1978 Texas gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1978 Texas gubernatorial election Texas presidential no 1974 Texas gubernatorial election 1974 1982 Texas gubernatorial election 1982 November 7, 1978 File:Bill Clements in 1978 (cropped).jpg 150x150px Bill Clements Republican Party (United States) 1,183,828 49.96% 3x4.svg John Hill Democratic Party (United States) 1,166,919 49.24% 1978 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 310px County resultsClements: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Hill: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Compeán: #ff8649 50–60% Governor Dolph Briscoe Democratic Party (United States) Bill Clements Republican Party (United States) 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 Hill, winning about 50% of the vote to Hill's 49.2%. In doing so, Clements became the first Republican to be elected governor since Reconstruction in 1869. 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.March 2026 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. Hill defeated Briscoe outright by a margin of 10.1 percentage points, with Smith earning just 5% of the vote.The Dallas Morning News 1979 Texas Almanac, 1980-1981 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113815/ 2026-03-20 The Portal to Texas History English This marks the most recent time in Texas that the incumbent governor has failed to receive the nomination of their party while running for reelection. Candidates Declared Dolph Briscoe, incumbent Governor John Hill, Attorney General of Texas Preston Smith, former Governor Results thumb|center|280x280px|Primary results by county #5FD35F Hill #87DE87 40–50% #5FD35F 50–60% #37C837 60–70% #7996E2 Briscoe #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996E2 50–60% #6674DE 60–70% #3933E5 80–90% Democratic primary results John Hill Democratic Party (United States) 932,245 52.44% Dolph Briscoe (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 753,309 42.37% Preston Smith Democratic Party (United States) 92,202 5.19% 1,777,756 100 |} 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 James M. Collins, U.S. Representative from Dallas (endorsed Clements) Results Republican primary resultsTexas Almanac Bill Clements Republican Party (United States) 115,345 72.82 Ray Hutchison Republican Party (United States) 38,268 24.16 Clarence Thompson Republican Party (United States) 4,790 3.02 158,403 100.00 |} General election Results General election results Republican Party (United States) Bill Clements 1,183,828 49.96% Democratic Party (United States) John Hill 1,166,919 49.24% Raza Unida Party Mario C. Compeán 14,213 0.59% Socialist Workers Party (US) Sara Johnston 4,624 0.19% 2,369,999 100.00% Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) Further reading Bridges, Kenneth. Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor’s Race (Texas A&M University Press, 2008), 219 pp. Cunningham, Sean P. Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. 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 1978 Texas Gubernatorial Category:November 1978 in the United States Category:1978 in Texas