2002 Texas Attorney General election

2002 Texas Attorney General election

November 5, 2002
Turnout	34.7% 2.9%
Nominee Greg Abbott Kirk Watson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,542,184 1,841,359 Percentage 56.7% 41.1%
County results Abbott:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Watson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Attorney General before election John Cornyn Republican Elected Attorney General Greg Abbott Republican

The 2002 Texas Attorney General election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the attorney general of Texas. Republican state supreme court justice Greg Abbott defeated Democrat Kirk Watson, the former mayor of Austin, with 56.7% of the vote to win his first term as attorney general, he was sworn into office on January 20, 2003.

Primaries

Primaries were held on March 12, 2002, and runoffs were held on April 9, 2002, for both parties.

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Abbott	540,022	100.0
Total votes			540,022	100.0

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kirk Watson	698,366	100.0
Total votes			698,366	100.0

General election

Candidates

• Greg Abbott (R), state supreme court justice
• Kirk Watson (D), former mayor of Austin
• John Roland (Libertarian), author
• David Cobb (Green), activist

Results

On election night Abbott won by a 15% margin against Watson, Roland, and Cobb.

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Abbott	2,542,184	56.72
	Democratic	Kirk Watson	1,841,359	41.08
	Libertarian	John Roland	56,880	1.27
	Green	David Cobb	41,560	0.93
Total votes			4,481,983	100.0
	Republican hold