officially called Napolitano on November 17 and congratulated her on her victory. On November 20,

Arizona Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in ...

certified the results of the election and declared Napolitano the governor-elect.

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Coconino (largest municipality: Flagstaff) * Gila (largest city: Payson) *

Greenlee Greenlee is an American industrial and electrical tool company headquartered in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1862 by twin brothers Robert L. and Ralph S. Greenlee to manufacture their invention called a hollow chisel mortiser, consist ...

(largest city: Clifton) *

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

(largest city: Show Low) * Pima (largest municipality:

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

) * Pinal (largest city: San Tan Valley) * Santa Cruz (largest municipality: Nogales)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona Gubernatorial Election, 2002

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2002 United States gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...