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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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The2002 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 5, 2002. IncumbentRepublican U.S. SenatorPhil Gramm decided to retire, instead of seeking a fourth term. State Attorney General RepublicanJohn Cornyn won the open seat. This was the first open-seat election since 1984.
| 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 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ron Kirk | 370,878 | 59.8 | |
| Democratic | Victor M. Morales | 249,423 | 40.2 | |
| Total votes | 620,301 | 100.0 | ||
| 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 | ||
Despite the fact that Texas is ared state, Kirk ran on a socially progressive platform: supporting abortion rights and opposing Bush judicial nomineePriscilla Richman, although Kirk was a formerGeorge 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] Cornyn was endorsed by U.S. president and former Governor George W. Bush, while Kirk had the support of formerSan Antonio mayorHenry Cisneros, former GovernorAnn Richards and former U.S. SenatorLloyd Bentsen.[3][4]
Cornyn was criticized for taking campaign money fromEnron and other controversial companies.[5] 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 potentialconflicts of interest for Kirk while he was mayor.[6]
An OctoberDallas Morning News poll had Cornyn leading 47% to 37%.[7] A record $18 million was spent in the election.[8]
| 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[9] | 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[10] | P | P |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[11] | Lean R | November 4, 2002 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | John Cornyn (R) | Ron Kirk (D) | Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[12] | October 29–31, 2002 | 683 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 53% | 45% | 2% |
| 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 | ||||
Official campaign websites (archived)
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