The 2002 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin sought re-election to a fourth term in office. Harkin was opposed in the general election by U.S. Congressman Greg Ganske, who fought off a difficult challenger in the Republican primary. Though Harkin narrowly defeated his opponent six years earlier, he was able to defeat Ganske by a comfortable margin to win re-election.
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County results | |||||||||||||||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Harkin (incumbent) | 83,505 | 99.34% | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 555 | 0.66% | |
| Total votes | 84,060 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Greg Ganske | 116,229 | 58.97% | |
| Republican | Bill Salier | 80,700 | 40.95% | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 167 | 0.08% | |
| Total votes | 197,096 | 100.00% | ||
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[2] | Lean D | November 4, 2002 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Tom Harkin (D) |
Greg Ganske (R) |
Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | October 27–29, 2002 | 605 (LV) | ± 4.1% | 60% | 38% | 2% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Harkin (incumbent) | 554,278 | 54.18% | +2.37% | |
| Republican | Greg Ganske | 447,892 | 43.78% | −2.94% | |
| Green | Timothy A. Harthan | 11,340 | 1.11% | ||
| Libertarian | Richard J. Moore | 8,864 | 0.87% | ||
| Write-in | 701 | 0.06% | |||
| Majority | 106,386 | 10.40% | +5.30% | ||
| Turnout | 1,023,075 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
