1920 Texas gubernatorial election
The 1920 Texas gubernatorial election was held on 2 November 1920 in order to elect the Governor of Texas. Former Democratic state representative Pat Morris Neff won comfortably in a four-way race against Republican nominee J. G. Culbertson, American Party of Texas nominee T. H. McGregor, and Black and Tan Republican nominee Hickerson Capers.[1]
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| Elections in Texas |
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 Government |
Democratic primary
In the primary, held on July 24, 1920, former Senator Joseph W. Bailey won the most votes, with Neff in second place; with neither candidate achieving 50%, a runoff was required.[2]
In the runoff, Neff won by just under 18 percentage points against Bailey, or 79,373 raw votes, making him the Democratic nominee and the presumptive governor; Texas - in this era - was a Democratic-dominated southern state in which the primary was almost always the deciding race in the election.[3]
First Round Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joseph W. Bailey | 152,340 | 33.87 | |
| Democratic | Patrick Morris Neff | 149,818 | 33.31 | |
| Democratic | R. Ewing Thomason | 99,002 | 22.01 | |
| Democratic | Benjamin F. Looney | 48,640 | 10.81 | |
| Total votes | 449,800 | 100.00 | ||
Runoff Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Patrick Morris Neff | 264,075 | 58.84 | |
| Democratic | Joseph W. Bailey | 184,702 | 41.16 | |
| Total votes | 448,777 | 100.00 | ||
General election
Neff faced numerous opponents in the general election, including T.H. McGregor of the American Party of Texas, a party established by formerly impeached and convicted Texas governor "Pa" Ferguson, who ran for president in 1920, but failed to gain any substantial support, even in his home state of Texas.[4]
Neff received 60.0% of the vote, a lower share than usual for most Democrats in Texas at the time, but this was mainly due to the race having many more candidates than the typical 1-on-1 between a Democrat and a Republican.[5]
Results
| Texas Gubernatorial Election, 1920 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Pat Morris Neff | 289,188 | 60.03% | |
| Republican | J. G. Culbertson | 90,217 | 18.73% | |
| American | T.H. McGregor | 69,380 | 14.40% | |
| Black and Tan Republican | Hickerson Capers | 26,091 | 5.42% | |
| Socialist | Lee Lightfoot Rhodes | 6,796 | 1.41% | |
| Others | 59 | 0.01% | ||
| Total Votes | 481,731 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
References
- "Election of Texas Governors, 1900-1948 | TX Almanac". www.texasalmanac.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
- "Our Campaigns - TX Governor - D Primary Race - Jul 24, 1920". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- "Our Campaigns - TX Governor - D Runoff Race - Aug 28, 1920". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- "Texas Politics - Governors: James E. Ferguson". texaspolitics.utexas.edu. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- "Our Campaigns - TX Governor Race - Nov 02, 1920". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved May 28, 2023.