1968 Texas gubernatorial election

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1968 Texas gubernatorial election
Flag of Texas.svg
  1966 November 5, 1968 1970  
  Smith-p01-1.jpg 1970 Press Photo Laughing with friends - Paul Eggers, Texas politician (cropped).webp
Nominee Preston Smith Paul Eggers
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,662,0191,254,333
Percentage57.0%43.0%

1968 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Smith:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Eggers:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

John Connally
Democratic

Elected Governor

Preston Smith
Democratic

The 1968 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1968, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic governor John Connally did not run for reelection to a fourth term, so the election pitted Democrat Preston Smith against Republican Paul Eggers. Smith was easily elected, winning 57% of the vote to Eggers' 43%.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

1968 Democratic gubernatorial primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Don Yarborough 421,607 24.08%
Democratic Preston Smith 386,87522.10%
Democratic Waggoner Carr 257,54314.71%
Democratic Dolph Briscoe 225,68612.89%
Democratic Eugene Locke 218,11812.46%
Democratic John Hill 154,9088.85%
Democratic Pat O'Daniel47,9122.74%
Democratic Edward L. Whittenburg22,9571.31%
Democratic Alfonso Veloz9,5620.55%
Democratic Johnnie Mae Hackwhorthe5,4840.31%
Total votes1,750,652 100.00%

Runoff

1968 Democratic gubernatorial runoff
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Preston Smith 767,490 55.27%
Democratic Don Yarborough 621,22644.73%
Total votes1,388,716 100.00%

Republican primary

Results

1968 Republican gubernatorial primary [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Paul Eggers 65,501 62.52%
Republican John Trice28,84927.54%
Republican Wallace Sisk10,4159.94%
Total votes104,765 100.00%

Results

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Preston Smith 1,662,019 56.99%
Republican Paul Eggers 1,254,33343.01%
Total votes2,916,352 100.00%
Democratic hold

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References

  1. "Texas Almanac". Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.