1962 Texas gubernatorial election

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1962 Texas gubernatorial election
Flag of Texas.svg
  1960 November 6, 1962 1964  
  John Connally (cropped).jpg Jack Cox Campaign Poster (cropped).jpg
Nominee John Connally Jack Cox
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote847,038715,025
Percentage54.0%45.6%

1962 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Connally:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Cox:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

Price Daniel
Democratic

Elected Governor

John Connally
Democratic

The 1962 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic governor Price Daniel was running for reelection to a fourth term, but was defeated in the primary by John Connally. Although Connally was easily elected, Republican Jack Cox's 46% of the vote was the highest received by any Republican candidate for governor since Edmund J. Davis's victory in 1869.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

John Connally announced two weeks before Christmas of 1961 that he was leaving the position of Secretary of the Navy to seek the Democratic nomination. Former state Attorney General Will Wilson also entered the campaign, accusing Lyndon B. Johnson of engineering Connally's candidacy. Other primary candidates were highway commissioner Marshall Formby of Plainview, another party conservative, and General Edwin A. Walker, who made anti-communism the centerpiece of his campaign. [1]

Campaign

Democratic incumbent Marion Price Daniel, Sr. was running for a fourth consecutive two-year term, but was in political trouble following the enactment of a two-cent state sales tax in 1961, which had soured many voters on his administration. Daniel had let the tax become law without his signature, but chose not to veto the measure.

Results

Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Connally 431,498 29.82%
Democratic Don Yarborough 317,986 21.97%
Democratic Price Daniel (incumbent)248,52417.17%
Democratic Will Wilson 171,61711.86%
Democratic Marshall Formby 139,0949.61%
Democratic Edwin Walker 138,3879.56%
Total votes1,447,115 100.00%

Runoff

Democratic runoff results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Connally 565,174 51.18%
Democratic Don Yarborough 538,92448.88%
Total votes1,104,306 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jack Cox 99,170 86.01%
Republican Roy Whittenburg 16,13613.99%
Total votes115,306 100.00%

Democratic

Results

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Connally 847,038 53.98%
Republican Jack Cox 715,02545.57%
Constitution Jack Carswell7,1250.45%
Total votes1,569,198 100.00%
Democratic hold

References

  1. "Nation: Talking in Texas". Time. April 27, 1962. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  2. Parker, Tim (September 28, 1958). "Whittenburg discards old rules in race for Senate" . The Paris News. p. 21. Retrieved March 19, 2024 via NewspaperArchive.
  3. "Texas Alamanac". Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.