1930 Texas gubernatorial election

1930 Texas gubernatorial election

4 November 1930
Turnout	24.6% 27.0%
Nominee Ross S. Sterling William E. Talbot Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 252,738 62,224 Percentage 79.98% 19.69%
Governor before election Dan Moody Democratic Elected Governor Ross S. Sterling Democratic

The 1930 Texas gubernatorial election was held on 4 November 1930 in order to elect the Governor of Texas. Democratic nominee Ross S. Sterling defeated Republican nominee William E. Talbot.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary election was held on 26 July 1930. As no candidate won a majority of votes, there was a run-off on 23 August 1930 between the two highest ranking candidates former Governor of Texas Miriam A. Ferguson and Ross S. Sterling. Sterling would eventually win the primary with 55.19% against Ferguson.

Results

Candidate	First Round		Run-off
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Ross S. Sterling	170,754	20.49	473,371	55.19
Miriam A. Ferguson	242,959	29.15	384,402	44.81
Clint C. Small	138,934	16.67
Thomas B. Love	87,068	10.45
James Young	73,385	8.81
Barry Miller	54,652	6.56
Earle Bradford Mayfield	54,459	6.53
C. C. Moody	4,382	0.53
Paul Loven	2,724	0.33
Frank Putnam	2,365	0.28
C. E. Walker	1,760	0.21
Total	833,442	100.00	857,773	100.00
Source:

General election

The Socialist Party nominated Lee Lightfoot Rhodes for a second consecutive time (and fourth time overall) as did the Communist Party with their nominee J. Stedham, after their shared election loss in the 1928 Texas gubernatorial election. On election day, 4 November 1930, Democratic nominee Ross S. Sterling won the election by a margin of 190,514 votes against his foremost opponent Republican nominee William E. Talbot, thereby retaining Democratic control over the office of Governor. Sterling was sworn in as the 31st Governor of Texas on 20 January 1931.

Results

Texas gubernatorial election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ross S. Sterling	252,738	79.98
	Republican	William E. Talbot	62,224	19.69
	Socialist	Lee Lightfoot Rhodes	829	0.26
	Communist	J. Stedham	231	0.07
Total votes			316,022	100.00
	Democratic hold