Dirk Kempthorne Republican Dirk Kempthorne Republican The 2002 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002 to select the governor of the state of Idaho.

Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic nominee Jerry Brady to win a second term, but the win was not nearly as overwhelming as Kempthorne's 1998 victory.

This was the first Idaho gubernatorial election since 1978 in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president.

This was the first time since 1962 that an incumbent Republican Governor of Idaho was re-elected.

Although Brady performed considerably better than 1998 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Robert C. Huntley, and won a plurality of the vote in Ada County, the state's most populous county, Kempthorne won reelection with a comfortable majority.