2002 United States state legislative elections
The 2002 United States state legislative elections were held on November 5, 2002, halfway through President George W. Bush's first term in office. This was a unique election in which the incumbent Republican party performed surprisingly well for a midterm election. Elections were held for 91 legislative chambers, with all states but Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia holding elections in at least one house. Three territorial chambers in two territories and the District of Columbia were up as well.
Republicans flipped control of six chambers: the Colorado Senate, the Georgia Senate for the first time since 1873, the Missouri House of Representatives for the first time since 1955, the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since 1873, the Washington Senate, and the Wisconsin Senate. Meanwhile, Democrats flipped control of the Illinois Senate. Additionally, the Arizona Senate went from a coalition government to Republican control. The Maine Senate went from an evenly divided power-sharing government to a Democratic one, while the Oregon Senate went from Republican to tied.
Republicans had initially won control of the North Carolina House of Representatives by one seat, but Republican Michael P. Decker switched parties to become a Democrat, producing a tied chamber.
Republicans won a trifecta in Texas for the first time since 1873, and in [|Missouri] for the first time since 1923. After the elections, Republicans held a majority of state legislative seats for the first time in half a century.
Summary table
Regularly scheduled elections were held in 91 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly scheduled elections were held for 6,381 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Many legislative chambers held elections for all seats, but some legislative chambers that use staggered elections held elections for only a portion of the total seats in the chamber. The chambers not up for election either hold regularly scheduled elections in odd-numbered years, or have four-year terms and hold all regularly scheduled elections in presidential midterm election years.Note that this table only covers regularly scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly scheduled elections.
Redistricting
The 2002 elections were the first held after redistricting following the 2000 census. All states holding elections in 2002 did so under new maps drawn in accordance with the new census results with the exception of [|Montana], which implements its new maps four years after the census as opposed to two. In a majority of states, legislative redistricting is controlled by the state legislature, often subject to gubernatorial veto. This allows for widespread gerrymandering, in which the party in power draws legislative boundaries to favor itself. A few states delegate redistricting power to an independent or bipartisan redistricting commission, often with the goal of minimizing or eliminating partisan gerrymandering.In Texas, despite the state's divided government, Republicans fully controlled the redistricting process because they held four of the five seats on the state's backup redistricting commission. This allowed them to draw maps greatly favorable to themselves in an attempt to win control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. In Oregon, the state's Democratic Secretary of State drew the state's maps after its divided government failed to approve plans.
Electoral predictions
Ratings are designated as follows:- "Tossup": Competitive, no advantage
- "Lean": Competitive, slight advantage
- "Likely": Not competitive, but opposition could make significant gains
- "Solid": Not competitive at all
| State | Chamber | Last election | The Cook Political Report Oct. 4, 2002 | Result |
| Alabama | Senate | D 23–12 | D 25–10 | |
| Alabama | House of Representatives | D 69–36 | D 63–42 | |
| Alaska | Senate | R 14–6 | R 12–8 | |
| Alaska | House of Representatives | R 27–13 | R 27–13 | |
| Arizona | Senate | Coal. 18–12 | R 17–13 | |
| Arizona | House of Representatives | R 36–24 | R 38–22 | |
| Arkansas | Senate | D 27–8 | D 27–8 | |
| Arkansas | House of Representatives | D 72–28 | D 70–30 | |
| California | State Senate | D 26–14 | D 25–15 | |
| California | State Assembly | D 50–30 | D 48–32 | |
| Colorado | Senate | D 18–17 | R 18–17 | |
| Colorado | House of Representatives | R 38–27 | R 37–28 | |
| Connecticut | State Senate | D 21–15 | D 21–15 | |
| Connecticut | House of Representatives | D 100–51 | D 94–57 | |
| Delaware | Senate | D 13–8 | D 13–8 | |
| Delaware | House of Representatives | R 26–15 | R 29–12 | |
| Florida | Senate | R 25–15 | R 26–14 | |
| Florida | House of Representatives | R 77–43 | R 81–39 | |
| Georgia | State Senate | D 32–24 | R 30–26 | |
| Georgia | House of Representatives | D 105–74–1 | D 107–72–1 | |
| Hawaii | Senate | D 22–3 | D 20–5 | |
| Hawaii | House of Representatives | D 32–19 | D 36–15 | |
| Idaho | Senate | R 32–3 | R 28–7 | |
| Idaho | House of Representatives | R 61–9 | R 54–16 | |
| Illinois | Senate | R 32–27 | D 32–26–1 | |
| Illinois | House of Representatives | D 62–56 | D 66–52 | |
| Indiana | Senate | R 32–18 | R 32–18 | |
| Indiana | House of Representatives | D 53–47 | D 51–49 | |
| Iowa | Senate | R 30–20 | R 29–21 | |
| Iowa | House of Representatives | R 56–44 | R 54–46 | |
| Kansas | House of Representatives | R 79–46 | R 80–45 | |
| Kentucky | Senate | R 20–18 | R 21–17 | |
| Kentucky | House of Representatives | D 64–36 | D 65–35 | |
| Maine | Senate | D 17–17–1 | D 18–17 | |
| Maine | House of Representatives | D 88–62–1 | D 80–67–3–1 | |
| Maryland | Senate | D 32–15 | D 33–14 | |
| Maryland | House of Delegates | D 106–35 | D 98–43 | |
| Massachusetts | Senate | D 34–6 | D 34–6 | |
| Massachusetts | House of Representatives | D 137–23 | D 135–23–1 | |
| Michigan | Senate | R 23–15 | R 22–16 | |
| Michigan | House of Representatives | R 58–52 | R 63–47 | |
| Minnesota | Senate | D 39–27–1 | D 35–31–1 | |
| Minnesota | House of Representatives | R 69–65 | R 81–53 | |
| Missouri | Senate | R 18–16 | R 20–14 | |
| Missouri | House of Representatives | D 87–76 | R 90–73 | |
| Montana | Senate | R 31–19 | R 29–21 | |
| Montana | House of Representatives | R 58–42 | R 53–47 | |
| Nevada | Senate | R 12–9 | R 13–8 | |
| Nevada | Assembly | D 27–15 | D 23–19 | |
| New Hampshire | Senate | R 13–11 | R 18–6 | |
| New Hampshire | House of Representatives | R 256–144 | R 278–122 | |
| New Mexico | House of Representatives | D 42–28 | D 43–27 | |
| New York | State Senate | R 36–25 | R 37–25 | |
| New York | State Assembly | D 98–52 | D 102–48 | |
| North Carolina | Senate | D 35–15 | D 28–22 | |
| North Carolina | House of Representatives | D 62–58 | 60–60 | |
| North Dakota | Senate | R 32–17 | R 31–16 | |
| North Dakota | House of Representatives | R 69–29 | R 66–28 | |
| Ohio | Senate | R 21–12 | R 22–11 | |
| Ohio | House of Representatives | R 60–39 | R 62–37 | |
| Oklahoma | Senate | D 30–18 | D 28–20 | |
| Oklahoma | House of Representatives | D 53–48 | D 53–48 | |
| Oregon | State Senate | R 16–14 | 15–15 | |
| Oregon | House of Representatives | R 32–27–1 | R 35–25 | |
| Pennsylvania | State Senate | R 30–20 | R 29–21 | |
| Pennsylvania | House of Representatives | R 104–99 | R 110–93 | |
| Rhode Island | Senate | D 44–6 | D 32–6 | |
| Rhode Island | House of Representatives | D 85–15 | D 63–11–1 | |
| South Carolina | House of Representatives | R 71–53 | R 73–51 | |
| South Dakota | Senate | R 24–11 | R 26–9 | |
| South Dakota | House of Representatives | R 50–20 | R 49–21 | |
| Tennessee | Senate | D 18–15 | D 18–15 | |
| Tennessee | House of Representatives | D 58–41 | D 54–45 | |
| Texas | Senate | R 16–15 | R 19–12 | |
| Texas | House of Representatives | D 78–72 | R 88–62 | |
| Utah | State Senate | R 20–9 | R 22–7 | |
| Utah | House of Representatives | R 51–24 | R 56–19 | |
| Vermont | Senate | D 16–14 | D 19–11 | |
| Vermont | House of Representatives | R 83–62–4–1 | R 73–70–4–3 | |
| [|Washington] | State Senate | D 25–24 | R 25–24 | |
| Washington | House of Representatives | D 50–48 | D 52–46 | |
| West Virginia | Senate | D 28–6 | D 24–10 | |
| West Virginia | House of Delegates | D 75–25 | D 68–32 | |
| Wisconsin | Senate | D 18–15 | R 18–15 | |
| Wisconsin | State Assembly | R 56–43 | R 58–41 | |
| Wyoming | Senate | R 20–10 | R 20–10 | |
| Wyoming | House of Representatives | R 46–14 | R 45–15 |