United States Senate election in Texas, 2008

United States Senate election in Texas, 2008

November 4, 2008

Nominee John Cornyn Rick Noriega Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,337,469 3,389,365 Percentage 54.8% 42.8%

County results

U.S. Senator before election John Cornyn Republican Elected U.S. Senator John Cornyn Republican

The 2008 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn won re-election to a second term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Gene Kelly, U.S. Air Force veteran and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2000
• Ray McMurrey, teacher at Mary Carroll High School
• Rick Noriega, State Representative
• Rhett Smith, U.S. Navy veteran and auditor at the Texas Department of Human Services

Results

2008 US Senate, Democratic Primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Rick Noriega	1,110,579	51.01%	+0.00%
	Democratic	Gene Kelly	584,966	26.87%	+0.00%
	Democratic	Ray McMurrey	269,402	12.37%	+0.00%
	Democratic	Rhett Smith	213,305	9.75%	+0.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Cornyn, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Larry Kilgore, conservative/Secessionist activist

Results

2008 US Senate, Republican Primary[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Cornyn	997,216	81.48%	+4.17%
	Republican	Larry Kilgore	226,649	18.52%	+0.00%

General election

Candidates

• John Cornyn (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Rick Noriega (D), State Representative
• Yvonne Adams Schick (L), real estate entrepreneur^[3]

Campaign

Cornyn, running as an incumbent, had a 42% approval rating with a 43% disapproval rating in June 2007.^[4] Texas is a red state, that Republican presidential nominee John McCain won with over 55% of the vote. Cornyn slightly underperformed McCain. However, Noriega underperformed both 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Texas and Cornyn's 2002 opponent, Ron Kirk, with Noriega receiving just 42.8% of the vote.

Predictions

CQ Politics rated this race as 'Republican Favored'.^[5] The Cook Political Report considered it 'Solid Republican'.^[6] The Rothenberg Political Report considered it a 'Safe Republican'.^[7]

Polling

Poll Source	Dates administered	Rick Noriega (D)	John Cornyn (R)
Rasmussen Reports	October 21, 2008	40%	55%
Rasmussen Reports	September 29, 2008	43%	50%
Rasmussen Reports	July 30, 2008	39%	50%
Rasmussen Reports	June 25, 2008	35%	48%
Rasmussen Reports	June 2, 2008	35%	52%
Baselice & Associates	May 20–25, 2008	33%	49%
Research 2000/Daily Kos	May 5–7, 2008	44%	48%
Rasmussen Reports	May 1, 2008	43%	47%
Research 2000	September 24–26, 2007	35%	51%
Rasmussen	September 18, 2007	30%	53%

Results

2008 Texas U.S. Senate general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Cornyn	4,337,469	54.82	-0.48
	Democratic	Rick Noriega	3,389,365	42.83	-0.50
	Libertarian	Yvonne Adams Schick	185,241	2.34	+1.55
Majority			948,104
Turnout			7,912,075	58.28
	Republican hold		Swing

References

1. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=294945
2. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=294946
3. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=123C9994B0E36568&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
4. Survey USA
5. Race Ratings Chart: Senate CQ Politics
6. 2008 Senate Race Ratings The Cook Political Report, October 9, 2008
7. 2008 Senate Ratings The Rothenberg Political Report, September 29, 2008

External links

• Elections Division from the Texas Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Texas at Project Vote Smart
• Texas, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
• Texas U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Texas Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets.org
• Cornyn (R-i) vs Noriega (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Official campaign websites
  • John Cornyn, Republican candidate
  • Rick Noriega, Democratic candidate
  • Yvonne Schick, Libertarian candidate