2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
The 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry won re-election to a fourth term against Libertarian Michael Cloud, with no Republican filing to run.
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Elections in Massachusetts |
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The lack of a Republican Party candidate caused Cloud to receive the largest percentage of votes for a U.S. Senate candidate in the Libertarian Party's history, though this record has since been eclipsed by Joe Miller in Alaska in 2016 and Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. in Arkansas in 2020. Cloud also won the largest number of raw votes for a Libertarian candidate at the time, since eclipsed by Harrington.
Kerry's support for the invasion of Iraq also prompted a late write-in challenge by anti-war candidate Randall Forsberg.
Democratic primary
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John F. Kerry (Incumbent) | 615,517 | 99.35% | |
Write-in | 3,979 | 0.65% | ||
Total votes | 619,496 | 100.00% |
Major candidates
Democratic
- John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator elected first in 1984
Libertarian
- Michael Cloud
General election
Predictions
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
Sabato's Crystal Ball[1] | Safe D | November 4, 2002 |
Results

Kerry:
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John F. Kerry (incumbent) | 1,605,976 | 80.03% | ![]() | |
Libertarian | Michael Cloud | 369,807 | 18.43% | N/A | |
Independent | Randall Forsberg (write-in) | 24,898 | 1.24% | N/A | |
Write-in | 6,077 | 0.30% | ![]() | ||
Total votes | 2,006,758 | 100.00% |
See also
References
- "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- "PD43+ >> 2002 U.S. Senate General Election". Massachusetts Elections Division. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (2003-05-01). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002". U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 19.