2002 United States Senate election in Texas

2002 United States Senate election in Texas
← 1996
November 5, 2002
2008 →
 
Nominee John Cornyn Ron Kirk
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 2,496,243 1,955,758
Percentage 55.30% 43.33%
Cornyn:      40–50%      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.

Republican primary

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Henry Bonilla vs. John Cornyn vs. Tony Garza vs. David Dewhurst

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 Henry
Bonilla		 John
Cornyn		 Tony
Garza		 David
Dewhurst		 Undecided
Montgomery & Associates (D) Before September 10, 2001 – (V) – 14% 27% 7% 16% 36%

Henry Bonilla vs. David Dewhurst

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 Henry
Bonilla		 David
Dewhurst		 Undecided
Montgomery & Associates (D) Before September 10, 2001 – (V) – 24% 44% 32%

Results

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in runoff

Eliminated in 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

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
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
Zogby International/MSNBC November 3–4, 2002 – (V) – 50% 46% – 4%
Zogby International/MSNBC October 30 – November 2, 2002 – (V) ± 4.5% 49% 48% – 3%
Blum & Weprin Associates Inc. October 29 – November 1, 2002 1,002 (LV) ± 3.0% 50% 41% 9%
University of Houston/
Rice University		 Late–October 2002 656 (LV) ± 3.6% 45% 39% – 10%
SurveyUSA October 29–31, 2002 683 (LV) ± 3.9% 53% 45% 2%
Scripps-Howard October 7–29, 2002 1,000 (A) ± 4.3% 44% 35% – 21%
Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. October 21–27, 2002 550 (LV) ± 4.3% 43% 40% – 15%
SurveyUSA October 21–23, 2002 604 (LV) ± 4.1% 52% 45% 3%
Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. October 15–20, 2002 600 (LV) ± 4.1% 46% 36% – 16%
Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. October 8–13, 2002 600 (LV) ± 4.1% 46% 36% – 16%
Zogby International/MSNBC October 9–11, 2002 – (V) – 45% 37% – 18%
Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. September 30 – October 6, 2002 600 (LV) ± 4.1% 56% 30% – 14%
FM3 Research (D) September 22–24, 2002 – (V) ± 3.6 35% 39% – 26%
Zogby International/MSNBC September 17–18, 2002 – – 42% 30% – 28%
University of Houston/
Rice University		 September 3–15, 2002 879 (LV) ± 4.1% 42% 36% – 22%
Scripps-Howard August 7–27, 2002 756 (LV) ± 3.5% 37% 32% – 30%
Montgomery & Associates (D) July 31 – August 7, 2002 – – 46% 46% – 8%
University of Houston/
Rice University		 June 20–29, 2002 739 (LV) ± 3.5% 28% 36% – 36%
Scripps-Howard May 20 – June 9, 2002 668 (LV) ± 3.8% 35% 30% – 33%
Montgomery & Associates (D) May 7–13, 2002 1,066 (LV) ± 3.0% 46% 44% – 10%

Results

General election 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

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Partisan clients

  1. ↑ Poll conducted for The Dallas Morning News
  2. 1 2 3 Poll conducted for The Houston Chronicle and KHOU-TV
  3. ↑ Poll conducted for KVUE-TV, KPRC-TV, and KSAT-TV
  4. 1 2 3 4 Poll sponsored by KXAS-TV
  5. ↑ Poll sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

References

  1. 1 2 Ramsey, Ross (September 10, 2001). "A Disorderly Succession". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  2. ↑ "TX US Senate – R Primary". OurCampaigns. Archived from the original on July 1, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ Newsbank [dead link]
  5. ↑ Parrott, Susan (April 8, 2002). "Kirk looks ahead to race with Cornyn". Plainview Herald. Plainview Herald. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  6. ↑ Gott, Natalie (April 4, 2002). "Richards campaigns with Kirk in Austin". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  7. ↑ Robinson, Clay; Graves, Rachel (September 25, 2002). "Kirk, Cornyn exchange barbs over Enron, fund raising". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Clay (August 20, 2002). "Wife's lucrative board job issue in Kirk's Senate bid". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ "Summary". OpenSecrets.
  11. ↑ C-SPAN
  12. ↑ C-SPAN
  13. ↑ "Senate Races". www.centerforpolitics.org. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on November 18, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Polling on 2002 Key Senate Races". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  15. ↑ Sylvester, Sherry. "NEW: Poll shows Senate candidates Cornyn, Kirk almost even". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2002. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  16. ↑ Gillman, Todd J.; Jeffers Jr., Gromer (November 3, 2002). "Cornyn leads in latest DMN poll". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Perry, Cornyn lead in latest polls". Plainview Herald. November 1, 2002. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  18. ↑ "2002 SurveyUSA Election Polls". November 4, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  19. ↑ Wolfson, Monica. "Poll: Perry widens lead despite falling popularity". The Brownsville Herald. Archived from the original on November 19, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  20. ↑ "NBC 5 Exclusive: Voters Poll Part IV". KXAS-TV. Archived from the original on December 14, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Kirk Gains on Cornyn for Senate; Perry Now Up 11 Pts in Gov Race" (PDF). SurveyUSA. October 24, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  22. ↑ "NBC 5 Exclusive: Voters Poll Part III". KXAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 24, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  23. ↑ "NBC 5 Exclusive: Voter's Poll Part II". KXAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 26, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Polling on 2002 Key Senate Races". RealClearPolitics. Archived from the original on October 14, 2002. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  25. ↑ "NBC 5 Exclusive: Voter's Poll". KXAS-TV. Archived from the original on October 10, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  26. 1 2 3 "Polling on 2002 Key Senate Races". RealClearPolitics. Archived from the original on October 4, 2002. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  27. ↑ Bernstein, Jake (October 11, 2002). "Poll Pollution". The Texas Observer. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  28. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (September 23, 2002). "Ain't Gonna Study War No More". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Inside Politics – A grudging 'note'". The Washington Times. September 5, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  30. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (July 8, 2002). "The Sweet Smell of Success". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  31. ↑ Mabin, Connie (June 15, 2002). "Poll: Texas U.S. Senate race neck-in-neck". Plainview Herald. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  32. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (May 27, 2002). "How Deep is this Ditch?". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  33. ↑ "2002 ELECTION STATISTICS".

Official campaign websites (archived)