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 County results Congressional district resultsCornyn: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Kirk: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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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
- 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
| 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 | ||
Runoff
- 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
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ron Kirk | 370,878 | 59.8 | |
| Democratic | Victor M. Morales | 249,423 | 40.2 | |
| Total votes | 620,301 | 100.0 | ||
Republican primary
Primary
| 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 | ||
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
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| 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
- 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)
See also
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
References
- "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.
- Newsbank
- Parrott, Susan (April 8, 2002). "Kirk looks ahead to race with Cornyn". Plainview Herald. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- Gott, Natalie (April 4, 2002). "Richards campaigns with Kirk in Austin". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- Robinson, Clay; Graves, Rachel (September 25, 2002). "Kirk, Cornyn exchange barbs over Enron, fund raising". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- Robinson, Clay (August 20, 2002). "Wife's lucrative board job issue in Kirk's Senate bid". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- 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.
- "Summary". OpenSecrets.
- C-SPAN
- C-SPAN
- "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- SurveyUSA
- "2002 ELECTION STATISTICS".
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