1996 United States Senate election in Texas

none March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in Texas Texas presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in Texas 1990 2002 United States Senate election in Texas 2002 November 5, 1996 PhilGramm (1).jpg Phil Gramm Republican Party (United States) 3,027,680 54.78% Victor M. Morales 1975 Edit 3x4.jpg Victor Morales Democratic Party (United States) 2,428,776 43.94% 1996 United States Senate election in Texas results map by county.svg 310px County results Gramm: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90%Morales: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Republican Party (United States) Phil Gramm Republican Party (United States) 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. 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 Republican primary resultshttps://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1996&fips=48&f=0&off=3&elect=2&class=2 1996 Senatorial Republican Primary Election Results - Texas Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections March 20, 2026 Phil Gramm (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 838,339 85.01%Republican Party (United States) David Young 75,463 7.65% Republican Party (United States) Henry C. "Hank" Glover 72,400 7.34% 986,202 100.00% Democratic primary thumb|300x300px|First round results by county: #7996E2 Morales #BDD3FF 30–40% #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996E2 50–60% #6674DE 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #5fd35fff Bryant #AAE5AA 30–40% #87DE87 40–50% #5fd35fff 50–60% #37c837ff 60–70% #2ca02cff 70–80% #F1C92A Chapman #FFEEAA 30–40% #FFDD55 40–50% #F1C92A 50–60% #DEB02A 60–70% #CE9B1E 70–80% #b98a35 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 Democratic primary resultshttps://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1996&fips=48&f=0&off=3&elect=1&class=2 1996 Senatorial Democratic Primary Election Results - Texas Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections March 20, 2026 Texas Democratic Party Victor Morales 322,218 36.18% Texas Democratic Party John Bryant 267,545 30.04% Texas Democratic Party Jim Chapman 239,427 26.88% Texas Democratic Party John Will Odam 61,433 6.90% 890,623 100.00% thumb|300x300px|Runoff results by county: #7996E2 Morales #7996E2 50–60% #6674DE 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5ff 80–90% #0D0596 >90% #5fd35fff Bryant #5fd35fff 50–60% #37c837ff 60–70% #2ca02cff 70–80% #217821 80–90% Runoff Democratic runoff resultshttps://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1996&fips=48&f=0&off=3&elect=3&class=2 1996 Senatorial Democratic Runoff Election Results - Texas Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections March 20, 2026 Texas Democratic Party Victor Morales 246,614 51.18% Texas Democratic Party John Bryant 235,281 48.82% 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.http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=428 Candidate - Victor M. Morales Our Campaigns January 9, 2011Ramos Mary G. 1997 Texas Almanac, 1998-1999 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162515/m1/384/ 2022-06-17 The Portal to Texas History 384 English 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%.http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB03D9654A73A15&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM San Antonio Express-News, Archives | mySA.com Nl.newsbank.com October 26, 1996 January 9, 2011 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 resultshttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=187 Our Campaigns - TX US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1996 Republican Party (United States) Phil Gramm (incumbent) 3,027,680 54.78% Democratic Party (United States) Victor M. Morales 2,428,776 43.94% Libertarian Party (United States) Michael Bird 51,516 0.93% Natural Law Party (United States) John Huff 19,469 0.35% 5,527,441 100.0% Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References Texas 1996 Category:1996 Texas elections