Lloyd Bentsen won a Senate race in Texas in 1988.
Posted by Louder with Crowder, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Louder with CrowderAug 19, 2026
Multiple reliable sources (the 1988 Texas Senate election results in Wikipedia, LA Times, Deseret News, and a 2009 Britannica bio, plus a 2026 KXAN piece) confirm Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat, won the Texas U.S. Senate race in 1988, while losing the vice presidential race with Dukakis.
What was said
… This is the best looking polling for Democrats in the Senate race since, really, the twentieth century. You're gonna have to go back probably the late eighties, the last time they won a Senate race out there, when it was Lloyd Benson winning in 1988. Because just take a look here: this polling looks so much different than it did eight years ago. You take a look here, James Salario, the latest poll against Kent Huckney, he's actually up by three points. …
Louder with Crowder · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Wikipedia's 1988 Texas Senate election article states incumbent Democrat Lloyd Bentsen won re-election, defeating Republican Beau Boulter by about 19 points.[1]
Supports. LA Times (Nov. 9, 1988) reports Bentsen retained his Senate seat even as the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket lost Texas.[2]
Supports. Deseret News (Nov. 9, 1988) reports Bentsen, having lost the VP race, captured nearly 60 percent of the vote to win the Senate race over Beau Boulter.[3]
Supports. KXAN's 2026 piece notes the last Democratic Senate win in Texas was Lloyd Bentsen's 1988 election, and Contrarian News (2026) says the same.[4][5]
Context. The post's spelling 'Lloyd Benson' is a misspelling of the same Senate candidate; the claim's content otherwise follows the passage faithfully.
Sources
5 sources: 5 not rated
- 11988 United States Senate election in Texas - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 2VP Run Helped Standing in Polls : Bentsen Retains Senate ...latimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3BENTSEN LOSES V.P. RACE BUT WINS TEXAS ONEdeseret.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4State of Texas: Paxton, Talarico make final push for votes ...kxan.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Talarico Would Be First Democrat to Win Texas Senate ...contrariannews.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.True
- Democrats have not won a statewide race in Texas in 32 years.True
- The Democrat in the current Texas Senate race is polling nine points better than the Democrat in the 2018 Senate race at the same point in the cycle.Mixed
- Democrats are polling a point or two ahead in Senate races in Texas, Ohio, and Alaska.Mixed
- Pat Buchanan campaigned for president in the 1988-1990 time period.False