2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial election
	Benson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Fernald: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% >90%
Governor before election; Jeanne Shaheen; Democratic	Elected Governor ; Craig Benson; Republican

The 2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Three-term incumbent Democratic governor Jeanne Shaheen opted to unsuccessfully run for the United States Senate rather than seek a fourth term as governor. Republican Craig Benson, a self-funded businessman, defeated Democrat Mark Fernald, a state senator, in the general election after both won contested primary elections.

This was the only time a Republican was elected governor between 1994 and 2016.

Democratic primary

Democratic Primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Fernald	34,683	53.28
	Democratic	Bev Hollingworth	27,777	42.67
	Democratic	Write-ins	2,632	4.04
Total votes			65,092	100.00

Republican primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Craig Benson	56,099	36.65
	Republican	Bruce Keough	51,461	33.62
	Republican	Gordon Humphrey	42,698	27.90
	Republican	Robert Kingsbury	877	0.57
	Republican	Joe Haas	759	0.50
	Republican	Bob Kroepel	578	0.38
	Republican	Write-ins	575	0.38
Total votes			153,047	100.00

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[3]	Lean R (flip)	October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[4]	Likely R (flip)	November 4, 2002

New Hampshire gubernatorial election, 2002^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Craig Benson	259,663	58.62%	+14.86%
	Democratic	Mark Fernald	169,277	38.21%	−10.52%
	Libertarian	John Babiarz	13,028	2.94%	+1.80%
	Write-ins		1,008	0.23%
Majority			90,386	20.40%	+15.43%
Turnout			442,976
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Summary R Gov". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
^ "Governor Updated October 31, 2002 | The Cook Political Report". The Cook Political Report. October 31, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ "Governors Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 12, 2002. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
^ http://www.sos.nh.gov/general2002/sumgov.htm