1996 United States Senate election in Texas

The 1996 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm won re-election to a third term.

1996 United States Senate election in Texas

November 5, 1996

Nominee Phil Gramm Victor Morales Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,027,680 2,428,776 Percentage 54.8% 43.9%

County results Gramm:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Morales:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Phil Gramm Republican Elected U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Republican

Major candidates

Democratic

• Victor Morales, Navy veteran
• John Bryant, Incumbent U.S representative
• Jim Chapman, Incumbent U.S representative
• John Odam, State Supreme Court litigator

Republican

• Phil Gramm, incumbent U.S. Senator

Campaign

Morales, who never ran for public office before, pulled a major upset in the primary by defeated three politicians: U.S. Congressman John Wiley Bryant, U.S. Congressman Jim Chapman, and former State Supreme Court litigator John Odam. In the March run-off, he defeated Bryant with 51% of the vote. He became the first minority in Texas history to become a United States Senate nominee from either major party. Despite having no staff, raising only $15,000, and not accepting any special interest money he obtained 2.5 million votes.[1]

Gramm previously ran for President earlier in the year, but lost to fellow U.S. Senator Bob Dole in the Republican presidential primary. Gramm was the heavy favorite. A September poll showed Gramm leading 50% to 40%. A late October poll showed him leading with 53% to 31%.[2]

Exit Polls showed that Gramm performed well with Anglos (68% to 31%), while Morales won African Americans (79% to 19%) and Latinos (79% to 20%) respectively.

Results

General election results[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phil Gramm (incumbent)	3,027,680	54.8%
	Democratic	Victor M. Morales	2,428,776	43.9%
	Libertarian	Michael Bird	51,516	0.9%
	Natural Law	John Huff	19,469	0.4%
	Republican hold

See also

• 1996 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Candidate - Victor M. Morales". Our Campaigns. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
2. "San Antonio Express-News, Archives | mySA.com". Nl.newsbank.com. October 26, 1996. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
3. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=187