1988 United States Senate election in Texas

The 1988 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative Beau Boulter. Bentsen easily won the Democratic nomination for another term, while Boulter came through a run-off in the Republican primary defeating Wes Gilbreath. After winning renomination, Bentsen was chosen by Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis as his vice-presidential running mate and therefore ran for both the Senate and the vice-presidency at the same time. Although the presidential ticket lost the general election and did not carry Texas, Bentsen was always the favorite for the Senate election and won with 59.2% of the vote, compared to 40% for Boulter.

1988 United States Senate election in Texas

← 1982 November 8, 1988 1993 (special) →

Nominee Lloyd Bentsen Beau Boulter Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,149,806 2,129,228 Percentage 59.17% 40.00%

County results Congressional district results Bentsen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Boulter:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Lloyd Bentsen Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen Democratic

As of 2024^[update], this was the last time the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Texas.^[1][2]

Primaries

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary Democratic senator Lloyd Bentsen defeated the same opponent he had beaten in 1982, Joe Sullivan, a psychology professor from San Antonio.^[3]

Bentsen had been Senator from Texas since first winning election in 1970 and had been re-elected in 1976 and 1982. He was also Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the clear favorite for re-election in 1988.^[4] Sullivan stood on a platform calling for reduced spending by the federal government, but had been easily defeated by Bentsen in the 1982 Democratic primary.^[4] This was repeated in 1988 with Bentsen winning the primary with over 80% of the vote.^[3]

March 8 Democratic primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen (incumbent)	1,365,736	84.8
	Democratic	Joe Sullivan	244,805	15.2
Total votes			1,610,541	100

Republican primary

Four candidates competed for the Republican nomination; U.S. representative Beau Boulter, former state representative Milton Fox, millionaire Houston businessman Wes Gilbreath and businessman Ned Snead.^[6] Boulter was a two-term representative for the 13th district, while Gilbreath was competing in his first election, but spent $500,000 on the primary.^[7]

Wes Gilbreath led in the March primary with 36.7%, but as no candidate won a majority, went into a run-off election against Beau Boulter who came second with 30.5%.^[5]

March 8 Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wes Gilbreath	275,080	36.7
	Republican	Beau Boulter	228,676	30.5
	Republican	Milton Fox	138,031	18.4
	Republican	Ned Snead	107,560	14.4
Total votes			749,347	100

There were few policy differences between Boulter and Gilbreath, with both candidates being conservatives who opposed abortion and called for reduced government spending.^[8] Gilbreath spent about one million dollars of his money in his contest for the primary,^[9] while Boulter spent about $250,000.^[8] However Boulter won endorsements from many Texas Republican leaders,^[9] including the candidates who had come third and fourth in the March primary, as well as from anti-abortion groups.^[8]

Boulter won the April run-off for the Republican nomination with just over 60% of the vote.^[8]

April 12 Republican run-off results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Beau Boulter	111,134	60.2
	Republican	Wes Gilbreath	73,573	39.8
Total votes			184,707	100

Vice-presidential candidate

In July 1988 the Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis chose Lloyd Bentsen to be the Democratic vice-presidential candidate.^[10] As the Texas Democrats had already had their primary for senate candidate, Bentsen could not be replaced on the ballot.^[10] Bentsen was however able to run both for the Senate and for vice-president as Lyndon Johnson had gotten Texas law changed in 1960 to allow Johnson to do the same at the 1960 election.^[11]

However Beau Boulter attacked Bentsen for running for both the senate and vice presidency, calling it arrogant, unethical and possibly illegal.^[12] Boulter and the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) claiming that the dual candidacy violated federal campaign finance laws as any spending in one race would unfairly affect the other campaign, however the FEC rejected the complaint and this decision was confirmed by the United States courts of appeals.^[13] Boulter continued to attack Bentsen over the dual candidacy running a campaign advert in August 1988 mocking Bentsen for trying to ride two horses at the same time.^[14]

Campaign

Lloyd Bentsen was always the favorite for the election,^[15] with a large cash advantage over Beau Boulter.^[16] Filings with the FEC at the beginning of August showed Bentsen had $3.9 million compared to only $14,000 for Boulter.^[16] The financial advantage for Bentsen continued through the campaign and by the beginning of November Bentsen had raised $7.5 million for the senate election, while Boulter had raised $2.7 million.^[17]

Boulter's campaign receive little or no official Republican support, with the Republican presidential campaign giving a not very subtle endorsement of a "Texas Ticket", which was George Bush for president and Bentsen for the senate.^[18] However Boulter hoped to benefit from Bush's coattails and ran campaign adverts pointing to his links with Bush and Ronald Reagan.^[19] Boulter also ran adverts attacking Bentsen for supporting giving benefit to illegal immigrants, but this was denied by the Bentsen campaign.^[19] Meanwhile, Bentsen ran adverts showing things they said he had done for Texas such as passing a trade bill, catastrophic coverage legislation, repealing the windfall profit tax and preserving local bus services.^[19]

At the beginning of October 1988 Democratic polls were reported to show Bentsen at least 20% ahead of Boulter,^[11] with Bentsen spending much of his time campaigning for the presidential election and very little time on the senate election.^[17]

Results

Bentsen won the election by a wide margin over Beau Boulter, at the same time that he and Michael Dukakis lost the presidential race,^[20] with George Bush winning Texas with 56% of the vote in the state compared to 43% for Dukakis.^[21] Bentsen's vote total in the senate election was reported to be at the time the highest vote total in any Texas statewide election.^[22] Boulter's showing was particularly embarrassing for the Texas GOP given that Vice President Bush easily carried Texas by a margin nearly as large as Bentsen’s.

Bentsen received 93% of the black vote.^[23]

General election results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen (incumbent)	3,149,806	59.17%	+0.58%
	Republican	Beau Boulter	2,129,228	40.00%	-0.50%
	Libertarian	Jeff Daiell	44,572	0.84%	+0.08%
Majority			1,020,578	19.17%	+1.08%
Turnout			5,323,606
	Democratic hold		Swing

See also

• 1988 United States Senate elections

References

1. Giroux, Gregory (May 30, 2012). "Texas Democratic U.S. Senate Turnout May Be Lowest Since 1916". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
2. "Senate: Texas". CNN. November 8, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
3. "Mississippi Congressmen Will Battle for Stennis' Senate Seat". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. March 9, 1988. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
4. "Bentsen target of 5 'Davids'". The Victoria Advocate. February 27, 1988. p. 46. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
5. "Texas Almanac, 1990-1991". Texas Almanac. The Portal to Texas History. p. 366. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
6. "Candidates for Stennis seat chosen". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. March 9, 1988. p. 33. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
7. . The Washington Post. March 9, 1988. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
8. "Boulter, Gilbreath in Texas GOP senate runoff". Associated Press. April 13, 1988. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
9. "Texas Senate Primary Today Pits 2 Survivors of March 8". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 12, 1988. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
10. "Dukakis Chooses Texas Sen. Bentsen as Running Mate". The Washington Post. July 13, 1988. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
11. Weaver, Warren (October 4, 1988). "Texas Law Seems Mixed Blessing to Bentsen". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
12. Pertman, Adam (July 14, 1988). . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
13. Chachere, Vickie (August 4, 1988). . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
14. Schwartz, Maralee (August 17, 1988). . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
15. Schwartz, Maralee (July 19, 1988). . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
16. . The Washington Post. August 1, 1988. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
17. Tumulty, Karen (November 4, 1988). "Law Allows Senator to Run 2 Races : Conservative Texas Voters Can Get Bush and Bentsen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
18. Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod (January 1, 1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 226. ISBN 9780275931452. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
19. "Bentsen favored for Senate, Boulter Counts on Bush Link". The Victoria Advocate. October 23, 1988. p. 11. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
20. . Chicago Sun-Times. November 9, 1988. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
21. "Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)". Roll Call. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
22. Black, Chris (November 9, 1988). . The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
23. Black & Black 1992, p. 356.

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674941306.