2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →
 
Nominee 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%

Fisher:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Rendell:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      50%      No data

Governor before election

Mark Schweiker
Republican

Elected Governor

Ed Rendell
Democratic

The 2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. Incumbent Republican governor Mark Schweiker, who took office in 2001 when Tom Ridge resigned to become Homeland Security Advisor, was eligible to run for a full term, but did not do so. Democrat Ed Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, emerged from a competitive primary to win the general election against Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher.

Rendell won the election, with commentators attributing his victory to "endless retail politicking" and a hard-working campaign.[1] The political website PoliticsPA praised Rendell's campaign team of David L. Cohen, David W. Sweet, and Sandi Vito.[1] Fisher's strategy backfired; Rendell performed well in much of Eastern Pennsylvania and he was able to win by huge margins in even many traditionally Republican suburbs.[2]

Rendell was the first official from Philadelphia to win the governorship since 1914.[2] This was the first time since 1826 that a Democrat won all four of Philadelphia's suburban counties and the first time since 1970 that a Democrat won Montgomery County in a gubernatorial election.

  1. ^ a b "The Best and Worst Campaigns'02". PoliticsPA. The Publius Group. 2002.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference kennedy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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