2002 Nebraska gubernatorial election

Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Nebraska

← 1998

November 5, 2002

2006 →


Nominee	Mike Johanns	Stormy Dean
Party	Republican	Democratic
Running mate	Dave Heineman	Melany Chesterman
Popular vote	330,349	132,348
Percentage	68.68%	27.52%

County results
Johanns: 50–60% 60–70% 70-80%
80–90%

Governor before election

Mike Johanns
Republican

Elected Governor

Mike Johanns
Republican

Elections in Nebraska

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Government

The 2002 Nebraska gubernatorial election, held on November 5, 2002, featured incumbent Republican Governor of Nebraska Mike Johanns defeating his Democratic opponent Stormy Dean in a landslide.

This was the first gubernatorial election in Nebraska where the winning primary candidates chose their running mates after the primary election. Prior to this, both the governor and the lieutenant governor were chosen at the primary election.^[1] This was also the first gubernatorial election in which a Republican was re-elected in more than forty years.^[2]

Republican Party primary

Candidates

Mike Johanns, incumbent Governor of Nebraska
Robert J. Wicht

Results

Republican Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Johanns (incumbent)	128,277	86.84
	Republican	Robert J. Wicht	19,441	13.16
Total votes			147,718	100

Democratic Party primary

Candidates

Stormy Dean, insurance company executive
Luis R. Calvillo

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stormy Dean	47,369	77.26
	Democratic	Luis R. Calvillo	13,943	22.74
Total votes			61,312	100

Nebraska Party primary

Candidates

Paul A. Rosberg, farmer

Results

Nebraska Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nebraska	Paul A. Rosberg	36	100.00
Total votes			36	100.00

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[4]	Safe R	October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[5]	Safe R	November 4, 2002

Results

Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2002^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Johanns (incumbent)	330,349	68.68%	+14.78%
	Democratic	Stormy Dean	132,348	27.52%	-18.46%
	Nebraska	Paul A. Rosberg	18,294	3.80%
Majority			198,001	41.17%	+33.24%
Turnout			480,991
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Thurston (largest village: Pender)
Burt (largest village: Tekamah)
Lancaster (largest city: Lincoln)
Saline (largest city: Crete)
Cuming (largest city: West Point)
Dakota (largest city: South Sioux City)
Cedar (largest city: Hartington)
Dixon (largest city: Wakefield)
Knox (largest city: Creighton)
Nance (largest city: Fullerton)
Boone (largest city: Albion)
Greeley (largest city: Spalding)
Howard (largest city: St. Paul)
Sherman (largest city: Loup City)
Fillmore (largest city: Geneva)
Gage (largest city: Beatrice)
Jefferson (largest city: Fairbury)
Johnson (largest city: Tecumseh)
Pawnee (largest city: Pawnee City)
Thayer (largest city: Hebron)
Webster (largest city: Red Cloud)
Nuckolls (largest city: Superior)
Franklin (largest city: Franklin)

References

^ "State Executive Branch" (PDF). Nebraska State Government. Nebraska Office of the Governor. p. 424. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
^ "The President's New Cabinet". Scholastic News. January 2005. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 | The Cook Political Report". The Cook Political Report. October 31, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ "Governors Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 12, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ "Governor". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.

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