1990 Texas gubernatorial election

none related races 1990 United States gubernatorial electionsJanuary 2025 September 2023 1990 Texas gubernatorial election Presidential no Texas 1986 Texas gubernatorial election 1986 1994 Texas gubernatorial election 1994 November 6, 1990 File:Ann Richards, Governor of Texas (cropped).jpg 150x150px Ann Richards Democratic Party (United States) 1,925,670 49.47% 3x4.svg Clayton Williams Republican Party (United States) 1,826,431 46.92% 1990 Texas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 310px County resultsRichards: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Williams: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% Governor Bill Clements Republican Party (United States) Ann Richards Democratic Party (United States) The 1990 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Clements did not run for re-election, so the election pitted Democrat Ann Richards against Republican Clayton Williams. Richards narrowly defeated Williams on Election Day, winning 49.5% of the vote to Williams' 46.9%. As of , this is also the most recent time the Democratic candidate has carried Collingsworth, Childress, Wilbarger, Wichita, Archer, Throckmorton, Montague, Wise, Tarrant, Grayson, Lamar, Hopkins, Titus, Bowie, Harrison, Panola, Shelby, Jasper, Hardin, Angelina, Polk, Houston, Madison, Walker, Kaufman, Navarro, Henderson, Hill, McLennan, Williamson, Burleson, Waller, and Refugio counties. This is also the last time a Democrat or a woman was elected Governor of Texas, as well as the most recent Texas gubernatorial election in which both major parties' nominees have since died. Republican primary Candidates Clayton Williams, Midland oil and gas businessman Kent Hance, Railroad Commissioner, former Democratic U.S. representative from Lubbock, and candidate in 1986 Tom Luce, attorney and advisor to H. Ross Perot Jack Rains, Houston attorney and former secretary of state (1987–1989) W.N. Otwell Royce Owens Ed Cude Declined George W. Bush, son of President George H. W. Bush and part-owner of the Texas Rangers T. Boone Pickens, billionaire oilman and corporate takeover specialist T. Boone Pickens, CEO of Mesa Petroleum in Amarillo, was considered a likely candidate for much of 1989. However, on August 30, 1989, Pickens announced at a luncheon in Dallas that he would not run for the governorship in 1990. But Pickens, who also announced he would be relocating from Amarillo to Dallas, said he would consider a run for the governorship in 1994.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-31-fi-2034-story.html Pickens Decides Not to Run for Governor of Texas Los Angeles Times August 31, 1989 George W. Bush, who had just become part owner of the Texas Rangers baseball club, also declined to run for governor after briefly exploring a run for the governorship in 1990. He did so on the advice of his mother.Galveston Daily News, April 29, 1989, p. 7.https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/dont-call-him-junior/ Don't Call Him Junior Texas Monthly Hart Patricia Kilday April 1, 1989 Debate + 1990 Texas gubernatorial election republican primary debate No. Number Date Host Moderator Link Republican Republican Republican RepublicanKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn small> Kent Hance Tom Luce Jack Rains Clayton Williams1 Feb. 8, 1990 Harris County Republican PartyHouston Chronicle George W. Bush C-SPAN P P P P Results Republican primary results Texas Alamac Clayton Williams Republican Party (United States) 520,014 60.80 Kent Hance Republican Party (United States) 132,142 14.35 Tom Luce Republican Party (United States) 115,835 13.54 Jack Rains Republican Party (United States) 82,461 9.64 W. N. Otwell Republican Party (United States) 2,310 0.27 Royce X. Owens Republican Party (United States) 1,392 0.16 Ed Cude Republican Party (United States) 1,077 0.13 855,231 100.00 Democratic primary thumb|261x261px|Results of the Democratic primary by county #e58ae5 Richards #fbd8fb 30–40% #edb0ed 40–50% #e58ae5 50–60% #dc66dc 60–70% #7bc7b8 Mattox #caefe9 30–40% #a8dcd1 40–50% #7bc7b8 50–60% #4ab3a0 60–70% #F2A892 White #f9d6cb 30–40% thumb|261x261px|Results of the Democratic runoff primary by county #e58ae5 Richards #e58ae5 50–60% #dc66dc 60–70% #D548D5 70–80% #7bc7b8 Mattox #7bc7b8 50–60% #4ab3a0 60–70% #419F8E 70–80% Candidates Ann Richards, Texas State Treasurer Jim Mattox, Texas Attorney General and former U.S. representative Mark White, former governor (1983–1987) Theresa Hearn-Haynes Earl Holmes Stanley Adams Ray Rachal Debate + 1990 Texas gubernatorial election democratic primary debate No. Number Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Democratic DemocraticKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn Jim Mattox Ann Richards Mark White1 Feb. 7, 1990 Harris County Democratic PartyHouston Chronicle Henry Cisneros C-SPAN P P P Results Richards and Mattox came very close to each other in the first round of the primary, with Richards securing the first place by just 0.29% of the vote. She performed the best in Travis County, of which Austin, the capital of Texas, is the county seat. In contrast, Mattox showed his best results in several counties in northern portion of the state. He repeated this feat in the runoff election, but ceded ground significantly across the state to Richards, who beat him by 14.18% of the vote. Democratic primary results Ann Richards Democratic Party (United States) 580,191 39.01 Jim Mattox Democratic Party (United States) 546,103 38.72 Mark White Democratic Party (United States) 288,161 19.38 Theresa Hearn-Haynes Democratic Party (United States) 31,395 2.11 Earl Holmes Democratic Party (United States) 17,904 1.20 Stanley Adams Democratic Party (United States) 16,118 1.08 Ray Rachal Democratic Party (United States) 9,388 0.63 1,487,734 100.00 |} Runoff Democratic primary runoff results Ann Richards Democratic Party (United States) 640,995 57.09 Jim Mattox Democratic Party (United States) 481,739 42.91 1,122,734 100.00 General election Campaign Williams handily won the Republican primary. Williams's vote total exceeded that of his nearest challenger, former Congressman and soon-to-be-former Railroad Commissioner Kent Hance by more than 45 percentage points. Meanwhile, Democrat Ann Richards placed first in a six-person primary that included Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox and former governor Mark White, the latter of whom sought to return to the governor's mansion four years after losing his bid to remain Governor of Texas. Williams spent freely from his personal fortune, running a "Good Old Boy" campaign initially appealing to conservatives.Texas Since World War II, Handbook of Texas Online, Robert A. Calvert. Prior to a series of gaffes, he was leading Richards (the race was dubbed "Claytie vs. The Lady")New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210017/http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/081407/sta_081407069.shtml 2007-09-27 in the polls and was in striking distance of becoming only the second Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction. Meanwhile, Libertarian nominee Jeff Daiell was launching a TV campaign which, combined with personal appearances across Texas, boosted him to a showing of 129,128 votes. His drawing power made Richards the first Texas governor in many years elected without a majority.1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Texas In one of his widely publicized missteps, Williams refused to shake hands with Ann Richards in a public debate, an act seen as uncouth. Earlier, Williams made an infamous joke to reporters, likening bad weather to rape, having quipped: "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it". https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DC1E3FF935A15750C0A966958260 Texas Candidate's Comment About Rape Causes a Furor The New York Times March 26, 1990 In addition, it has been claimed that as an undergraduate at Texas A&M, he had participated in visits to the Chicken Ranch, a well-known Texas brothel in La Grange, and the Boy's Towns of Mexico.New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210017/http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/081407/sta_081407069.shtml 2007-09-27 , LubbockOnline.com, Kelly Shannon, August 14, 2007Trick Town, Dallas Observer, Joe Pappalardo, May 31, 2001. As a result of his reported comments, Williams was occasionally parodied, such as in the mock political ad, "Satan Williams", which appeared on Dallas/Fort Worth public television during the 1990 campaign season. KERA "Voters' Revenge" videos frightfully pointed The Dallas Morning News October 31, 1990 Richards was sworn-in as the 45th governor of Texas on January 15, 1991. Results General election results Democratic Party (United States) Ann Richards 1,925,670 49.47% Republican Party (United States) Clayton Williams 1,826,431 46.92% Libertarian Party (United States) Jeff Daiell 129,128 3.32% 3,881,229 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) External links Videos Negative Attack Ad "Politics as Usual" Attorney General Jim Mattox interviewed by Robert Riggs of WFAA-TV Dallas/Fort Worth on March 13, 1990 Campaign Commercial "Clayton Williams in His Own Words" References 30em 1990 Gubernatorial Texas Category:November 1990 in the United States