November 5, 2002 2006 → 51.55% 47.68% | 879,592 813,422 | |
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The 2002 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Democratic Governor Parris Glendening was term-limited and could not seek a third term. Bob Ehrlich defeated Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, enabling him to become the first Republican governor since Spiro Agnew in 1966.
Contents
Candidates
Candidates
General election
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend won the Democratic nomination, and Congressman Robert Ehrlich won the Republican nomination.
Ehrlich chose Maryland Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele as his running mate, while Townsend chose Admiral Charles R. Larson as her running mate. Larson switched to the Democratic Party just a few weeks before the election.
Kennedy's selection of Larson as her running mate proved to be an unpopular move, seeing as he was a white former Republican and had been selected without consultation with black Democratic leaders. Ehrlich ran advertisements assailing incumbent Governor Parris Glendening for the increasingly dismal fiscal situation in Maryland, an issue that resonated with Maryland voters. Glendening's unpopularity did little to help his Lieutenant Governor's flailing campaign.