Colonel William A. Phillips

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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

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
May Democratic primary[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kent Hance 456,446 31.2%
Democratic Lloyd Doggett 456,173 31.2%
Democratic Robert Charles Krueger 454,886 31.1%
Democratic David Young 47,062 3.2%
Democratic Robert S. Sullivan 34,733 2.4%
Democratic Harley Schlanger 14,149 1.0%
Run-off election on June 2, 1984
June Democratic primary[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lloyd Doggett 491,251 50.1%
Democratic Kent Hance 489,906 49.9%

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

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

Results

May Republican primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Phil Gramm 247,280 73.3%
Republican Ron Paul 55,771 16.5%
Republican Robert A. Mosbacher Jr. 26,250 7.8%
Republican Hank Grover 8,055 2.5%

General election

Candidates

Doggett received 89% of the black vote.[14]

Results

General election results[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Phil Gramm 3,111,348 58.55%
Democratic Lloyd Doggett 2,202,557 41.45%
Total votes 5,313,905 100.00%
Republican hold

See also

References

Works cited