The 2002 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. Senator

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

decided to retire, instead of seeking a fourth term. State Attorney General Republican

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

won the open seat. This was the first open-seat election since 1984.

Democratic Primary

Ron Kirk Ronald Kirk (born June 27, 1954) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013 and the 57th Mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002. Born in Austin, Texas, K ...

Mayor of Dallas The Mayor of the City of Dallas is the head of the Dallas City Council. The current mayor is Eric Johnson (Texas politician), Eric Johnson, who has served one term since 2019 Dallas mayoral election, 2019 and is the 62nd mayor to serve the posit ...

* Victor Morales, Teacher, Navy Veteran,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Senate nominee *

Ken Bentsen Jr. Kenneth Edward Bentsen Jr. (born June 3, 1959) is an American lobbyist and former politician from Texas, serving four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He is the nephew of former senator and secretary of the ...

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

, nephew of former US Senator

Lloyd Bentsen Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ti ...

Primary

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Runoff

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Republican Primary

Attorney General of Texas The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

Primary

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OurCampaigns.com, TX US Senate - R Primary
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General election

Campaign

Despite the fact that Texas is a

red state Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...

, Kirk ran on a socially progressive platform: supporting abortion rights and opposing Bush judicial nominee

Priscilla Richman Priscilla Richman (formerly Priscilla Richman Owen) (born October 4, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a justice ...

, although Kirk was a former

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

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. Kirk had the support of former Governor

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

and former U.S. Senator

. Cornyn was criticized for taking campaign money from

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

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 A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

for Kirk while he was mayor. An October

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

poll had Cornyn leading 47% to 37%. A record $18 million was spent in the election.

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 18, 2002
Complete video of debate
October 23, 2002

Predictions

Polling

Results

Notes

References

{{Elections in Texas footer

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Democratic Primary

Primary

Runoff

Republican Primary

Primary

General election

Campaign

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

Notes

References