A Massachusetts general election was held on November 5, 2002 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The election included:

• statewide elections for U.S. Senator
  United States Senate
  The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
  
  , Governor
  Governor of Massachusetts
  The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
  
  , Lieutenant Governor
  Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
  The Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...
  
  , Attorney General
  Massachusetts Attorney General
  The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The office of Attorney-General was abolished in 1843 and re-established in 1849. The current Attorney General is Martha Coakley....
  
  , Secretary of the Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
  The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...
  
  , Treasurer, and Auditor
  Massachusetts Auditor
  The Massachusetts State Auditor is a statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The current auditor is Suzanne Bump.-List of state auditors of Massachusetts:-External links:*...
  
  ;
• district elections for U.S. Representatives, State Representatives
  Massachusetts House of Representatives
  The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
  
  , State Senators, and Governor's Councillors
  Massachusetts Governor's Council
  The Massachusetts Governor's Council is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matters such as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutations to the Governor of Massachusetts...
  
  ; and
• ballot questions at the state and local levels.

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held September 17, 2002.

United States Senator

Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 incumbent John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 was re-elected over his Libertarian

Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...

 challenger Michael Cloud.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor

Republicans

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...

 and Kerry Healey

Kerry Healey

Kerry Murphy Healey was the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. She served from 2003 to 2007 with Governor Mitt Romney. She was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts, losing to Democrat Deval Patrick in November 2006...

 were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Democratic candidates Shannon O'Brien

Shannon O'Brien

Shannon Patricia Elizabeth O'Brien is a Democrat from Massachusetts. O'Brien served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 through 1993, in the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 through 1995, and was the Massachusetts State Treasurer from 1999 through 2003...

 and Chris Gabrieli

Chris Gabrieli

Chris Gabrieli is an American businessman and a leading national education reformer. He is currently driving the movement to reform the school calendar.-Biography:...

, Green-Rainbow

Green-Rainbow Party

The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...

 candidates Jill Stein

Jill Stein

Jill Stein is an American physician, activist, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party and candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections. Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts and a...

 and Tony Lorenzen, Libertarian candidates Carla Howell

Carla Howell

Carla A. Howell is an American political activist and small government advocate. She is President of the Center For Small Government. She is most known for organizing tax cut initiative petitions, called ballot measures in other states...

 and Rich Aucoin, and independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidates Barbara C. Johnson and Joe Schebel.

Attorney General

Democrat Thomas Reilly

Thomas Reilly

Thomas F. Reilly is an American attorney and politician who served as the 45th Massachusetts Attorney General. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Irish immigrant parents....

 ran unopposed.

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Democrat William F. Galvin

William F. Galvin

William Francis Galvin is the 27th and current Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth .-Early life and career:...

 was re-elected Secretary of the Commonwealth

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth

The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...

 for a third term. He defeated Perennial candidate

Perennial candidate

A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...

 Jack E. Robinson III

Jack E. Robinson III

Jack E. Robinson III is an African-American Republican politician from Massachusetts. He ran for the United States Senate in 2000 against Ted Kennedy and Carla Howell , losing to Kennedy. He ran for Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2002 losing to William F...

 in the general election.

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Timothy P. Cahill

Timothy P. Cahill

Timothy P. Cahill is a former Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General and was an independent candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election.-Early political career:...

 was elected Treasurer and Receiver-General

Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts

The Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts is an executive officer, elected state-wide every four years....

. He defeated Jim Segel, Stephen J. Murphy

Stephen J. Murphy

Stephen John Murphy is a member of the Boston City Council in Boston, Massachusetts. He has served on the City Council since 1997.-External links:* * . Articles about Murphy* . Blog posts about Murphy*...

, and Michael P. Cahill

Michael P. Cahill

Michael P. Cahill is an American politician who represented the 6th Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1993–2003. He was a candidate for Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts in 2002, finishing fourth in the Democratic primary.-References:...

 in the Democratic primary and Daniel Grabauskas and James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe

James E. O'Keefe III is a conservative American activist who has produced controversial audio and video recordings of public figures and workers in a variety of organizations...

 in the general election.

Auditor

Democrat A. Joseph DeNucci

A. Joseph DeNucci

A. Joseph "Joe" DeNucci is a former middle-weight boxer and former Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.-Early Life and career:...

 was re-elected Auditor

Massachusetts Auditor

The Massachusetts State Auditor is a statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The current auditor is Suzanne Bump.-List of state auditors of Massachusetts:-External links:*...

. He defeated Libertarian Kamal Jain and Independent John James Xenakis.

Ballot questions

There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which the Massachusetts voters voted on this election. There were also various local ballot questions around the state.

Statewide Questions:

• Question 1 - Abolishing the state income tax. A law to eliminate any state personal income tax for income or other gain realized on or after July 1, 2003.
• Question 2 - Abolishing bilingual education and replacing it with a one-year program of rapid English immersion. A law that would require that, with limited exceptions, all public-school children must be taught all subjects in English.
• Question 3 - Taxpayer funding for Clean Elections. A law that would allow taxpayer money to be used to fund political campaigns for public office.