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 County results Gramm: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Morales: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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 Government |
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.
Morales, who never ran for public office before, pulled a major upset in the primary by defeating 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][2]
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%.[3]
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Phil Gramm (incumbent) | 3,027,680 | 54.78% | |
| Democratic | Victor M. Morales | 2,428,776 | 43.94% | |
| Libertarian | Michael Bird | 51,516 | 0.93% | |
| Natural Law | John Huff | 19,469 | 0.35% | |
| Republican hold | ||||
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