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Nov. 6,
2012 U.S.
Senate
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TX
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Notes: On Jan. 13, 2011 Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), first elected in a 1993 special election, announced she would not run for re-election. Backed by the Tea Party, former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R) achieved an upset in the Republican primary runoff, and went on to win by a comfortable margin over former state Rep. Paul Sadler (D). Also on the ballot were Dallas restauranteur John Jay Myers (L) and author David B. Collins (G). Nine candidates were on the ballot in the May 29 Republican primary; Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, first elected to the office in 2002 after serving four years as Texas Land Commissioner, was the frontrunner, but Tea Party support boosted Cruz. Cruz, 41, had a national profile as a Republican rising star. National Review magazine featured him on the cover of its Oct. 17, 2011 issue ("First Class Cruz"). His experience included law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, domestic policy advisor at Bush-Cheney 2000, work at the Federal Trade Commission, and more than five years as Solicitor General of Texas, from 2003-08. In the lead-up to the primary, the Dewhurst and Cruz campaigns engaged in a costly and caustic ad war. When the votes were tallied, Dewhurst finished first with 627,731 votes (44.63%) followed by Cruz at 480,558 (34.16%); former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert was the only other candidate in double digits, obtaining 187,900 votes (13.36%). Then came the two-month runoff campaign. At the Republican Party of Texas state convention in Fort Worth from June 7-9, Cruz showed his grassroots strength (1, 2), portraying the election as a "battle between the moderate establishment and the conservative Tea Party tidal wave." Cruz and Dewhurst engaged in three runoff debates: on June 22 (>), July 17 and July 23. Cruz went on to win in the July 31 runoff by 631,812 votes (56.82%) to 480,126 (43.18%). Indicative of his growing national profile, Cruz addressed the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late August. In the May 29 Democratic primary Sadler had the most political experience of the four candidates, but he had been largely out of the public eye since leaving the legislature in Jan. 2003. Sadler was first elected to the Texas House in 1990 and served six terms; subsequently he practiced law and served as executive director of the Wind Coalition. Sadler finished first with 174,772 votes (35.13%) followed by Grady Yarbrough 128,746 (25.88%), Addie Dainell Allen 113,935 (22.90%) and Sean Hubbard 80,034 (16.09%). In the July 31 runoff Sadler defeated Yarbrough by 148,940 votes (63.03%) to 87,365 (36.97%). Cruz and Sadler engaged in two debates, at WFAA-TV studios in Dallas on Oct. 2 and at KERA-TV studios on Oct. 19 (>). The race was not competitive financially. According to Open Secrets (>), the Cruz campaign, which did have a closely fought primary and recall, spent $14.0 million compared to $510,439 for the Sadler campaign. Campaign Managers: Ted Cruz: John Drogin (Jan. 2011) Associate at Caddo Associates, April 2010-Jan. 2011. Campaign manager at Texans for Ted Cruz (for Attorney General), July 2009-April 2010. Press secretary (Aug. 2003-July 2008) and deputy press secretary (Dec. 2002-Aug. 2003) to Sen. John Cornyn; deputy press secretary on the Cornyn for Senate campaign, March-Dec. 2002. Chief correspondent for Inside the Vatican magazine (Sept. 1999-Feb. 2002) and senior reporter at Vatican Radio (Dec. 1999-May 2001). Undergraduate degree from Berea College, 1999. Paul Sadler: Doug Dodson Political media consulting in Texas and Washington, DC with Joe Slade White & Co., Dec. 2006-Jan. 2011. Campaign manager on Gov. Brad Henry (OK)'s 2006 re-election. Executive director of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, Apr. 2004-Dec. 2005. Virginia state director on Clark for President, Dec. 2003-Mar. 2004. Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop (NY) to Dec. 2003, after serving as campaign manager on his upset win, Aug.-Nov. 2002. Counter narcotics-counter terrorism specialist for Rendon Group in Columbia, Mar. 2001-Apr. 2002. Campaign manager on David Cain for Texas Senate, June-Nov. 2000. Community liaison for the President's Council on Y2K, Apr. 1999-Feb. 2000. Campaign manager on various races, Jan. 1990-Jan. 1998, including U.S. Rep. Jim Maloney (CT) re-election in 1998; Dan Williams for Congress in Idaho in 1996; and U.S. Rep. Mike Andrews for U.S. Senate in the 1994 Democratic primary in Texas. First campaign worked on was Bill Sarpalius for Congress in Texas in 1988. Attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Amarillo native. See also: Linton Weeks. "Campaign Lifer Looks for Life Off the Trail Political Strategist Dodson Settles Down, for the Moment." Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2007. See also: Brian D. Sweany. "The Paul Sadler Interview." Texas Monthly, Nov. 2012. Jake Silverstein. "Ted Cruz's Excellent Adventure." Texas Monthly, Oct. 2012. Aman Batheja. "Once a Powerhouse, Sadler Works to Remind Voters of Past Status." Texas Tribune, Sept. 16, 2012. Garrett Quinn. "Meet John Jay Myers, Texas Libertarian For U.S. Senate." Reason, Aug. 20, 2012. --. "Analyzing Cruz's Texas Victory and the 2012 Senate Landscape." PBS NewsHour, Aug. 1, 2012. Brian Bolduc. "As Good As It Gets ." National Review, Sept. 29, 2011 [Oct. 17 issue]. |
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