TEXAS - Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has defeated
Democratic challenger Rick Noriega.
Cornyn secured a second term Tuesday night after casting himself
as a Washington outsider despite his incumbency. He had 54 percent
of the vote to Noriega's 44 percent with nearly half of precincts
reporting.
Noriega, a Houston state legislator, was a big underdog in the
Republican-leaning state. Cornyn had millions more dollars to spend
than Noriega and for weeks blanketed the state's television
airwaves with ads.
Noriega claimed Cornyn was simply a lackey for the Bush
administration and that he would say one thing in Texas and vote
another way in the Senate.
Cornyn won election to the Senate in 2002 after serving as Texas
attorney general and a Texas Supreme Court justice.