Texas gubernatorial election, 1978

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Texas gubernatorial election, 1978

← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →
  Bill Clements.jpg
Nominee Bill Clements John Luke Hill
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,183,828 1,166,919
Percentage 50.0% 49.2%

TXGov1978Map.png
Results by county

Governor before election

Dolph Briscoe
Democratic

Elected Governor

Bill Clements
Republican

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The 1978 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978 to elect the Governor of Texas. In a surprising upset, Republican Bill Clements was narrowly elected over Democrat State Attorney General John Luke Hill, winning 50% of the vote to Hill's 49%. In doing so, Clements became the first Republican to be elected governor since Reconstruction.

Primaries

Republican Party

Candidates in the Republican Party who pursued gubernatorial bids in 1978 included:

Collins ultimately abandoned his bid and endorsed Clements, who faced Hutchison in the primary on May 6. Clements won the primary with 73% of the vote to Hutchison's 24%.

Republican Primary Results [1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Clements 115,345 72.82
Republican Ray Hutchison 38,268 24.16
Republican Clarence Thompson 4,790 3.02
Total votes 158,403 100.00

Democratic Party

Candidates in the Democratic Party who pursued gubernatorial bids in 1978 included:

Dolph Briscoe, who had first been elected in 1972 and was easily re-elected in 1974, had become increasingly unpopular within the Texas Democratic Party during his six years in office. John Luke Hill fielded a primary challenge against the Governor, as a liberal alternative to Briscoe, who represented the more conservative, rural faction of the party. Dissatisfaction with Briscoe prompted former Governor Preston Smith to enter the race, running as a populist alternative to the other two candidates. Briscoe had previously defeated Smith in the 1972 primary.

Democratic Primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Luke Hill 932,245 52.44%
Democratic Dolph Briscoe 753,309 42.37%
Democratic Preston Smith 92,202 5.19%
Total votes 1,777,756 100

Results

General election results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Clements 1,183,828 49.96
Democratic John Luke Hill 1,166,919 49.24
Raza Unida Mario C. Compean 14,213 0.59
Socialist Workers Sara Johnston 4,624 0.19
Total votes 2,369,999 100.00

Further reading

  • Bridges, Kenneth William. "The twilight of the Texas democrats: The 1978 governor's race", Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Texas, 2003, 281 pages; AAT 3117260 in ProQuest

References

  1. Texas Almanac