2002 Oklahoma's 1st congressional district special election

2002 Oklahoma's 1st congressional district special election

January 8, 2002 (2002-01-08)

Nominee John Sullivan Doug Dodd Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 61,694 50,850 Percentage 53.79% 44.34%

U.S. Representative before election Steve Largent Republican Elected U.S. Representative John Sullivan Republican

The 2002 United States House of Representatives special election in Oklahoma's 1st congressional district was held on January 8, 2002, to select the successor to Steve Largent (R) who resigned to focus on his campaign for Governor of Oklahoma. Both of the major parties held primaries to determine their nominees. The Republican primary featured a competitive contest between then-First Lady of Oklahoma Cathy Keating, and state Senator Scott Pruitt, and the eventual winner state Representative John Sullivan. Sullivan subsequently defeated Tulsa School Board present Doug Dodd by a ten-point margin.

Given the strong conservative bent of the district, which voted for George W. Bush over Al Gore 62% to 38% in 2000 and has not been represented by a Democrat since 1987, Democrats did not seriously contest this race. Nevertheless, Dodd came within ten percentage points of winning the election, significantly outperforming Gore.

Election results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sullivan	19,018	45.53
	Republican	Cathy Keating	12,737	30.49
	Republican	Scott Pruitt	9,513	22.77
	Republican	George Banasky	296	.71
	Republican	Evelyn Rogers	210	.5
Total votes			41,774	100.00

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doug Dodd	12,516	88.77
	Democratic	James Lamkin	1,584	11.23
Total votes			14,100	100.00

Oklahoma's 1st congressional district special election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sullivan	61,694	53.79
	Democratic	Doug Dodd	50.850	44.34
	Libertarian	Neil Mavis	1,758	1.53
	Independent	David Fares	388	.34
Total votes			114,690	100.00
	Republican hold

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives