1978 Texas gubernatorial election

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1978 Texas gubernatorial election
Flag of Texas.svg
  1974 November 7, 1978 1982  
  Clements Deputy DoD.jpg No image.svg
Nominee Bill Clements John Luke Hill
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,183,8281,166,919
Percentage50.0%49.2%

1978 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Clements:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Hill:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Compeán:     50–60%

Governor before election

Dolph Briscoe
Democratic

Elected Governor

Bill Clements
Republican

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 Democratic 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 in 1869.

Contents

Besides Clements' upset victory in the gubernatorial election, Republican Senator John Tower was re-elected to a third full six-year term in the Texas U.S. Senate race. However, the majority of the down-ballot statewide offices remained with the Democratic Party. With a margin of victory of just 0.72%, this was the closest race of the 1978 Gubernatorial Cycle. This is the last time Zavala County did not vote for the Democratic candidate, instead voting for Raza Unida.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

  • Bill Clements, businessman and former Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense
  • Ray Hutchison, attorney, former State Representative and husband of Kay Bailey Hutchison
  • Clarence Thompson

Withdrew

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bill Clements 115,345 72.82
Republican Ray Hutchison38,26824.16
Republican Clarence Thompson4,7903.02
Total votes158,403 100.00

Democratic primary

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.

Candidates

Declared

Results

Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Luke Hill 932,245 52.44%
Democratic Dolph Briscoe (incumbent)753,30942.37%
Democratic Preston Smith 92,2025.19%
Total votes1,777,756 100

General election

Results

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bill Clements 1,183,828 49.96
Democratic John Luke Hill 1,166,91949.24
Raza Unida Mario C. Compeán14,2130.59
Socialist Workers Sara Johnston4,6240.19
Total votes2,369,999 100.00
Republican gain from Democratic

Further reading

Videos

(1) Bill Clements bio

(2) Gubernatorial Debate on October 24, 1978 at KPRC-TV Studios in Houston

(3) Republican Primary Gubernatorial Debate in 1978

(4) Gubernatorial Debate on October 27, 1978 at KERA-TV Studios in Dallas

Related Research Articles

References