Texas gubernatorial election, 1990
Texas gubernatorial election, 1990
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Texas gubernatorial election results map. Blue denotes counties won by Richards. Red denotes those won by Williams. | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Texas | ||||||||||
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Federal government
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State government
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Austin
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Dallas–Fort Worth
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El Paso
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Houston
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Lubbock
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San Antonio
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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 50% of the vote to Williams' 47%. As of 2018, this is the most recent election in which a Democrat was elected Governor of Texas.
Contents
1 Primaries
1.1 Republican
1.2 Democratic
2 Campaign
3 Results
4 References
5 External links
5.1 Videos
Primaries[edit]
Republican[edit]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Clayton Williams | 520,014 | 60.80 | |
Republican | Kent Hance | 132,142 | 14.35 | |
Republican | Tom Luce | 115,835 | 13.54 | |
Republican | Jack Rains | 82,461 | 9.64 | |
Republican | W.N. Otwell | 2,310 | 0.27 | |
Republican | Royce X. Owens | 1,392 | 0.16 | |
Republican | Ed Cude | 1,077 | 0.13 | |
Total votes | 855,231 | 100.00 |
Democratic[edit]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ann Richards | 580,191 | 39.01 | |
Democratic | Jim Mattox | 546,103 | 38.72 | |
Democratic | Mark White | 288,161 | 19.38 | |
Democratic | Theresa Hearn-Haynes | 31,395 | 2.11 | |
Democratic | Earl Holmes | 17,904 | 1.20 | |
Democratic | Stanley Adams | 16,118 | 1.08 | |
Democratic | Ray Rachal | 9,388 | 0.63 | |
Total votes | 1,487,734 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ann Richards | 640,995 | 57.09 | |
Democratic | Jim Mattox | 481,739 | 42.91 | |
Total votes | 1,122,734 | 100.00 |
Campaign[edit]
Midland businessman Clayton Williams handily won the Republican primary. Williams's margin of victory, for example, exceeded that of former Congressman and soon-to-be-former Railroad Commissioner Kent Hance by more than 45 percentage points. Ironically, it was who did not run who perhaps had a good chance at winning re-election. T. Boone Pickens, CEO of Amarillo's Mesa Petroleum, 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. [2]
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. [3][4]
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.[5] Prior to a series of legendary gaffes, he was leading Richards (the race was dubbed "Claytie vs. The Lady")[6] 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.[7]
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".[8] 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.[9][10] 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.[11] Richards was sworn-in as the 45th Governor of Texas on January 15, 1991.
Results[edit]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ann Richards | 1,925,670 | 49.47% | |
Republican | Clayton W. "Claytie" Williams, Jr. | 1,826,431 | 46.92% | |
Libertarian | Jeff Daiell | 129,128 | 3.32% | |
Majority | 99,239 | 2.55% | ||
Total votes | 3,881,229 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic gain from Republican |
References[edit]
^ Texas Alamac
^ http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-31/business/fi-2034_1_pickens-governor-run
^ Galvestn Daily News, 29 April 1989, p. 7.
^ https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/dont-call-him-junior/
^ Texas Since World War II, Handbook of Texas Online, Robert A. Calvert.
^ New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams
^ 1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Texas
^ "Texas Candidate's Comment About Rape Causes a Furor". The New York Times. March 26, 1990..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams, LubbockOnline.com, Kelly Shannon, August 14, 2007
^ Trick Town, Dallas Observer, Joe Pappalardo, May 31, 2001.
^ "KERA "Voters' Revenge" videos frightfully pointed". The Dallas Morning News. October 31, 1990.
External links[edit]
Videos[edit]
- Former Governor Mark White's Campaign Commercial in the Democratic Primary for Governor from November 27, 1989 "Heroes & Do Right"
- Treasurer Ann Richards' Negative Attack Commercial "Mattox & White: The Worst Resumes Money Can Buy" from March 9, 1990
- Campaign Commercial "Ann" from February 28, 1990
- Campaign Commercial "Photos, Children, Drugs, Banking" from January 31, 1990
- White for Governor Commercial from January 26, 1990
- Campaign Commercial from November 5, 1989 "Achievements"
- Campaign Commercial from March 3, 1990 "Banks 1 & 2"
- Campaign Commercial by the Sheinkopf Agency
- Campaign Commercial "First City Texas" from January 22, 1990
- Campaign Commercial from November 27, 1989 "Heroes"
- Primary Gubernatorial Debate from January 7, 1990 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston
- Primary Gubernatorial Debate from March 2, 1990 at KERA-TV Studios
- 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"
Categories:
- Texas gubernatorial elections
- Texas elections, 1990
- United States gubernatorial elections, 1990
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