1968 Texas gubernatorial election

1968 Texas gubernatorial election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Preston Smith Paul Eggers Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,662,019 1,254,333 Percentage 57.0% 43.0%

Results by County

Governor before election John Connally Democratic Elected Governor Preston Smith Democratic

The 1968 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1968, to elect the Governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Connally did not run for reelection to a fourth term, so the election pitted Democrat Preston Smith against Republican Paul Eggers. Smith was easily elected, winning 57% of the vote to Eggers' 43%.

Primaries

Republican

Republican Primary Results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Eggers	65,501	62.52%
	Republican	John Trice	28,849	27.54%
	Republican	Wallace Sisk	10,415	9.94%
Total votes			104,765	100.00%

Democratic

Democratic Primary Results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Yarborough	421,607	24.08%
	Democratic	Preston Smith	386,875	22.10%
	Democratic	Waggoner Carr	257,543	14.71%
	Democratic	Dolph Briscoe	225,686	12.89%
	Democratic	Eugene Locke	218,118	12.46%
	Democratic	John Hill	154,908	8.85%
	Democratic	Pat O'Daniel	47,912	2.74%
	Democratic	Edward L. Whittenburg	22,957	1.31%
	Democratic	Alfonso Veloz	9,562	0.55%
	Democratic	Johnnie Mae Hackwhorthe	5,484	0.31%
Total votes			1,750,652	100.00%

Democratic Runoff Results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Preston Smith	767,490	55.27%
	Democratic	Don Yarborough	621,226	44.73%
Total votes			1,388,716	100.00%

Results

General Election Results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Preston Smith	1,662,019	56.99%
	Republican	Paul Eggers	1,254,333	43.01%
Total votes			2,916,352	100.00%
	Democratic hold