2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →
Turnout45.43%
 
Nominee Jim Doyle Scott McCallum Ed Thompson
Party Democratic Republican Libertarian
Running mate Barbara Lawton Margaret Farrow Marty Reynolds
Popular vote 800,515 734,779 185,455
Percentage 45.09% 41.39% 10.45%

Doyle:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
McCallum:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Thompson      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Tie:      

Governor before election

Scott McCallum
Republican

Elected Governor

Jim Doyle
Democratic

The 2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Governor of Wisconsin Scott McCallum, who had assumed office upon the resignation of Tommy Thompson, ran for his first full term in office. McCallum won his party's nomination by defeating two minor candidates, and Attorney General of Wisconsin Jim Doyle won the Democratic primary with a little more than a third of the vote in a highly competitive primary election. In the general election, the presence of Ed Thompson, former Governor Tommy Thompson's younger brother, the Mayor of Tomah, and the Libertarian Party nominee, held both McCallum and Doyle to under fifty percent of the vote, enabling Doyle to win with 45% of the vote, defeating McCallum.

As of 2022, this is the last gubernatorial election in which the Democratic candidate carried Langlade, Manitowoc, Marquette, Racine, and Taylor counties, and the last in which Juneau County did not vote for the Republican candidate, instead voting for Thompson.