1984 United States Senate election in Texas

1984 United States Senate election in Texas

← 1978 November 6, 1984 1990 →

Nominee Phil Gramm Lloyd Doggett Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,111,348 2,202,557 Percentage 58.6% 41.4%

County results Gramm:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Doggett:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

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

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The 1984 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Tower decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Phil Gramm won the open seat.

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

• Lloyd Doggett, State Senator from Austin since 1975
• Kent Hance, U.S. Representative from Lubbock since 1979
• Bob Krueger, former U.S. Congressman from New Braunfels
• Harley Schlanger
• Robert Sullivan
• David Young

Campaign[]

The primary was 45% Hispanic, but included many moderate to conservative voters. Hance positioned himself as the most moderate to conservative candidate, who co-sponsored President Ronald Reagan's tax package.^[1] Doggett was the more liberal candidate, attacking Reaganomics and getting endorsements from the Texas teachers' union and Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.^[2] Doggett's campaign manager was James Carville.^[3] Krueger was seen as the front runner and was a moderate who supported the state's oil and gas industry, but had close ties with the Hispanic community because he was Spanish-speaking.^[4] Hance attacked both Krueger and Doggett for supporting amnesty for illegal aliens and supporting gay rights.^[5] The initial primary was extremely close between the top three candidates. Each candidate got 31% of the electorate. Hance ranked first, only 273 votes ahead of Doggett and 1,560 votes ahead of Krueger.

Since no candidate passed the 50% threshold, Hance and Doggett qualified for the run-off election. Hance fired his pollster despite ranking first.^[6] Krueger endorsed fellow U.S. Congressman Hance, saying "Ultimately, the quality of one's public service depends upon the character that one displays in filling an office."^[7][8] In the June election, Doggett very narrowly defeated Hance by just 1,345 votes.

Results[]

Initial election on May 5, 1984

Run-off election on June 2, 1984

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

• Phil Gramm, U.S. Representative from College Station since 1979
• Hank Grover, State Senator and former State Representative from Houston
• Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Lake Jackson (1976–77, 1979–85)
• Robert Mosbacher Jr., Houston oil businessman

Campaign[]

The primary was a highly competitive, multimillion-dollar contest.^[11] Gramm recently switched parties in 1983, but he was a conservative who supported Reaganomics. Gramm spent $4 million.^[12]

Results[]

General election[]

Candidates[]

• Lloyd Doggett (D), State Senator
• Phil Gramm (R), U.S. Congressman

Results[]

See also[]

• 1984 United States Senate elections

References[]