Lloyd Bentsen

★ U.S. Senator

Born: February 11, 1921
Died: May 23, 2006
Age at death: 85
Home state: Texas
Party: Democratic
On the ballot: 1952–1988

Career timeline

1952Rep 1970Sen 1976Sen 1982Sen 1988VP 1988Sen

5-1

RecordWin–Loss

Total Popular Votes

Bentsen50.2M

Opponents55.1M

Total Electoral Votes

Bentsen111

Opponents426

Elections run

As a running mate, Bentsen is credited with the ticket’s popular and electoral votes. A vote for the ticket counts for both names on it.

Between 1952 and 1988, Lloyd Bentsen ran in 6 elections across 3 offices (U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and President), winning 5 and losing 1. Bentsen's biggest single-election total was 41,809,476 votes, in the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Bentsen's closest win came in the 1970 U.S. Senate election in Texas, decided by 158,275 votes.

Browse every U.S. presidential election, every U.S. Senate election in Texas, or every U.S. House race in Texas's District 15.

How many votes has Lloyd Bentsen received?

Lloyd Bentsen has received 50,235,283 popular votes across 6 U.S. elections, with a career record of 5–1, plus 111 electoral votes.

Election history

Lloyd Bentsen’s election history
Year	Office	Result	Votes	Opponent(s)
1988	Vice Presidentwith Michael Dukakis	Lost	41,809,476 (45.6%)111 EV	George H. W. Bush (head-to-head)
1988	U.S. SenateTexas	Won	3,149,80659.17%	Beau Boulter Jeff Daiell
1982	U.S. SenateTexas	Won	1,818,22358.59%	Jim Collins John E. Ford Lineaus Hooper Lorette
1976	U.S. SenateTexas	Won	2,199,95656.78%	Alan Steelman Pedro Vasquez Marjorie P. Gallion
1970	U.S. SenateTexas	Won	1,194,06953.55%	George H. W. Bush (head-to-head)
1952	U.S. HouseTexas	Won	63,75399.93%	—

Identity & sources. Identity verified against the Congressional Bioguide (B000401) and Wikidata (Q455401). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.

Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “Lloyd Bentsen: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/lloyd-bentsen. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.