1996 United States Senate election in Texas
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The 1996 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 5, 1996, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Texas.
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November 5, 1996
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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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In the Republican primary, Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm easily secured the Republican nomination. In the Democratic primary, Victor Morales, a teacher and navy veteran, scored an upset victory over two incumbent U.S. Representatives to secure the nomination in a runoff.
In the general election, Gramm defeated Morales by a margin of 10.8 percentage points, securing re-election to his third and final term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Phil Gramm, incumbent U.S. senator since 1985
Eliminated in primary
- Henry Grover, former state senator and 1972 nominee for governor
- David Young
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Phil Gramm (incumbent) | 838,339 | 85.01% | |
| Republican | David Young | 75,463 | 7.65% | |
| Republican | Henry C. "Hank" Glover | 72,400 | 7.34% | |
| Total votes | 986,202 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
Candidates
Nominee
- Victor Morales, teacher and U.S. Navy veteran
Eliminated in runoff
- John Bryant, U.S. representative from Dallas
Eliminated in primary
- Jim Chapman, U.S, representative from Sulphur Springs
- John Odam, State Supreme Court litigator
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Victor Morales | 322,218 | 36.18% | |
| Democratic | John Bryant | 267,545 | 30.04% | |
| Democratic | Jim Chapman | 239,427 | 26.88% | |
| Democratic | John Will Odam | 61,433 | 6.90% | |
| Total votes | 890,623 | 100.00% | ||
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- >90%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
Runoff
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Victor Morales | 246,614 | 51.18% | |
| Democratic | John Bryant | 235,281 | 48.82% | |
| Total votes | 481,895 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Michael Bird (Libertarian)
- Phil Gramm, incumbent U.S. senator since 1985 (Republican)
- John Huff (Natural Law)
- Victor Morales, teacher and U.S. Navy veteran (Democratic)
Campaign
Morales, who never ran for statewide 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.[4][5]
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%.[6]
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
| 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% | |
| Total votes | 5,527,441 | 100.0% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||