Texas gubernatorial election, 1978
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Results by county
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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.
Contents
Primaries
Republican Party
Candidates in the Republican Party who pursued gubernatorial bids in 1978 included:
- Bill Clements, Dallas oil executive and onetime Deputy Secretary of Defense to Presidents Nixon and Ford
- James M. Collins, U.S. Congressman from Texas's 3rd congressional district
- Ray Hutchison, former State Representative, attorney, and husband of Kay Bailey Hutchison
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, incumbent Governor, businessman and rancher
- John Luke Hill, state Attorney General
- Preston Smith, former Governor
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 | ||||
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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 | ||||
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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