The 1994 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, to elect the

governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

. Incumbent Democratic governor Ann Richards was defeated in her bid for re-election by Republican nominee and future president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, the son of former president

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

. Before the election, Richards had a high approval rating due to the strength of the state economy. However, Bush's campaigning on cultural and religious issues resonated with many Texan voters, and the race was considered a tossup on election day. On election day, Bush carried 188 of the state's 254 counties, while Richards carried 66. This marks the most recent time a Democratic candidate for governor has carried Briscoe,

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

, Cottle, Hardeman, Knox, Baylor, Dickens, Jones, Nolan, Mitchell,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, Palo Pinto, Comanche, Menard, Fannin,

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

, Rains, Camp, San Augustine,

Sabine The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

, Tyler, Orange, Caldwell,

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

, Robertson, Milam,

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and San Patricio counties. Exit polls revealed that Bush won overwhelmingly among white voters (69% to 31%) while Richards performed well among African Americans (83% to 15%) and Latinos (75% to 25%). The 1994 election marked the last time that a Democrat won more than 45% of the vote in a Texas gubernatorial election, though the party was more successful in other statewide offices: Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, Attorney General Dan Morales, Land Commissioner Garry Mauro and Comptroller John Sharp all won reelection. This is also the last time a Democrat won statewide in Texas as it is the state with the longest drought of electing Democrats to statewide office. Bush's victory was one of the most notable in the 1994

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party's (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House o ...

, as he was one of four candidates to defeat an incumbent governor that cycle. As of the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election, this is the last time an incumbent governor of Texas has lost re-election.

Primaries

Republican

Democratic

Campaign

On June 11, 1994, 54 delegates met at the

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

state convention to statewide nominees. Keary Ehlers was given the gubernatorial nomination and the other statewide nominees were selected on June 12. Tom Pauken, the chairman of the

Republican Party of Texas The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the Texas affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in the United States. It is currently chaired by Abraham George (politician), Abraham George, who succeeded Matt Rinaldi in 2024 ...

, stated that Keary Ehlers should withdraw to help Bush win the election. Jay Manifold, the chairman of the Libertarian Party of Texas, stated that Bush should withdraw to help Ehlers win the election in response.

Polling

Endorsements

Results

References

{{George W. Bush

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Gubernatorial

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

George W. Bush 1994 in Texas November 1994 in the United States