Facts:   - jr/sr: united states senator    - birth name: john cornyn iii    - party: republican    - alongside: ted cruz    - predecessor: dick durbin phil gramm jon kyl dan morales      - succeeded: deborah hankinson    - birth date: 2 february 1952    - leader: mitch mcconnell mitch mcconnell    - spouse: sandy cornyn    - office: senate of texas associate justice of the texas supreme court majority whip senate minority whip 49th attorney general    - term end: january 18 , 1997 3 , 2015 december 1 , 2002 october    - name: john cornyn    - website: senate website    - birth place: houston , texas , u.s.    - successor: dick durbin greg abbott    - state: texas    - alma mater: trinity -lrb- j.d. -rrb- university of virginia -lrb- ll.m . -rrb- university -lrb- b.a. -rrb- st. mary 's university    - preceded: franklin spears    - children: 2    - term start: january 3 , 2013 january 13 , 1999 january 2 , 3 1991 , 2015 december 1 , 2002 january    - image: john cornyn official portrait , 2009.jpg    - religion: church of christ    - governor: george bush w. bush rick perry ann richards george w.   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of john cornyn .
A:
john cornyn iii -lrb- born february 2 , 1952 -rrb- is the senior united states senator from texas , serving since 2002 .he is a member of the republican party and the current senate majority whip for the 114th congress .cornyn previously served as chairman of the national republican senatorial committee from 2007 to 2011 .born in houston , cornyn is a graduate from trinity university and st. mary 's university school of law , receiving his ll.m .from the university of virginia school of law .cornyn was a judge on texas ' 37th district court from 1985 to 1991 , until he was elected an associate justice of the texas supreme court , where he served 1991 to 1997 .in 1998 , cornyn was elected attorney general of texas , serving one term until winning a seat in the u.s. senate in 2002 .he was re-elected to a second term in 2008 and successfully ran for a third term in 2014 .