NATIONAL ELECTION RETURNS : State-by-State Election Reports of Key Races and Issues : Texas
Texans split their tickets to send two of their sons to Washington, favoring Republican George Bush for President and reelecting Democrat Lloyd Bentsen to the Senate for a fourth term.
Adopted Texan Bush had 57% of the vote with three-quarters of the vote in, while Michael S. Dukakis had 43%. Texas’ 29 electoral votes are the third-largest haul in the country.
Bentsen was seeking to match Lyndon B. Johnson’s double victory of 1960, when he became the first and only person to win national office and a U.S. Senate seat in the same year. He lost the vice presidency but gained 58% of the vote in defeating Rep. Beau Boulter, whom he had outspent 6 to 1.
Democrats picked up two House seats, raising their total to 19, while Republicans won 8 seats.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
