Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 2002

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Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 2002

← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →
  136px MikeFisher.jpg
Candidate Ed Rendell Mike Fisher
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Catherine Baker Knoll Jane Earll
Popular vote 1,913,235 1,589,408
Percentage 53.4% 44.4%

Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election Results by County, 2002.svg
County Results

Governor before election

Mark Schweiker
Republican

Elected Governor

Ed Rendell
Democratic

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 2002 was held on November 5, 2002, and included the races for the governor and lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

Gubernatorial Primaries

Attorney General Mike Fisher ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Although incumbent Governor Mark Schweiker was eligible to run for reelection (he had served only a partial term after Tom Ridge resigned to become Secretary of Homeland Security), he chose not to seek his party's nomination. Despite polls showing that Schweiker polled well among the same groups that backed Ridge, the Republican establishment considered Schweiker to be a weak candidate and stood steadfast behind Fisher.[1]

In the Democratic primary, Mayor of Philadelphia Ed Rendell defeated Pennsylvania Auditor General Bob Casey, Jr., bucking the "myth that a Philadelphian could never win" a statewide election. Despite strong support from organized labor for Casey, lackluster campaigning, combined with Rendell's ability to cast himself as a strong executive allowed him to pull out a primary win.[2]

Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary election, 2002[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ed Rendell 702,442 56.5
Democratic Bob Casey, Jr. 539,794 43.5
File:Pa-dem-gov-prim-02.png
Democratic primary results by county

Campaign

Rendell defeated Fisher with "endless retail politicking" and a hard-working campaign.[4] The political website PoliticsPA praised Rendell's campaign team of David L. Cohen, David W. Sweet, and Sandi Vito.[4]

Rendell was the first official from Philadelphia to win a spot in the governor's mansion since 1914. Although Fisher emphasized Rendell's Philadelphia roots continuously during his campaign, and described the mayor as an urban liberal whose programs would require huge tax increases, his strategy backfired; in much of Eastern Pennsylvania, voters instead related to Rendell, and he was thus able to win by huge margins in even many traditionally GOP suburbs.[1]

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 2002[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ed Rendell
Runningmate:Catherine Baker Knoll
1,913,235 53.4
Republican Mike Fisher
Runningmate:Jane Earll
1,589,408 44.4
Libertarian Ken Krawchuk
Runningmate:Henry Haller III
40,923 1.14
Green Mike Morrill
Runningmate:Vicki Smedley
38,423 1.07

References

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See also