1968 Texas gubernatorial election

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%.

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%

County results Smith:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Eggers:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election John Connally Democratic Elected Governor Preston Smith Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Dolph Briscoe, former state representative from Uvalde
• Waggoner Carr, former Texas attorney general and nominee for U.S. Senate in 1966
• Johnnie Mae Hackwhorthe
• John Hill, Texas Secretary of State
• Eugene M. Locke, Dallas attorney and deputy U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam
• Preston Smith, Lieutenant Governor
• Alfonso Veloz
• Edward L. Whittenburg
• Don Yarborough, Houston attorney and candidate for governor in 1962 and 1964

Results

1968 Democratic gubernatorial primary

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%

Runoff

1968 Democratic gubernatorial runoff

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

Republican primary

Results

1968 Republican gubernatorial primary

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%

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