1974 Texas gubernatorial election

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1974 Texas gubernatorial election
Flag of Texas.svg
  1972 November 5, 1974 1978  
  Dolph Briscoe, 1976 (3x4 crop).jpg Jim Granberry.jpg Ramsey Muniz 1972 Edit.jpg
Nominee Dolph Briscoe Jim Granberry Ramsey Muñiz
Party Democratic Republican Raza Unida
Popular vote1,016,334514,72593,295
Percentage61.4%31.1%5.6%

1974 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Briscoe:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Granberry:     50–60%
Muñiz:     50–60%

Governor before election

Dolph Briscoe
Democratic

Elected Governor

Dolph Briscoe
Democratic

The 1974 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic governor Dolph Briscoe was easily re-elected to a second term, winning 61% of the vote to the 31% of Republican Jim Granberry, the former mayor of Lubbock. Raza Unida candidate Ramsey Muniz won 6%, while the remaining 2% were cast for other candidates. [1]

Contents

Briscoe was sworn in for his second term on January 21, 1975. As the Constitution of Texas had been amended in 1972 to extend the governor's term from 2 years to 4 years, Briscoe became the first governor to be sworn in for a four-year term since Edmund J. Davis.

Briscoe carried 249 out of 254 counties in his landslide reelection victory. As of 2023, this remains the last time that a Democrat was reelected as Governor of Texas, and the last time a Democrat carried Dallam, Sherman, Hansford, Lipscomb, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Roberts, Gray, Moore, Hartley, Potter, Armstrong, Deaf Smith, Parmer, Bailey, Hale, Yoakum, Borden, Scurry, Andrews, Ector, Midland, Loving, Glasscock, Sterling, Tom Green, Irion, Crockett, Jeff Davis, Taylor, Cooke, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Gregg, Rusk, Montgomery, Aransas, Victoria, DeWitt, McMullen, Live Oak, Guadalupe, Comal, Kendall, Bandera, Kerr, Edwards, Blanco, Gillespie, Mason, Kimble, and Sutton counties.

Primaries

Republican

Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Granberry 53,617 77.59%
Republican Odell McBrayer 15,48422.41%
Total votes69,101 100.00%

Democratic

Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dolph Briscoe (Inc.) 1,025,632 67.42%
Democratic Frances Farenthold 437,28728.47%
Democratic William H. Posey31,4982.07%
Democratic Steve S. Alexander26,8891.77%
Total votes1,521,306 100.00%

Results

Results for Raza Unida by County:
Muniz
0-5%
5-10%
10-15%
15-20%
20-25%
25-30%
>30% Texas Gubernatorial Election Results by County, 1974 Raza Unida.svg
Results for Raza Unida by County:
Muñiz
  •      0–5%
  •      5–10%
  •      10–15%
  •      15–20%
  •      20–25%
  •      25–30%
  •      >30%
General Election Results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dolph Briscoe (Inc.) 1,016,334 61.41%
Republican Jim Granberry 514,72531.07%
Raza Unida Ramsey Muniz 93,2955.63%
American Independent S. W. McDonnell22,2081.34%
Socialist Workers Sherry Smith8,1710.49%
Total votes1,654,984 100.00%
Democratic hold

References

  1. "Our Campaigns - TX Governor Race - Nov 05, 1974". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved March 31, 2020.