1993 United States Senate special election in Texas (The Reform Party: 20 Years of History)

Background
Senior Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen was the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate in 1988. An elder and loyal party man, Clinton wanted to reward him with the position of Treasury Secretary. Bentsen would be approved as Treasurer later that day, and resign. His resignation from the Senate opened up a special election, to take place that June. Patrick Caddell, who had stayed on as a party employee, advised Perot were to jump into the special election due to its unique rules. The special election has a blanket primary where the top two of all candidates move on to the general election, so Perot did not have to worry about another three-way race.

Perot was thinking about this as he watched the inauguration proceed, and gave Caddell a call after Bentsen was confirmed. Caddell recalled the first words out of his mouth: “Let's do this. Lets run for Senate.” and his response was: “Ok, I am in Houston--” to which Perot responded “Good. Stay there.” And hung up. Texas Governor Ann Richards, another Democrat, appointed Texas Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger to the Senate seat, with the blanket primary scheduled for the beginning of May.

Primary Election
The same week, Ross Perot announced his candidacy for the Texas Senate Class-1 Special Election. The billionaire political outsider who had just won thirty million votes running for the presidency was looking to join “the worst club in America,” as he put it. The blanket primary on May 1st and the runoff would be on June 5th, assuming nobody won a majority. In this crowded field, nobody expected they would. Perot was the only independent of any note, but his other major opponents would be Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R), Bob Krueger (D) (inc.), Richard Fisher (D), Joe Barton (R), Jack Fields (R), and Jose Angel Gutierrez (D). Hutchinson and Krueger were his main opponents and Perot would contrast them to himself every chance he got. He would lambast Hutchinson’s social conservatism and Krueger’s lack of any major accomplishments in his long career in public service. It was important to remember Perot came in a very close third in Texas in 1992: Bush (35.56%) had 2,188,369, Clinton (32.08%) had 1,974,209, and Perot (32.01%) had 1,969,901. Despite the fact he had lost the state, Perot was confident that he could turn those nearly two million votes into a majority in an off year election.

Hutchinson was the Republican State Treasurer and was hoping to become the first woman to represent the state of Texas. She would attack Krueger as a “tax and spend liberal” and Perot as a “wacky conspiracy theorist.” Despite describing herself as pro-choice, both other candidates would attack her as too far-right on abortion. Perot would go after her on this in the one and only televised debate between the three of them: “Mrs. Hutchinson says she is pro-choice, but she isn’t really. She is for states having the choice as to whether or not you can get an abortion. That’s not really pro-choice, Mrs. Hutchinson.” She would deny these charges, but the damage was done. Just days later, on May 1st, the blanket primary would be held.

Perot emerged in first place with 695,558 votes (34%). The second place finisher was Kay Bailey Hutchinson with 593,338 votes (29%). They both defeated incumbent Senator Bob Krueger, who fell short with 429,609 votes (21%). Some Republican candidates consolidated behind Hutchinson ahead of the vote, with the other candidates fearing a Perot-Krueger run off more than anything. Perot’s campaign was energized by their first place finish in the primary, saying “We just have to carry this energy into June.”

General Election
Ross Perot would commend Senator Bob Krueger for voting against Mario Cuomo’s nomination to the court, stating “while I agree with some of Cuomo’s social views, I do not believe he should sit on the court for those reasons alone.” When asked if he believed Cuomo was unfit to be on the court, Perot answered yes. Perot and Krueger would shake hands at a rally, where Senator Krueger and Governor Ann Richards both endorsed Perot over his rival, Hutchinson. Richards would say of Perot: “He is not a Democrat, but he believes this country should educate its children and serve more than just wealthy donors, so he’s got my vote.”

Hutchinson would continue to attack Perot as a crazy man trying to buy the election, drawing attention to his belief that Republican Party operatives started a fire at his daughter’s wedding. They would have two debates between the May primary and the June runoff, with neither one emerging as a decisive winner or loser in either.

On June 1st, the runoff for the Texas Senate Special Election finally took place and would leave the country in an uproar. Ross Perot of the Reform Party held barely any lead over Kay Bailey Hutchison for most of the race, averaging out ahead 49% to 47% with a margin of error of +/-2.5%. The race would conclude as a war for turnout.

Results
Perot won the runoff with 932,054 (52.8%) to Hutchison’s 833,200 (47.2%). When asked how he’s feeling after the win, he said “Winning feelings good. If I can feel this feeling again next year, then I’m excited to run for re-election in 1994.”