2002 Texas gubernatorial election

Incumbent Rick Perry ascended to the governorship of Texas on December 21, 2000, following the resignation of then-Gov. George W. Bush, who had been elected President of the United States. Perry had been elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and previously elected Texas Commissioner of Agriculture in 1990 and 1994 including three terms in the Texas House of Representatives in 1984, 1986 and 1988. He successfully ran for a full four-year term in 2002.

Perry had an ongoing political feud with Democratic Speaker Pete Laney during the 2001 legislative session, and vetoed several pieces of legislation brought forward by several Democratic state lawmakers. However, rumors about fellow Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison launching a primary challenge against Perry had been swirling for weeks, but Hutchison chose not to run for governor, choosing instead to serve as Vice Chair of the Senate Republican Conference to avoid a nasty primary battle that would have divided the Texas Republican Party in time for the general election of 2002. Perry's campaign received the endorsement of former State Attorney General Dan Morales, who lost the Democratic primary nomination, and he also received endorsements from the Dallas Morning News, Abilene Reporter-News, Midland Reporter-Telegram, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and the Galveston County Daily News. Public opinion polls from Zogby International, Survey USA, and Scripps-Howard showed Perry leading by double digits, and the Perry campaign was outspent by Sanchez by a margin of 12-to-1, with Perry spending $27 million to Sanchez's $76 million.

Laredo multimillionaire businessman Tony Sanchez, had served as a regent of the University of Texas at Austin, having been appointed to the University of Texas Board of Regents by then-Governor Bush in 1997, and he also served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission from 1985 to 1991-having been appointed by then-Governor Mark Wells White in 1985.

Sanchez was best known for getting involved in successful battles such as: challenging the architectural plan for a new art museum and to consider a Hispanic candidate for President of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Sanchez started making waves on running for governor back in late 2000, when he was helped by Kelly Fero, who served as a consultant on Jim Mattox's unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1990 and John Sharp's 1998 unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, and also had discussions with George Shipley, a longtime Democratic strategist and consultant. In the Democratic primary, Sanchez easily defeated Morales by a landslide margin of 60 percent to 32 percent in the primary elections on March 12, 2002. However, the bitter primary campaign between Sanchez and Morales resulted in negative campaign attacks including Morales criticizing Sanchez for connections between a failed Sanchez-owned savings and loan and Mexican drug lords. Sanchez pummeled Morales by picking up the questions on the tobacco settlement and suggested the former Texas Attorney General was only running for office to protect himself from federal indictments. Sanchez managed to get the endorsements from the Austin Chronicle, Corpus Christi Caller Times, and the Waco Tribune Herald during the general election campaign.

• Cass (Largest city: Atlanta)
• Hudspeth (Largest city: Fort Hancock)
• Pecos (Largest city: Fort Stockton)
• Terrell (Largest city: Sanderson)
• Cameron (Largest city: Brownsville)
• Kenedy (largest municipality: Sarita)
• Culberson (largest municipality: Van Horn)
• Kleberg (largest municipality: Kingsville)
• Marion (Largest city: Jefferson)
• Morris (Largest city: Daingerfield)
• Newton (Largest city: Newton)
• Bee (Largest city: Beeville)
• Fisher (Largest city: Rotan)
• Jefferson (largest city: Beaumont)
• Frio (largest municipality: Pearsall)
• El Paso (largest municipality: El Paso)
• Val Verde (largest municipality: Del Rio)
• Nueces (Largest city: Corpus Christi)
• Travis (Largest city: Austin)
• Robertson (Largest city: Hearne)
• Willacy (Largest city: Raymondville)
• Hidalgo (Largest city: McAllen)