| Election Name: | 2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Image: | File:Flag of Minnesota (1983-2024).svg |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Seats For Election: | All 8 Minnesota seats to the United States House of Representatives |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Seats Before1: | 5 |
| Seats1: | 4 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,097,911 |
| Percentage1: | 49.87% |
| Swing1: | 2.34% |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Seats Before2: | 3 |
| Seats2: | 4 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,029,612 |
| Percentage2: | 46.76% |
| Swing2: | 4.74% |
The 2002 congressional elections in Minnesota, were held on November 5, 2002 to determine who would represent the state, in the United States House of Representative.
Minnesota had eight seats in the House, and the 2002 congressional election was the first held pursuant to the apportionment made according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 108th Congress from January 3, 2003 until January 3, 2005. The election coincided with a U.S. Senate election and a gubernatorial election. DFLer Bill Luther, formerly of the 6th congressional district, who was redistricted into the 2nd congressional district, was the only incumbent in Minnesota's House delegation who failed to win reelection.
| United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2002 [1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | Percentage | Seats | +/– | |
| Democratic-Farmer-Labor | 1,097,911 | 49.87% | 4 | -1 | |
| Republican | 1,029,612 | 46.76% | 4 | +1 | |
| Green | 37,708 | 1.71% | 0 | — | |
| Independence | 21,484 | 0.98% | 0 | — | |
| Others | 14,923 | 0.68% | 0 | — | |
| Totals | 2,201,638 | 100.00% | 8 | — | |
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 1st congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 1 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 1 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Gil Gutknecht, official portrait, 108th Congress (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Gil Gutknecht |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote1: | 163,570 |
| Percentage1: | 61.5% |
| Nominee2: | Steve Andreasen |
| Party2: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 92,165 |
| Percentage2: | 34.7% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Gil Gutknecht |
| Before Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| After Election: | Gil Gutknecht |
| After Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
See also: Minnesota's 1st congressional district. Incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht, who had represented Minnesota's 1st congressional district since 1994, ran against Steve Andreasen of the DFL and Greg Mikkelson of the Green Party. Gutknecht easily won a fifth term, defeating second-place Pomeroy by a landslide 26.85 percent margin, as Mikkelson finished at a very distant third.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 2nd congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 6 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 2 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:John Kline, official portrait, 108th Congress (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | John Kline |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote1: | 152,970 |
| Percentage1: | 53.3% |
| Nominee2: | Bill Luther |
| Party2: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 121,121 |
| Percentage2: | 42.2% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Bill Luther (6th) |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | John Kline |
| After Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
See also: Minnesota's 2nd congressional district. In the reapportionment that occurred in consequence of the 2000 United States census, Mark Kennedy, the incumbent Republican from the Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, was redistricted into the 6th congressional district, while Bill Luther, the incumbent DFLer from the 6th congressional district was redistricted into the 2nd congressional district. Thus, Luther was forced to run in the new congressional district 2 in the 2002 election, while Kennedy ran in the new congressional district 6.
Luther, who was first elected to Congress in 1994, was unchallenged in the DFL primary. However, in the general election race against Republican challenger John Kline, the more conservative composition of the new district worked against Luther. Luther's campaign was further harmed by political fallout that was created when Samuel Garst, a Luther campaign staffer, entered the race on the "No New Taxes" line in an attempt to use a false flag to split the conservative vote. In the end, Garst was only able to secure 4.33 percent of the vote, and the political damage to Luther contributed to Kline winning the election by a margin of more than 11 percent.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 3rd congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 3 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 3 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Jim Ramstad Portrait.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Jim Ramstad |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote1: | 213,334 |
| Percentage1: | 72.0% |
| Nominee2: | Darryl Stanton |
| Party2: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 82,575 |
| Percentage2: | 27.9% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Jim Ramstad |
| Before Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| After Election: | Jim Ramstad |
| After Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
See also: Minnesota's 3rd congressional district. Incumbent Republican Jim Ramstad, who was first elected in 1990, defeated DFL challenger Darryl Stanton, and won election to his seventh term in Congress, by a landslide 44.14 percent margin.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 4th congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 4 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 4 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Betty McCollum, official portrait, 108th Congress (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Betty McCollum |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 164,597 |
| Percentage1: | 62.2% |
| Nominee2: | Clyde Billington |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote2: | 89,705 |
| Percentage2: | 33.9% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Betty McCollum |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | Betty McCollum |
| After Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
See also: Minnesota's 4th congressional district. Incumbent DFLer Betty McCollum, who was first elected in 2000, faced off against Clyde Billington of the Republican Party of Minnesota and Scott J. Raskiewicz of the Green Party of Minnesota. Defeating Billington by a comfortable 28 percent margin, McCollum easily won her second term in Congress, as Raskiewicz finished a very distant third.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 5th congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 5 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 5 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:MartinSabo.jpeg |
| Nominee1: | Martin Olav Sabo |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 171,572 |
| Percentage1: | 67.0% |
| Nominee2: | Daniel Nielsen Mathias |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote2: | 66,271 |
| Percentage2: | 25.9% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Martin Olav Sabo |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | Martin Olav Sabo |
| After Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
See also: Minnesota's 5th congressional district. Incumbent DFLer Martin Sabo, who was first elected in 1978, had no difficulty winning his 13th term in Congress, defeating Republican challenger Daniel Nielsen Mathias by a margin of just over 41 percent, while Green candidate Tim Davis finished a distant third.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 6th congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 2 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 6 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Mark Kennedy, official portrait, 107th Congress (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Mark Kennedy |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote1: | 164,747 |
| Percentage1: | 57.3% |
| Nominee2: | Janet Robert |
| Party2: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote2: | 100,738 |
| Percentage2: | 35.1% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Mark Kennedy (2nd) |
| Before Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| After Election: | Mark Kennedy |
| After Party: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
See also: Minnesota's 6th congressional district. In the reapportionment that occurred in consequence of the 2000 United States census, Mark Kennedy, the incumbent Republican from the Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, was redistricted into the 6th congressional district, while Bill Luther, the incumbent DFLer from the 6th congressional district was redistricted into the 2nd congressional district. Thus, Kennedy was forced to run in the new congressional district 6 in the 2002 election, while Luther ran in the new congressional district 2.
Kennedy, who was first elected in 2000, encountered little difficulty in winning his second term in Congress, defeating DFL challenger Janet Robert by a landslide margin of 22.28 percent, while Independence Party candidate Dan Becker finished a distant third.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 7th congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 7 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 7 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Collin Peterson, official portrait, 108th Congress (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Collin Peterson |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 170,234 |
| Percentage1: | 65.3% |
| Nominee2: | Dan Stevens |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote2: | 90,342 |
| Percentage2: | 34.6% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Collin Peterson |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | Collin Peterson |
| After Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
See also: Minnesota's 7th congressional district. Incumbent DFLer Collin Peterson, who was first elected in 1990, faced no difficulty winning his eighth term in Congress, defeating Republican challenger Dan Stevens by a landslide 30.63 percent margin.
| Election Name: | 2002 Minnesota's 8th congressional district election |
| Country: | Minnesota |
| Flag Year: | 1983 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 8 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
| Next Election: | 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota#District 8 |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Image1: | File:Oberstarj.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Jim Oberstar |
| Party1: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| Popular Vote1: | 194,909 |
| Percentage1: | 68.6% |
| Nominee2: | Bob Lemen |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Popular Vote2: | 88,673 |
| Percentage2: | 31.2% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| U.S. Representative | |
| Before Election: | Jim Oberstar |
| Before Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
| After Election: | Jim Oberstar |
| After Party: | Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party |
See also: Minnesota's 8th congressional district. Incumbent DFLer Jim Oberstar, who was first elected in 1974, had no difficulty winning his 15th term in Congress, defeating Republican challenger Bob Lemen by a margin of more than 37 percent.