2002 Massachusetts elections

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 5, 2002 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

2002 Massachusetts general election

← 2000 November 5, 2002 2004 →

Part of the
2002 United States elections

The election included:

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held September 17, 2002.

Governor and lieutenant governor

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Republicans Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey were elected governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, over Democratic candidates Shannon O'Brien and Chris Gabrieli, Green-Rainbow candidates Jill Stein and Tony Lorenzen, Libertarian candidates Carla Howell and Rich Aucoin, and independent candidates Barbara C. Johnson and Joe Schebel.

Secretary of the Commonwealth

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Democrat William F. Galvin was re-elected Secretary of the Commonwealth for a third term. He defeated perennial candidate Jack E. Robinson III in the general election.

2002 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic William F. Galvin (incumbent) 1,472,562 73.97%  3.95
Republican Jack E. Robinson III 516,260 25.93%  0.76
Write-in All others 1,832 0.09%
Turnout 1,990,654
Democratic hold Swing

Attorney general

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Democrat Thomas Reilly ran unopposed.

2002 Massachusetts Attorney General election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Thomas Reilly (incumbent) 1,602,817 99.24%  32.47
Write-in All others 12,326 0.76%  0.65
Total votes 1,615,143 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

Treasurer and Receiver-General

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2002 Massachusetts Treasurer election
 
← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →
       
Nominee Timothy P. Cahill Daniel Grabauskas James O'Keefe
Party Democratic Republican Green-Rainbow
Popular vote 1,040,281 848,904 163,559
Percentage 50.7% 41.3% 8.0%

Treasurer and Receiver-General before election

Shannon O'Brien
Democratic

Elected Treasurer and Receiver-General

Timothy P. Cahill
Democratic

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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2002 Democratic primary for Treasurer[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Timothy P. Cahill 226,505 35.79%
Democratic Jim Segel 153,940 24.33%
Democratic Stephen J. Murphy 135,612 21.43%
Democratic Michael P. Cahill 116,737 18.45%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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  • Dan Grabauskas, Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles
  • Bruce A. Herzfelder, businessman

Results

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2002 Republican primary for Treasurer[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Grabauskas 110,690 53.19%
Republican Bruce A. Herzfelder 96,851 46.54%
Write-in All others 560 0.27%

General election

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Results

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2002 Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Timothy P. Cahill 1,040,281 50.66%
Republican Daniel Grabauskas 848,904 41.34%
Green-Rainbow James O'Keefe 163,559 7.96%
Write-in All others 830 0.04%
Total votes 2,053,574 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

Auditor

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Democrat A. Joseph DeNucci was re-elected Auditor. He defeated Libertarian Kamal Jain and Independent John James Xenakis.

2002 Massachusetts Auditor election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic A. Joseph DeNucci (incumbent) 1,456,880 77.96%
Independent John James Xenakis 277,974 14.87% N/A
Libertarian Kamal Jain 133,997 7.17%
Write-in All others 2,065 0.11%
Turnout 1,868,851
Democratic hold Swing

United States Senator

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Democratic incumbent John Kerry was re-elected over his Libertarian challenger Michael Cloud.

United States House of Representatives

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Massachusetts Senate

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see 2002 Massachusetts Senate election [3]

Massachusetts House of Representatives

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see 2002 Massachusetts House election [3]

Governor's Council

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See 2002 Massachusetts Governor's Council election

Ballot measures

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There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which Massachusetts voters considered in this election. There were also various local ballot questions around the commonwealth.

Number Title Type Subject Result (excludes blank ballots)[4] Ref.
Question 1 Eliminating State Personal Income Tax Initiative Petition Taxes  N Failed (48%–40%) [5]
Question 2 English Language Education in Public Schools Initiative Petition Education  Y Passed (61%–29%) [6]
Question 3 Taxpayer Funding for Political Campaigns Advisory Question Taxes, Elections  N Failed (66%–23%) [7]

Question 1

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Massachusetts Question 1 (2002)
Abolishing State Income Tax
Results
Choice
Votes %
  Yes 885,683 45.30%
  No 1,069,467 54.70%
Valid votes 1,955,150 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 1,955,150 100.00%
 
 

Abolishing the state income tax. A law to eliminate any state personal income tax for income or other gain realized on or after July 1, 2003.[8]

Question 1: Abolishing the state income tax
Candidate Votes % ±
Yes 885,683 45.3%
No 1,069,467 54.7%

Question 2

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English Language Education in Public Schools Initiative: Abolishing bilingual education and replacing it with a one-year program of rapid English immersion. A law that would require that, with limited exceptions, all public-school children must be taught all subjects in English.[9]

Question 2: Abolishing bilingual education [10]
Candidate Votes % ±
Yes 1,359,935 67.98%
No 640,525 32.02%

Question 3

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Massachusetts Question 3 (2002)
Taxpayer Funding for Clean Elections
Results
Choice
Votes %
  Yes 517,285 26.13%
  No 1,462,435 73.87%
Valid votes 1,979,720 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 1,979,720 100.00%
 
 

Taxpayer funding for Clean Elections. A non-binding question relative to the funding of political campaigns for public office, with the "no" vote indicating voters were not in favor of publicly funded elections.[9] This was a reversal of opinion against the Clean Elections Law passed by voter referendum in 1988.[9] The law was repealed by the legislature as part of the 2003 state budget.[11] The legislature had refused to fund the law, which prompted state courts to order the sale of a disused state hospital, state-owned automobiles, and desks and sofas in the offices of legislative leaders Thomas M. Finneran, Salvatore F. DiMasi, and Joseph F. Wagner.[11]

Question 3: Taxpayer funding for Clean Elections
Candidate Votes % ±
No 1,462,435 73.87%
Yes 517,285 26.13%

References

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  1. ^ "Our Campaigns - MA Treasurer - D Primary Race - Sep 17, 2002".
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - MA Treasurer - R Primary Race - Sep 17, 2002".
  3. ^ a b State Election 2002: Candidates for Election (PDF), Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, retrieved August 31, 2020
  4. ^ "Statewide Ballot Questions — Statistics by Year: 2002". sec.state.ma.us. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "2002 Information For Voters – QUESTION 1: Law Proposed by Initiative Petition". sec.state.ma.us. 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "2002 Information For Voters – QUESTION 2: Law Proposed by Initiative Petition". sec.state.ma.us. 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "2002 Information For Voters – QUESTION 3: Non-binding Advisory Question". sec.state.ma.us. 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  8. ^ "News and Features | Voter s guide to statewide ballot questions". Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c "News and Features | Voter's guide to statewide ballot questions". Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  10. ^ "Our Campaigns - Question 2 - English Only Schools Race - Nov 05, 2002".
  11. ^ a b "Massachusetts Legislature Repeals Clean Elections Law". The New York Times. June 21, 2003.
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