Texas gubernatorial election, 1978

Texas gubernatorial election, 1978

November 7, 1978

Nominee Bill Clements John Luke Hill Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,183,828 1,166,919 Percentage 50.0% 49.2%

Results by county

Governor before election Dolph Briscoe Democratic Elected Governor Bill Clements Republican

Elections in Texas
Federal government Presidential elections 1848 1852 1856 1860 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential primaries and caucuses Democratic 2008 Republican 2008 2012 United States Senate elections 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 United States House elections 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 22nd 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Special elections 3rd district, 1991 Senate, 1993 28th district, 1997 19th district, 2003 22nd district, 2006 27th district, 2018
State government Gubernatorial elections 1845 1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1866 1869 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Legislative elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Senate 2018 House 2016 House 2018 Constitutional amendments 2005 2007 General elections 2006 2010 2014 2018
Austin Mayoral elections 2009
Dallas–Fort Worth Dallas mayoral elections 2007 2011 2015 Fort Worth mayoral elections 2011 2015
El Paso Mayoral elections 2013 2017
Houston Mayoral elections 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 Municipal elections 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
Lubbock Mayoral elections
San Antonio Mayoral elections 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
Government

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.

Republican Party

Democratic Party

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.

Results

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

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

References