2002 United States Senate election in Texas
November 5, 2002
 
Nominee John Cornyn Ron Kirk
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 2,496,243 1,955,758
Percentage 55.30% 43.33%
County results
Cornyn:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Kirk:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election

Phil Gramm
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

John Cornyn
Republican

The 2002 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm decided to retire, instead of seeking a fourth term. State Attorney General Republican John Cornyn won the open seat. This was the first open-seat election since 1984.

Democratic primary

Primary

Democratic primary results by county.
Map legend
  •   Kirk—60–70%
  •   Kirk—50–60%
  •   Kirk—40–50%
  •   Kirk—30–40%
  •   Kirk—20–30%
  •   Morales—70–80%
  •   Morales—60–70%
  •   Morales—50–60%
  •   Morales—40–50%
  •   Morales—30–40%
  •   Bentsen—70–80%
  •   Bentsen—60–70%
  •   Bentsen—50–60%
  •   Bentsen—40–50%
  •   Bentsen—30–40%
  •   Morales-Bentsen tie—30–40%
  •   Kirk-Bentsen tie—32.08%
  •   No vote
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Victor M. Morales 317,048 33.2
Democratic Ron Kirk 316,052 33.1
Democratic Ken Bentsen 255,501 26.8
Democratic Gene Kelly 44,038 4.6
Democratic Ed Cunningham 22,016 2.3
Total votes 954,655 100.0
Source: OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - D Primary

Runoff

Democratic runoff results by county.
Map legend
  •   Kirk—80–90%
  •   Kirk—70–80%
  •   Kirk—60–70%
  •   Kirk—50–60%
  •   Morales—80–90%
  •   Morales—70–80%
  •   Morales—60–70%
  •   Morales—50–60%
  •   tie—50%
  •   No vote
Democratic runoff results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ron Kirk 370,878 59.8
Democratic Victor M. Morales 249,423 40.2
Total votes 620,301 100.0
Source: OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - D Runoff

Republican primary

Primary

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Cornyn 478,825 77.3
Republican Bruce Rusty Lang 46,907 7.6
Republican Douglas Deffenbaugh 43,611 7.0
Republican Dudley F. Mooney 32,202 5.2
Republican Lawrence Cranberg 17,757 2.9
Total votes 619,302 100.0
Source: OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - R Primary

General election

Campaign

Despite the fact that Texas is a red state, Kirk ran on a socially progressive platform: supporting abortion rights and opposing Bush judicial nominee Priscilla Richman, although Kirk was a former George W. Bush supporter.[1] He also supported increases in defense spending, such as Bush's proposed $48 billion increase in military spending, except for the money Bush wanted to use for missile defense.[2] Kirk had the support of former Governor Ann Richards and former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Cornyn was criticized for taking campaign money from Enron and other controversial companies. And although other Democrats have seized on the issue, Kirk is well-entrenched in the Dallas business community, and his wife resigned from two private-sector jobs that created potential conflicts of interest for Kirk while he was mayor.

An October Dallas Morning News poll had Cornyn leading 47% to 37%.[3] A record $18 million was spent in the election.[4]

Debates

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[5] Lean R November 4, 2002

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 John
Cornyn (R)		 Ron
Kirk (D)		 Other /
Undecided
SurveyUSA October 29–31, 2002 683 (LV) ± 3.9% 53% 45% 2%

Results

General election results[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Cornyn 2,496,243 55.30% +0.52%
Democratic Ron Kirk 1,955,758 43.33% -0.61%
Libertarian Scott Jameson 35,538 0.79% -0.14%
Green Roy Williams 25,051 0.55% N/A
Write-in James W. Wright 1,422 0.03% N/A
Majority 540,485 11.97% +1.13%
Turnout 4,514,012

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. ↑ "2002 VOTER'S GUIDE: / U.S. Senate / Cornyn vs. Kirk: More than U.S. Senate seat at stake here". Houston Chronicle. October 27, 2002. p. H.2. ProQuest 395977920.
  2. ↑ Newsbank
  3. ↑ Cienski, Jan (October 31, 2002). "Ethnicity, money are the recipe for 'Dream Team': Battle for Texas: Democrats court blacks, Hispanics in Republican state". National Post. Don Mills, Ont. p. A17. ProQuest 330127613.
  4. ↑ "Summary". OpenSecrets.
  5. ↑ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  6. ↑ "2002 ELECTION STATISTICS".
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