1988 United States Senate election in Texas
November 8, 1988
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Bentsen: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Boulter: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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| Government |
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 Dukakis/Bentsen presidential ticket lost both the general election and the election in Texas by 12.6 points, Bentsen was always the favorite for the Senate election and defeated Boulter by 19 points.
As of 2026, this was the last time a Democrat won a U.S. Senate election in Texas.