2012 United States Senate election in Texas

The 2012 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 6, 2012, along with other elections to the United States Senate the United States House of Representatives in additional states. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison decided to retire instead of running for reelection to a fourth full term. This was the first open election for this seat since 1957.

Libertarian John Jay Myers was elected by nomination at the Texas Libertarian Party State Convention on June 8, 2012. After the first round of primary voting on May 29, 2012, a runoff was held on July 31, 2012, for both the Democratic Party and Republican Party. Former state representative Paul Sadler and former state solicitor general Ted Cruz respectively won the Democratic and Republican runoffs; Cruz won the general election by a wide margin.

Background
In an interview with Texas Monthly published in December 2007, incumbent U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison stated that she would not seek reelection and might also resign from the Senate as early as 2009 to run for Governor of Texas. After the 2008 elections, Hutchison formed an exploratory committee to run for the governorship in 2010. State Republican Party Chairman Cathie Adams later called upon Hutchison to clarify when she would vacate the Senate so that other Republican candidates could make preparations to run.

On December 4, 2008, Hutchison set up an exploratory committee, setting up a primary battle with incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry. Fellow Texas U.S. Senator and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn tried to convince Hutchison to stay in the Senate, for fear of losing the seat to the Democrats. On January 15, 2009, Hutchison transferred nearly all the money, approximately $8 million, from her federal campaign account to her gubernatorial exploratory committee. On November 13, 2009, Hutchison announced that she would not resign from the Senate seat until after the primary on March 2, 2010.

Hutchison lost the gubernatorial primary to Perry and on March 31, 2010, she announced her intention to serve out her third term. On January 13, 2011, after some discussion about whether she would change her mind, Hutchison announced she would not seek re-election in 2012.

Requirements for nomination
Texas requires a majority for nomination, as well as a second round runoff between the two candidates with the two highest pluralities if none win a majority on the first round. No candidate won a majority in either 2012 major party first round primary, so both parties had a runoff on July 31, 2012.

Declared

 * Glenn Addison, funeral home owner
 * Joe Agris, plastic surgeon
 * Curt Cleaver, owner of a hotel sales, consulting, and management company
 * Ted Cruz, former State Solicitor General
 * David Dewhurst, Texas Lieutenant Governor
 * Ben Gambini
 * Charles Holcomb, retired judge from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
 * Craig James, sports commentator and former professional football player
 * Tom Leppert, former mayor of Dallas
 * Lela Pittenger, mediator

Withdrew

 * Elizabeth Ames Jones, Texas Railroad Commissioner (withdrew to run for state senate)
 * Florence Shapiro, Texas state senator (dropped out)
 * Michael Williams, former Texas Railroad Commissioner (withdrew to run for U.S. House)
 * Roger Williams, former Texas Secretary of State (withdrew to run for U.S. House)

Declined

 * Kay Bailey Hutchison, incumbent U.S. senator
 * Robert Paul, doctor and son of Ron Paul
 * Ron Paul, U.S. Representative (running for President)
 * Dan Patrick, Texas state senator

Polling

 * * Commissioned by David Dewhurst

With Dan Patrick
 * Commissioned by Dan Patrick

Filed

 * Addie Allen, disaster assistance employee for the Department of Homeland Security
 * Sean Hubbard, businessman
 * Paul Sadler, attorney and former state Representative
 * Grady Yarbrough, retired teacher

Withdrew

 * Daniel Boone, retired Air Force Colonel (withdrew to run for 21st U.S. congressional district in Texas; lost in Democratic primary)
 * Jason Gibson, president of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association (filed, but dropped out in February 2012)
 * Ricardo Sanchez, former United States Army Lieutenant General (dropped out)

Declined

 * Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio
 * Adrian Garcia, Harris County sheriff
 * Ron Kirk, U.S. trade representative and former Mayor of Dallas
 * Nick Lampson, former U.S. representative
 * John Sharp, former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
 * Leticia Van de Putte, Texas state senator
 * Bill White, former Mayor of Houston, originally announced that he would be running for the seat when it is vacated by Hutchison. On December 4, 2009, White announced that he was running for governor instead. After receiving the Democratic nomination for governor and losing the general election, White declared on November 15, 2010, that he would not run for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

Libertarian Party nomination
The Libertarian Party was qualified for the ballot (based on its 2010 performance at the polls). The Texas Libertarian Party nominated John Jay Myers as its Senate candidate, using approval voting on June 9 at the state convention in Fort Worth. The nominating process followed a two-round debate featuring six candidates for the nomination.

Candidates

 * Robert Butler
 * Wayne Huffman
 * Scott Jameson
 * John Jay Myers, restaurant owner
 * S. Ropal Raju
 * Jon Roland

Green Party nomination
The Green Party of Texas reported two candidates pre-selected at the June 9 convention: David B. Collins and Victoria Ann Zabaras. Collins was ultimately nominated (official blog).

Candidates

 * Ted Cruz, (Republican) former state solicitor general
 * Paul Sadler, (Democratic) former state representative
 * John Jay Myers, (Libertarian) restaurant owner
 * David Collins (Green), IT service desk analyst
 * Chris Tina Bruce (independent)
 * Mike Champion (independent)

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 2, 2012 - C-SPAN
 * Complete video of debate, October 19, 2012 - C-SPAN

Polling
with David Dewhurst

with Julian Castro

with Chet Edwards

with Sean Hubbard

with Tommy Lee Jones

with Paul Sadler

with Ricardo Sanchez

with John Sharp

with Bill White

Republican primary (when asked specifically, if Dewhurst were not running)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Bexar (largest city: San Antonio)
 * Cameron (largest community: Brownsville)
 * Jefferson (largest city: Beaumont)
 * Frio (largest municipality: Pearsall)
 * Kleberg (largest municipality: Kingsville)
 * La Salle (largest municipality: Cotulla)
 * Val Verde (largest municipality: Del Rio)
 * Culberson (largest municipality: Van Horn)
 * Dallas (largest city: Dallas)

By congressional district
Cruz won 25 of 36 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.