1972 Texas gubernatorial election

1972 Texas gubernatorial election
	County results; Briscoe: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Grover: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; Muñiz: 40–50% 50–60%
Governor before election; Preston Smith; Democratic	Elected Governor ; Dolph Briscoe; Democratic

The 1972 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Preston Smith ran for reelection, but lost renomination to businessman Dolph Briscoe. Smith was overwhelmingly rejected in the Democratic primary, taking fourth place with only 8% of the vote amid the fallout from the Sharpstown scandal. Briscoe went on to win the general election by a relatively small margin, winning 48% of the vote to Republican Henry Grover's 45%. Raza Unida candidate Ramsey Muniz won 6%.

As of 2022, this is the last time Jim Hogg and Brooks counties did not vote for the Democratic candidate, instead voting for the Raza Unida party.

The 1972 election marked the last time that a gubernatorial election was held concurrently with a presidential election and the last time that a governor was elected for a two-year term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Ben Barnes, lieutenant governor and former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
Dolph Briscoe, former state representative from Uvalde and candidate for governor in 1968
Frances Farenthold, state representative from Corpus Christi
Robert E. Looney
William H. Posey
Preston Smith, incumbent governor
Gordon F. Wills

Results

Democratic primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dolph Briscoe	963,397	43.93%
	Democratic	Frances Farenthold	612,051	27.91%
	Democratic	Ben Barnes	392,356	17.89%
	Democratic	Preston Smith (incumbent)	190,709	8.70%
	Democratic	William H. Posey	13,727	0.62%
	Democratic	Gordon F. Wills	10,438	0.48%
	Democratic	Robert E. Looney	10,225	0.47%
Total votes			2,192,903	100.00%

Runoff

Democratic runoff results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dolph Briscoe	1,095,168	55.32%
	Democratic	Frances Farenthold	884,594	44.68%
Total votes			1,979,762	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Albert B. Fay, Houston oilman
Henry Grover, former state representative from Harris County
John A. Hall Sr.
J. A. Jenkins
Tom McElroy
David Reagan

Results

Republican primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Grover	37,118	32.56%
	Republican	Albert B. Fay	24,329	21.34%
	Republican	David Reagan	20,119	17.65%
	Republican	Tom McElroy	19,559	17.16%
	Republican	John A. Hall Sr.	8,018	7.03%
	Republican	J. A. Jenkins	4,864	4.27%
Total votes			114,007	100.00%

Runoff

Republican runoff results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Grover	37,842	66.38%
	Republican	Albert B. Fay	19,166	33.62%
Total votes			57,008	100.00%

Results

General election results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dolph Briscoe	1,633,493	47.91%
	Republican	Henry Grover	1,533,986	44.99%
	Raza Unida	Ramsey Muniz	214,118	6.28%
	Socialist Workers	Deborah Leonard	24,103	0.71%
	Others		3,891	0.11%
Total votes			3,409,501	100.00%
	Democratic hold

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Texas Almanac, 2000-2001. Dallas: Dallas Morning News. 1999. p. 434. Retrieved June 22, 2022.

[TexasAl-1] Texas Almanac, 2000-2001. Dallas: Dallas Morning News. 1999. p. 434. Retrieved June 22, 2022.

[1]

v t e (1970 ←) 1972 United States elections (→ 1974)
President	1972 United States presidential election Democratic primaries Republican primaries Democratic convention Republican convention
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Colorado Delaware Georgia Georgia (special) Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont (special) Virginia West Virginia Wyoming
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
State governors	Arkansas Delaware Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Rhode Island South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia
State legislatures	Arizona Arizona House Arizona Senate Iowa Senate

v t e Notable third-party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
Presidential	1788–89* 1792* 1832 1848 1856 1860 1872* 1892 1896* 1912 1924 1948 1960 1968 1980 1992 1996
Senatorial (since 1940)	California 1940 Minnesota 1940 North Dakota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Minnesota 1942 Minnesota 1942 Nebraska 1942 Virginia 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 (Republican write-in) North Dakota 1946 North Dakota 1946 Tennessee 1946 Arkansas 1948 Alabama 1950 New Hampshire 1950 California 1952 Maine 1952 New York 1952 North Dakota 1952 Virginia 1952 South Carolina 1954 (Democratic write-in) Virginia 1954 Utah 1958 Virginia 1958 Virginia 1960 Virginia 1964 Mississippi 1966 Virginia 1966 Virginia 1966 Alabama 1968 Alaska 1968 Maryland 1968 New York 1968 Connecticut 1970 Mississippi 1970 New York 1970 Virginia 1970 Louisiana 1972 Florida 1974 Hawaii 1974 Nevada 1974 New York 1974 Utah 1974 Minnesota 1976 Virginia 1976 Alabama 1978 Arkansas 1978 Maine 1978 Mississippi 1978 New York 1980 Washington 1982 Tennessee 1984 Virginia 1990 Alaska 1992 Arizona 1992 Hawaii 1992 Louisiana 1992 Ohio 1992 Arizona 1994 Minnesota 1994 Ohio 1994 Vermont 1994 Virginia 1994 Alaska 1996 Minnesota 1996 Arizona 2000 Massachusetts 2000 Minnesota 2000 Alaska 2002 Kansas 2002 Massachusetts 2002 Mississippi 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Virginia 2002 Oklahoma 2004 Connecticut 2006 Indiana 2006 Maine 2006 Vermont 2006* Arkansas 2008 Idaho 2008 Minnesota 2008 Oregon 2008 Alaska 2010 (Republican write-in) Florida 2010 Indiana 2010 South Carolina 2010 Utah 2010 Indiana 2012 Maine 2012 Maryland 2012 Missouri 2012 Montana 2012 Vermont 2012* Kansas 2014 South Dakota 2014 Wyoming 2014 Alaska 2016 Arizona 2016 Idaho 2016 Indiana 2016 Kansas 2016 Maine 2018 New Mexico 2018 Vermont 2018* Alaska 2020* Arkansas 2020 Minnesota 2020 Nebraska 2020 Idaho 2022 North Dakota 2022 Utah 2022* Maine 2024 Nebraska 2024 Utah 2024 Vermont 2024*
Gubernatorial (since 1940)	Minnesota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Connecticut 1942 Minnesota 1942 New York 1942 Wisconsin 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 Tennessee 1950 Maine 1952 Vermont 1952 Tennessee 1954 Nebraska 1956 Texas 1956 Utah 1956 Oklahoma 1958 Tennessee 1958 North Dakota 1960 Tennessee 1962 Virginia 1965 Alabama 1966 Georgia 1966 Idaho 1966 Maryland 1966 New York 1966 Tennessee 1966 Alabama 1970 Arkansas 1970 New Hampshire 1970 New York 1970 Mississippi 1971 New Hampshire 1972 Texas 1972 Washington 1972 Virginia 1973 Maine 1974 Nebraska 1974 Nevada 1974 Texas 1974 Vermont 1974 Vermont 1976 Alaska 1978 California 1978 Maine 1978 Rhode Island 1978 Alaska 1982 Arizona 1982 Hawaii 1982 Alaska 1986 Arizona 1986 Illinois 1986 Maine 1986 Oklahoma 1986 Vermont 1986 Utah 1988 Alaska 1990 Connecticut 1990 Kansas 1990 Maine 1990 New York 1990 Oklahoma 1990 Oregon 1990 Utah 1992 West Virginia 1992 Alaska 1994 Connecticut 1994 Hawaii 1994 Maine 1994 New Mexico 1994 Oklahoma 1994 Pennsylvania 1994 Rhode Island 1994 Vermont 1994 Alaska 1998 Maine 1998 Minnesota 1998 New York 1998 Pennsylvania 1998 Rhode Island 1998 Kentucky 1999 New Hampshire 2000 Vermont 2000 Arizona 2002 California 2002 Maine 2002 Minnesota 2002 New Mexico 2002 New York 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Vermont 2002 Wisconsin 2002 Alaska 2006 Illinois 2006 Maine 2006 Massachusetts 2006 Minnesota 2006 Texas 2006 Louisiana 2007 Vermont 2008 New Jersey 2009 Colorado 2010 Idaho 2010 Maine 2010 Massachusetts 2010 Minnesota 2010 Rhode Island 2010 Wyoming 2010 Kentucky 2011 Virginia 2013 Alaska 2014* Hawaii 2014 Maine 2014 Rhode Island 2014 Wyoming 2014 Maine 2018 Kansas 2018 Indiana 2020 Vermont 2020* Alaska 2022 Idaho 2022 Oregon 2022 North Dakota 2024 Utah 2024 (Republican write-in)
Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022 Puerto Rico 2024
State legislative	Alaska Hawaii Louisiana Montana West Virginia Wyoming
Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress