2002 Rhode Island gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	2002 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
Country:	Rhode Island
Type:	Presidential
Previous Election:	1998 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1998
Next Election:	2006 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
Next Year:	2006
Ongoing:	no
Election Date:	November 5, 2002
Image1:	File:Donald Carcieri (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:	Donald Carcieri
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	181,827
Percentage1:	54.8%
Nominee2:	Myrth York
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	150,229
Percentage2:	45.2%
Governor
Before Election:	Lincoln Almond
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Donald Carcieri
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 2002 Rhode Island gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Governor Lincoln Almond was term-limited. Republican Donald Carcieri won the open seat, defeating Democrat Myrth York., this was the last time the Republican candidate won Providence County.

In the Republican primary election, Carcieri defeated James Bennett, who had won the endorsement of the state Republican Party.^[1]

The 2002 campaign was particularly costly to York as she spent $3.8 million of her own money to finance what was to be her last bid for elected office. A key turning point in the campaign was when York criticized Carcieri for the actions of businesses he had been associated with but refused to answer Carcieri's request that she reveal what companies her personal assets were invested in.^[2]

Republican primary

A Republican primary was held on September 10.

Candidates

• Donald Carcieri, businessman
• Jim Bennett

Results

Results by county

County	Donald Carcieri		James S. Bennett		Total votes cast
	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%
	Bristol		1,337		67.15%		654		32.85%		1,991
Kent	4,529	77.01%	1,352	22.99%	5,881
Newport	2,055	58.56%	1,454	41.44%	3,509
Providence	6,091	62.00%	3,733%	38.00%	9,824
	Washington		3,306		70.19%		1,404		29.81%		4,710
Totals	17,227	66.91%	8,518	33.09%	25,745

Results by municipality

Municipality	Donald Carcieri		James S. Bennett		Total votes cast	Turnout
	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%
	Barrington		796		70.38%		335		29.62%		1,131		12.3%
	Bristol		344		65.77%		179		34.23%		523		5.4%
	Burrillville		121		54.02%		103		45.98%		224		3.2%
	Central Falls		44		64.71%		24		35.29%		68		2.9%
	Charlestown		130		43.77%		167		56.23%		297		6.3%
	Coventry		490		67.96%		231		32.04%		721		4.1%
	Cranston		1,229		66.61%		616		33.39%		1,845		5.2%
	Cumberland		366		59.51%		249		40.49%		615		4.9%
	East Greenwich		1,431		89.94%		160		10.06%		1,591		19.3%
	East Providence		539		64.24%		300		35.76%		839		5.7%
	Exeter		288		71.64%		114		28.36%		402		14.3%
	Foster		113		69.75%		49		30.25%		162		6.4%
	Glocester		145		71.78%		57		28.22%		202		3.9%
	Hopkinton		88		49.16%		91		50.84%		179		4.5%
	Jamestown		300		68.18%		140		31.82%		440		13.5%
	Johnston		134		67.00%		66		33.00%		200		2.5%
	Lincoln		1,089		56.60%		835		43.40%		1,924		18.9%
	Little Compton		164		66.67%		82		33.33%		246		11.3%
	Middletown		309		62.30%		187		37.70%		496		7.1%
	Narragansett		438		71.69%		173		28.31%		611		6.2%
	New Shoreham		11		24.44%		34		75.56%		45		4.6%
	Newport		381		55.22%		309		44.78%		690		8.0%
	North Kingstown		1,380		85.29%		238		14.71%		1,618		10.9%
	North Providence		244		74.85%		82		25.15%		326		3.0%
	North Smithfield		223		48.48%		237		51.52%		460		7.9%
	Pawtucket		328		56.36%		254		43.64%		582		3.2%
	Portsmouth		704		54.15%		596		45.85%		1,300		15.2%
	Providence		629		64.12%		352		35.88%		981		2.2%
	Richmond		149		68.98%		67		31.02%		216		5.8%
Scituate		316		69.60%		138		30.40%		454		7.7%
	Smithfield		377		65.00%		203		35.00%		580		5.8%
	South Kingstown		543		64.18%		303		35.82%		846		6.4%
	Tiverton		197		58.46%		140		41.54%		337		4.7%
	Warren		106		63.46%		61		36.53%		167		2.6%
	Warwick		2,046		73.32%		783		27.68%		2,829		7.8%
	West Greenwich		279		56.25%		217		43.75%		496		9.8%
	West Warwick		207		76.10%		65		23.90%		272		4.2%
	Westerly		355		75.85%		113		24.15%		468		4.4%
	Woonsocket		194		53.59%		168		46.41%		362		2.9%
Totals	17,227	66.91%	8,518	33.09%	25,745	6.3%

Source:^[3]

Democratic primary

A Democratic primary was held on September 10.

Candidates

• Antonio J. Pires, former Rhode Island State Representative.
• Sheldon Whitehouse, Attorney General of Rhode Island, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island
• Myrth York, former Rhode Island Senator, 1994 and 1998 Democratic nominee for Governor

Results

Results by county

County	Antonio J. Pires		Sheldon Whitehouse		Myrth York		Total votes cast
	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"			data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%
	Bristol		1,277		27.67%		1,682		36.45%		1,656		35.88%		4,615
Kent	3,014	19.31%	6,265	40.13%	6,333	40.56%	15,612
Newport	1,032	15.41%	2,943	43.93%	2,724	40.66%	6,699
Providence	19,404	24.13%	30,311	37.70%	30,687	38.17%	80,402
	Washington		2,111		17.31%		4,679		38.37%		5,406		44.33%		12,196
Totals	26,838	22.45%	45,880	38.39%	46,806	39.16%	119,524

Results by municipality

Municipality	Antonio J. Pires		Sheldon Whitehouse		Myrth York		Total votes cast	Turnout
	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"			data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"		data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%	data-sort-type="number" style="text-align:center;"	%
	Barrington		278		17.46%		692		43.47%		622		39.07%		1,592		16.5%
	Bristol		710		35.52%		642		32.12%		647		32.37%		1,999		15.8%
	Burrillville		194		17.67%		436		39.71%		468		42.62%		1,098		12.8%
	Central Falls		593		40.15%		362		24.51%		522		35.34%		1,477		29.0%
	Charlestown		75		15.89%		168		35.59%		229		48.52%		472		10.1%
	Coventry		577		20.67%		1,061		38.02%		1,153		41.31%		2,791		13.5%
	Cranston		1,843		19.68%		3,818		40.76%		3,706		39.56%		9,367		20.5%
	Cumberland		2,005		39.87%		1,699		33.78%		1,325		26.35%		5,029		24.9%
	East Greenwich		155		18.15%		337		39.46%		362		42.39%		854		10.6%
	East Providence		2,025		33.65%		1,878		31.21%		2,114		35.13%		6,017		24.6%
	Exeter		61		16.18%		146		38.73%		170		45.09%		377		11.5%
	Foster		41		17.23%		85		35.71%		112		47.06%		238		9.3%
	Glocester		96		18.64%		219		42.52%		200		38.83%		515		8.9%
	Hopkinton		25		8.56%		136		46.58%		131		44.86%		292		6.7%
	Jamestown		150		16.78%		348		38.93%		396		44.30%		894		23.9%
	Johnston		1,193		19.24%		2,817		45.44%		2,190		35.32%		6,200		31.7%
	Lincoln		770		32.24%		902		37.77%		716		29.98%		2,388		18.9%
	Little Compton		48		16.27%		136		46.10%		111		37.63%		295		13.3%
	Middletown		138		14.35%		420		43.66%		404		42.00%		962		12.2%
	Narragansett		663		22.29%		1,208		40.62%		1,103		37.09%		2,974		24.3%
	New Shoreham		15		16.13%		20		21.51%		58		62.37%		93		7.8%
	Newport		258		11.34%		1,171		51.47%		846		37.19%		2,275		20.2%
	North Kingstown		432		17.92%		915		37.95%		1,064		44.13%		2,411		14.8%
	North Providence		1,163		19.77%		2,830		48.10%		1,891		32.14%		5,884		23.5%
	North Smithfield		263		21.06%		567		45.40%		419		33.55%		1,249		17.6%
	Pawtucket		4,348		49.49%		1,891		21.53%		2,546		28.98%		8,785		25.6%
	Portsmouth		258		17.40%		587		39.58%		638		43.02%		1,483		15.3%
	Providence		3,726		14.23%		10,035		38.34%		12,414		47.43%		26,175		28.7%
	Richmond		52		14.09%		128		34.69%		189		51.22%		369		9.0%
Scituate		141		24.06%		214		36.52%		231		39.42%		586		10.0%
	Smithfield		453		23.03%		810		41.18%		704		35.79%		1,967		15.9%
	South Kingstown		575		16.45%		1,213		34.70%		1,708		48.86%		3,496		22.4%
	Tiverton		180		22.78%		281		35.57%		329		41.65%		790		8.3%
	Warren		289		28.22%		348		33.98%		387		37.79%		1,024		12.8%
	Warwick		1,719		19.08%		3,571		39.64%		3,719		41.28%		9,009		17.2%
	West Greenwich		57		20.21%		113		40.07%		112		39.72%		282		9.8%
	West Warwick		506		18.91%		1,183		44.21%		987		36.88%		2,676		18.5%
	Westerly		213		12.44%		745		43.52%		754		44.04%		1,712		13.0%
	Woonsocket		550		16.05%		1,748		51.01%		1,129		32.94%		3,427		17.7%
Totals	26,838	22.45%	45,880	38.39%	46,806	39.16%	119,524	20.4%

Source:^[4]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[5]		October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[6]		November 4, 2002

Results

Notes and References

1. News: Fung moves closer to capturing Republican governor endorsement . Rhode Island Public Radio . 2014-06-20.
2. Web site: Fenton . Josh . Myrth York Leads New Anti-Cianci Group and Launches TV Ad . 2022-12-16 . GoLocalProv . en.
3. Web site: 2002 Statewide Primary . State of Rhode Island Board of Elections . 18 July 2022.
4. Web site: 2002 Statewide Primary . State of Rhode Island Board of Elections . 18 July 2022.
5. Web site: Governor Updated October 31, 2002 The Cook Political Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20021208065752/http://www.cookpolitical.com/display.cfm?section=political&edit_id=225. December 8, 2002. The Cook Political Report. en. October 31, 2002. September 18, 2018. dead. mdy-all.
6. Web site: Governors Races. https://web.archive.org/web/20021212142349/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/governor_all.htm. December 12, 2002. www.centerforpolitics.org. en-US. November 4, 2002. September 18, 2018. dead. mdy-all.