The 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic governor

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governo ...

sought re-election to a second term as governor.

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American politician, veterinarian, and businessman who served as the 31st United States secretary of agriculture from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

emerged as the Republican nominee from a crowded and hotly contested primary, and he faced off against Barnes, who had faced no opponents in his primary election, in the general election. Though Barnes had been nicknamed "King Roy" due to his unique ability to get his legislative priorities passed, he faced a backlash among

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

voters due to his proposal to change the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occas ...

from its Confederate design. Ultimately, Perdue was able to defeat incumbent governor Barnes and became the first Republican to serve as governor of the state since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. This was only the second election that a Republican won in the state's history, the other being in 1868. The result was widely considered a major upset. Democrat

Max Cleland Joseph Maxwell Cleland (August 24, 1942 – November 9, 2021) was an American politician from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a disabled United States Army, U.S. Army vete ...

simultaneously lost the Senate election to Republican

Saxby Chambliss Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (Unite ...

, marking just the sixth time in the last 50 years in which U.S. Senate and gubernatorial incumbents from the same political party were simultaneously defeated in the same state. , this is the last governor election in which Decatur, Grady, Meriwether, and Wilkes counties voted for the Democratic candidate. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee from different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor in Georgia. Barnes later unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Georgia again in 2010 when Perdue was term-limited.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, incumbent

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, state senator from

Bonaire Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially Public body (Netherlands), "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward an ...

* Linda Schrenko, Superintendent of Public Instruction *Bill Byrne, chairman of the

Cobb County Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north-central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. It is the state's third most populous cou ...

Commission

Results

2002 Georgia gubernatorial election Republican primary

General election

Predictions

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Atkinson (Largest city:

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education * Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada * Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies * Pearson plc, a UK-based ...

) *

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

(Largest city: Milledgeville) * Berrien (Largest city:

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

) * Butts (Largest city:

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

) * Chattooga (Largest city: Summerville) *

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

(Largest city: Adel) * Crawford (Largest city:

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

) * Crisp (Largest city: Cordele) *

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

(Largest city: Eastman) * Emanuel (Largest city:

Swainsboro Swainsboro is a city in Emanuel County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,425. The city is the county seat of Emanuel County. History In 1822, the Georgia state legislature established "Swainsborough" ...

) *

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Greene, Iowa, a city * Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene * Greene (town), New York **Greene (village), New York, in the to ...

(Largest city:

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

) * Heard (Largest city:

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

) *

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango Co ...

(Largest city:

Ocilla The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) is United States federal law that creates a conditional 'safe harbor' for online service providers (OSP), a group which includes Internet service providers (ISP) and other Inter ...

) *

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

(Largest city:

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

) *

Jenkins Jenkins may refer to: People * Jenkins (name), history of the surname * List of people with surname Jenkins * The Jenkins, country music group Places United States * Jenkins, Illinois *Jenkins, Kentucky * Jenkins, Minnesota * Jenkins, Missour ...

(Largest city: Millen) *

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

(Largest city: Wrightsville) * Lamar (Largest city: Barnesville) * Lanier (Largest city: Lakeland) *

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

(Largest city: Colquitt) * Montgomery (Largest city:

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

) *

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

(Largest city: Cedartown) * Pulaski (Largest city:

Hawkinsville Hawkinsville is a city in Middle Georgia and the county seat of Pulaski County, Georgia, United States. As of 2020, it has a population of 3,980. The city is known as the "Harness Horse Capital of Georgia" and holds an annual Harness Horse Fes ...

) * Putnam (Largest city:

Eatonton Eatonton is a city in and the county seat of Putnam County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 6,307. It was named after William Eaton, an officer and diplomat involved in the First Barbary War. The n ...

) * Schley (Largest city: Ellaville) * Screven (Largest city: Sylvania) *

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumt ...

(Largest city: Americus) * Treutlen (Largest city:

Soperton Soperton is a city in Treutlen County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,889 in 2020. The city is the county seat of Treutlen County. History A post office was established at Soperton in 1902. The city was named after Benjamin Frank ...

) *

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

(Largest city:

Ashburn __NOTOC__ Ashburn may refer to: Places Canada * Ashburn, Ontario United States * Ashburn, Georgia *Ashburn, Chicago, Illinois, a community area ** Ashburn station (Illinois), a Metra station serving the area * Ashburn, Missouri *Ashburn, Virginia ...

) * Wheeler (Largest city:

Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alam ...

) *

Wilcox Wilcox may refer to: Places ;Canada *Wilcox, Saskatchewan ;United States * Wilcox, Florida, an unincorporated community in Gilchrist County, Florida *Wilcox, Missouri, an unincorporated community in Nodaway County, Missouri * Wilcox, Nebraska * Wil ...

(Largest city:

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

) *

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

(largest town:

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

) * Colquitt (largest town: Moultrie) * Echols (largest town: Statenville) *

Evans Evans or Evan's may refer to: People * Evans (surname) * List of people with surname Evans * Evans Welch, Trinidad and Tobago politician Places United States * Evans Island, an island of Alaska * Evans, Colorado * Evans, Georgia * Evans County ...

(largest town: Claxton) * Bleckley (largest town: Cochran) * Candler (largest town:

Metter Metter is a city and the county seat of Candler County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,130 at the 2010 census. In 2020, its population was 4,004. History Metter was founded in 1889. In 1914, Metter was designated seat of the newl ...

) * Lowndes (largest town:

Valdosta Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the principal city of the Valdosta metropolitan statistical area, which in 2023 had a metropolitan population of 151,118, according to the US Census B ...

) * Haralson (largest town:

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

) *

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(largest town: Warner Robins) *

Jones Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...

(largest town:

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

) *

Jeff Davis Jeffrey, Geoffrey, Jeff, or Geoff Davis may refer to: Politics *Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), President of the Confederate States of America *Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor) (1862–1913), U.S. Senator and 20th Governor of Arkansas * Jeffrey O. Da ...

(largest town: Hazlehurst) *

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

(largest town: Forsyth) *

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

(largest town:

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

) *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

(largest town: Lincolnton) * Tattnall (largest town: Glennville) * Tifton (largest town: Tifton) * Upson (largest town: Thomaston) *

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(largest town: Thomasville) * Laurens (largest town:

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

) *

(largest town: Lavonia) *

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

(largest town: Waycross) *

Peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

(largest municipality: Fort Valley) * Telfair (largest municipality: McRae-Helena) * Wayne (largest town: Jesup) * Worth (largest town:

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

) *

Bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

(largest town:

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

) * Brantley (largest town: Nahunta) * Ben Hill (Largest city:

Fitzgerald Fitzgerald may refer to: People * Fitzgerald (surname), a surname * Fitzgerald Hinds, Trinidadian politician * Fitzgerald Toussaint (born 1990), former American football running back Place Australia * Fitzgerald River National Park, a nati ...

) *

Long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

(Largest city: Ludowici) *

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

(Largest city: Donalsonville) * Charlton (largest town: Folkston) *

(largest town: Lincolnton) * Lumpkin (largest town:

Dahlonega Dahlonega ( ) is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of Georgia h ...

) *

McDuffie McDuffie or MacDuffie is a surname of Scotland, Scottish and Ireland, Irish origin.Name Mean ...

(largest town:

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

) * Bartow (largest town: Cartersville) *

Bulloch Bulloch is a surname, and may refer to * Angela Bulloch (born 1966), British artist * Archibald Bulloch (–1777), American lawyer and politician * Gordon Bulloch (born 1975), Scottish rugby player * Irvine Bulloch (1842–1898), American Confedera ...

(largest town: Stateboro) * Rabun (largest town: Clayton) *

Towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

(largest town: Young Harris) * Union (largest town: Blairsville) * Appling (largest town: Baxley) *

(Largest city: Wrightsville) * Habersham (largest town: Cornelia) * Lumpkin (largest town:

) * Dooly (largest city:

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) (became tied) * Toombs (largest town: Vidalia) * Pierce (largest town: Blackshear) * Columbia (largest town: Martinez)

References

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia Gubernatorial Election, 2002 2002 United States gubernatorial elections

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

November 2002 in the United States August 2002 in the United States

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

Notes

External links