# 2002 United States Senate election in Texas

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vte :
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

* Ron Kirk, Mayor of Dallas
* Victor Morales, Teacher, Navy Veteran, 1996 Senate nominee
* Ken Bentsen Jr., U.S. representative, nephew of former US Senator Lloyd Bentsen

### Primary

Democratic primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 954,655 | 100.0 |
    Source: OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - D Primary

### Runoff

Democratic runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ron Kirk | 370,878 | 59.8 |
| | Democratic | Victor M. Morales | 249,423 | 40.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 620,301 | 100.0 |
    Source: OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - D Runoff

## Republican primary

* John Cornyn, Attorney General of Texas

### Primary

Republican primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | 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. 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. Cornyn was endorsed by U.S. president and former Governor George W. Bush, while Kirk had the support of former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros, 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%. A record $18 million was spent in the election.

### Debates

2002 United States Senate election in Texas debates :
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Democratic |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | | |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | John Cornyn | Ron Kirk |
| 1 | Oct. 18, 2002 | Houston Chronicle KHOU | Greg Hurst | C-SPAN | P | P |
| 2 | Oct. 23, 2002 | Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation KERA-TV Texas Association of Broadcasters Texas Monthly The Dallas Morning News TXCN Univision WFAA | John McCaa | C-SPAN | P | P |

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean R | November 4, 2002 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | 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 :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 540,485 | 11.97% | +1.13% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,514,012 | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Atascosa (Largest city: Pleasanton)
* Bastrop (Largest city: Elgin)
* Brewster (Largest city: Alpine)
* Cottle (Largest city: Paducah)
* Fannin (Largest city: Bonham)
* Galveston (Largest city: Galveston)
* Knox (Largest city: Munday)
* Milam (Largest city: Rockdale)
* Palo Pinto (Largest city: Mineral Wells)
* Red River (Largest city: Clarksville)
* Stonewall (Largest city: Aspermont)
* Trinity (Largest city: Trinity)
* Waller (Largest city: Hempstead)
* Robertson (Largest city: Hearne)
* Bexar (largest city: San Antonio)
* Calhoun (largest city: Port Lavaca)

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Pecos (Largest city: Fort Stockton)
* San Augustine (Largest city: San Augustine)
* San Patricio (Largest city: Portland)
* Hudspeth (Largest city: Fort Hancock)
* Refugio (Largest city: Refugio)
* Dallas (largest city: Dallas)