Both Gov. Tom Vilsack and Sen. Tom Harkin faced re-election in 2002,
and redistricting
ensured several tight congressional races and put both chambers of the
General Assembly in play.
As of June 1, 2002, Democrats held 44 of 100 seats in the House and 21 of 50 Senate seats. At that time spokesperson for the Iowa Democratic Party said Democrats believed they could win both chambers: "Redistricting is done by non-partisan committee and favored Democrats especially in the House where we have 20 open seats with above 50% Dem performance and six challengers in seats with 50%+ Democrat performance. We also have six unopposed incumbents and very few truly vulnerable House incumbents." Incumbents generally won. Democrats kept the governorship and
the Senate seat, but they did not, as they had hoped, pick up any congressional
seats. Neither did they win control in either chamber of the General
Assembly, although they did hold steady in the Senate and gain two House
seats.
|
Tom Vilsack &
Sally Pederson (D) inc. |
540,449
|
52.69% |
Doug Gross &
Debi Durham (R) |
456,612
|
44.51%
|
Jay Robinson &
Holly Jane Hart (G) |
14,628
|
1.43%
|
Clyde Cleveland & Richard Campagna (L) |
13,098
|
1.28%
|
Write-In Votes |
1,015
|
0.10%
|
Total |
1,025,802
|
Other Statewide Offices:
Secretary of State:
C.Culver (D) inc. 526,600 M.Hartwig (R) 420,290
D.Arenz (G) 16,366 S.S.Olson (L) 21,434 ...Total: 985,041
Auditor of State:
P.J.Deluhery (D) 442,040 D.A.Vaudt (R) 464,469
C.A.Welty (L) 49,206 ...Total: 956,155
Treasurer of State:
M.L.Fitzgerald (D) inc. 534,714 M.Whitaker (R) 421,574
T.Hird (L) 19,687 ...Total: 976,319
Secretary of Agriculture:
P.Judge (D) inc. 490,561 J.Askew (R) 446,136 B.R.Depew
(G) 21,416 F.Groszkruger (L) 11,211 R.Tigner (Petition) 11,
776 ...Total: 981,447
Attorney General:
T.Miller (D) inc. 612,167 D.Millage (R) 364,480
E.F.Noyes (L) 16,607 ...Total: 993,663
Tom Harkin (D) inc. |
554,278
|
54.18% |
Greg Ganske (R) |
447,892
|
43.78%
|
Timothy A. Harthan (G) |
11,340
|
1.11%
|
Richard J. Moore (L) |
8,864
|
0.87%
|
Write-In Votes |
701
|
0.07%
|
Total |
1,023,075
|
U.S. House:
1st District--Central Eastern Iowa (12 counties from Clayton
County in the North down to Scott County and as far West as Black
Hawk and Butler Counties). The old 1st went 53 percent for Gore;
under the new 1st boundaries it would have been 52.2 percent.- Ann
Hutchinson (D) | Jim
Nussle (R) inc
Ann Hutchinson (D) |
83,779
|
42.65% |
Jim Nussle (R) inc. |
112,280
|
57.15%
|
Write-In Votes |
396
|
0.20%
|
Total |
196,455
|
2nd District-South Eastern Iowa (15 counties, extends as far West as Wayne County and runs up to Linn County). The old 2nd went 51 percent for Gore; under the new 2nd boundaries it would have been 53.1 percent.- Julie Thomas (D) | Jim Leach (R) inc
Julie Thomas (D) |
94,767
|
45.74% |
Jim Leach (R) inc. |
108,130
|
52.19%
|
Kevin Litten (L) |
4,178
|
2.02%
|
Write-In Votes |
96
|
0.05%
|
Total |
207,171
|
3rd District-Central Iowa (12 counties including Polk). The old 3rd voted 47 percent for Gore; under the new 3rd boundaries it would have been 49 percent.- Leonard Boswell (D) inc | Stan Thompson (R)
Leonard L. Boswell (D) inc. |
115,367
|
53.41% |
Stan Thompson (R) |
97,285
|
45.04%
|
Jeffrey J. Smith (L) |
2, 689
|
1.24%
|
Edwin B. Fruit (SWP) |
569
|
0.26%
|
Write-In Votes |
75
|
0.03%
|
Total |
215,985
|
4th District-North Central Iowa (Counties along the Northern border from Emmet to Allamakee; extends all the way down to Madison and Warren Counties south of Polk; 28 counties total). The old 4th voted 49 percent for Gore; under the new 4th boundaries it would have been 49 percent.- John Norris (D) | Tom Latham (R) inc
John Norris (D) |
90,784
|
43.07% |
Tom Latham (R) inc. |
115,430
|
54.76%
|
Terry L. Wilson (L) |
2,952
|
1.40%
|
Jim Hennager (OE) |
1,544
|
0.73%
|
Write-In Votes |
64
|
0.03%
|
Total |
210,774
|
5th District-Western Iowa (A strip from three to five counties
wide along the Western edge of the state running 196 miles from Minnesota
in the north to Missouri; encompasses 32 counties). The old 5th voted
42 percent for Gore; under the new 5th boundaries it would have been 38.9
percent.-
Paul Shomshor
(D) | Steve King (R)
Note: King was chosen as
the Republican nominee by party delegates meeting in convention in Denison
on June 29 after the primary failed to produce a winner (35 percent required).
He won on the third ballot over Brent
Siegrist (R), John
Redwine (R), and Jeff
Ballenger (R).
Paul Shomshor (D) |
68,853
|
37.78% |
Steve King (R) |
113,257
|
62.15%
|
Write-In Votes |
127
|
0.07%
|
Total |
182,237
|
Copyright © 2002, 2003 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action