Elections for the Pennsylvania State Senate were held on November 5, 2002, with even-numbered districts being contested. State Senators are elected for four-year terms, with half of the Senate seats up for a vote every two years. The term of office for those elected in 2002 ran from January 3, 2003 until November 28, 2006. Necessary primary elections were held on May 21, 2002.

This was the first Pennsylvania State Senate

Pennsylvania State Senate

The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...

 election held after the constitutionally-mandated decennial

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

 reapportionment plan.

None of the seats of the three senators who did not run for re-election changed party hands. Robert C. Wonderling succeeded the retiring Republican senator, Edwin G. Holl. John C. Rafferty, Jr. succeeded Republican Senator James W. Gerlach, who successfully ran for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district

Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District was substantially redrawn in 2002. Its strange shape brought charges of gerrymandering by Democrats who argued it "looms like a dragon descending on Philadelphia from the west, splitting up towns and communities throughout Montgomery and Berks Counties." ...

. Jim Ferlo

Jim Ferlo

James "Jim" Ferlo is a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who has represented the 38th Senatorial District since 2003. His district consists of parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties.- Background and career :...

, a veteran member of Pittsburgh's City Council, succeeded the retiring Democratic senator Leonard J. Bodack.

Affiliation		Members
	Republican Party	29
	Democratic Party	21
Total		50

General Elections