How many U.S. Senate seats changed party in 2002?

3 seats changed party in the 2002 Senate elections: Arkansas (Republican to Democrat), Georgia (Democrat to Republican), Missouri (Democrat to Republican).

Which new senators were elected in 2002?

10 new senators won seats in 2002: Mark Pryor (Democrat-AR), Saxby Chambliss (Republican-GA), Dean Barkley (Independent-MN), James Talent (Republican-MO), John Sununu (Republican-NH), Frank Lautenberg (Democrat-NJ), Elizabeth Dole (Republican-NC), Lindsey Graham (Republican-SC), Lamar Alexander (Republican-TN), John Cornyn (Republican-TX).

2002 U.S. Senate Elections: Results

34 Senate seats were decided on Tuesday, November 5, 2002: the 33 Class II seats and 1 special election. 24 incumbents kept their seats, 10 new senators were elected, and 3 seats changed party.

All cycles 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030

Seats on the ballot

33 Class II + 1 special

Held going in

20 Republican · 13 Democrat · 1 vacant

New senators

24 incumbents re-elected

Seats that changed party

AR, GA, MO

Special Election

Missouri (Class I seat): Jean Carnahan (Democrat) was appointed on January 3, 2001 and held the seat going into the special election on November 5, 2002. Won by James Talent (Republican), whose term for the seat ran through January 3, 2007.

Every Seat on the 2002 Ballot

Incumbent is whoever held the seat on election day; the result is who was sworn in for it afterwards.

State ▲	Incumbent ↕	Party ↕	Seat ↕	Since ↕	Age on Election Day ↕	Result ↕
Alabama	Jeff Sessions, III Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Alaska	Ted Stevens Since 1968	Republican	Class II	1968		Re-elected
Arkansas	Timothy Hutchinson Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Mark Pryor (Democrat) Party change
Colorado	A. Allard Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Delaware	Joe Biden, Jr. Since 1973	Democrat	Class II	1973		Re-elected
Georgia	Max Cleland Since 1997	Democrat	Class II	1997		Saxby Chambliss (Republican) Party change
Idaho	Larry Craig Since 1991	Republican	Class II	1991		Re-elected
Illinois	Dick Durbin Since 1997 · age 57	Democrat	Class II	1997	57	Re-elected
Iowa	Tom Harkin Since 1985	Democrat	Class II	1985		Re-elected
Kansas	Pat Roberts Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Kentucky	Mitch McConnell Since 1985 · age 60	Republican	Class II	1985	60	Re-elected
Louisiana	Mary Landrieu Since 1997	Democrat	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Maine	Susan Collins Since 1997 · age 49	Republican	Class II	1997	49	Re-elected
Massachusetts	John Kerry Since 1985	Democrat	Class II	1985		Re-elected
Michigan	Carl Levin Since 1979	Democrat	Class II	1979		Re-elected
Minnesota	Vacant		Class II			Dean Barkley (Independent)
Mississippi	William Cochran Since 1978	Republican	Class II	1978		Re-elected
Missouri	Jean Carnahan Since 2001	Democrat	Class I Special Appointed	2001		James Talent (Republican) Party change
Montana	Max Baucus Since 1978	Democrat	Class II	1978		Re-elected
Nebraska	Chuck Hagel Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected
New Hampshire	Robert Smith Since 1990	Republican	Class II	1990		John Sununu (Republican)
New Jersey	Robert Torricelli Since 1997	Democrat	Class II	1997		Frank Lautenberg (Democrat)
New Mexico	Pete Domenici Since 1973	Republican	Class II	1973		Re-elected
North Carolina	Jesse Helms Since 1973	Republican	Class II	1973		Elizabeth Dole (Republican)
Oklahoma	James Inhofe Since 1994	Republican	Class II	1994		Re-elected
Oregon	Gordon Smith Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Rhode Island	Jack Reed Since 1997 · age 52	Democrat	Class II	1997	52	Re-elected
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond Since 1954	Republican	Class II	1954		Lindsey Graham (Republican)
South Dakota	Tim Johnson Since 1997	Democrat	Class II	1997		Re-elected
Tennessee	Fred Thompson Since 1994	Republican	Class II	1994		Lamar Alexander (Republican)
Texas	Phil Gramm Since 1985	Republican	Class II	1985		John Cornyn (Republican)
Virginia	John Warner Since 1979	Republican	Class II	1979		Re-elected
West Virginia	Jay Rockefeller, IV Since 1985	Democrat	Class II	1985		Re-elected
Wyoming	Michael Enzi Since 1997	Republican	Class II	1997		Re-elected

New Senators Elected in 2002

Mark Pryor

Democrat · Arkansas

Succeeded Timothy Hutchinson (Republican)

Saxby Chambliss

Republican · Georgia

Succeeded Max Cleland (Democrat)

Dean Barkley

Independent · Minnesota

Open seat

James Talent

Republican · Missouri

Succeeded Jean Carnahan (Democrat) · special election

John Sununu

Republican · New Hampshire

Succeeded Robert Smith

Frank Lautenberg

Democrat · New Jersey

Succeeded Robert Torricelli

Elizabeth Dole

Republican · North Carolina

Succeeded Jesse Helms

Lindsey Graham

Republican · South Carolina

Succeeded Strom Thurmond

Lamar Alexander

Republican · Tennessee

Succeeded Fred Thompson

John Cornyn

Republican · Texas

Succeeded Phil Gramm

About this page

Seats, incumbents and results are derived from the Senate's service records (via the congress-legislators dataset): the seats on a year's ballot are the class whose terms end the following January, plus any seat held by appointment pending a special election, and a result is recorded when the winner is sworn in. Incumbent status and candidates for the next election come from FEC candidate filings; a seat is listed as open when the FEC tags its candidates as running for a seat with no incumbent. Election day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. See every cycle since 1990, the seniority list and the voting analysis.