2002 United States Senate election in Delaware

The 2002 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Biden won re-election to a sixth term, defeating Raymond Clatworthy in a rematch. This is the last Senate election that Biden decreased his percentage of the votes since the previous election and the only time Biden lost Kent County in his seven elections to the Senate.

2002 United States Senate election in Delaware

← 1996 November 5, 2002 2008 →
 
Nominee Joe Biden Raymond Clatworthy
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 135,253 94,793
Percentage 58.22% 40.80%

Biden:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Clatworthy:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Joe Biden
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Joe Biden
Democratic

With this election, Biden became the first senator in Delaware to win six terms and became the state's longest-serving senator.

General Election

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Candidates

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  • Joe Biden (D), incumbent Delaware senator running for a sixth consecutive term
  • Raymond Clatworthy (R), businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1996[1]
  • Maurice Barros (IPoD), former department store manager.[2]
  • Raymond T. Buranello (L)[3]
  • Robert E. Mattson (NLP)[3]

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[4] Safe D November 4, 2002

Results

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General election results[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Biden (incumbent) 135,253 58.22% −1.82%
Republican Raymond J. Clatworthy 94,793 40.80% +2.67%
Independent Party Maurice Barros 996 0.43%
Libertarian Raymond T. Buranello 922 0.40% −0.82%
Natural Law Robert E. Mattson 350 0.15% −0.47%
Majority 40,460 17.42% −4.49%
Turnout 232,314
Democratic hold Swing

County results

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County[6] Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

Democratic

Raymond J. Clatworthy

Republican

Maurice Barros

Delaware Independent

Raymond T. Buranello

Libertarian

Robert E. Mattson

Natural Law

Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Kent 16,786 48.82% 17,310 50.35% 158 0.46% 99 0.29% 27 0.08% 34,380
New Castle 91,554 63.02% 52,129 35.88% 711 0.49% 621 0.43% 265 0.18% 145,280
Sussex 26,830 51.11% 25,277 48.15% 215 0.41% 112 0.21% 58 0.11% 52,492
Total 135,253 58.22% 94,793 40.80% 996 0.43% 922 0.40% 350 0.15% 232,152

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "GOP says Biden-Clatworthy race is potential sleeper". Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  2. ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "2002 Senatorial General Election Results - Delaware". David Leip's Election Atlas. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  4. ^ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "Our Campaigns - DE US Senate Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved September 10, 2021.