Texas gubernatorial election, 1990

Texas gubernatorial election, 1990

November 6, 1990

Candidate Ann Richards Clayton Williams Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,925,670 1,826,431 Percentage 49.5% 46.9%

County Results

Governor before election Bill Clements Republican Elected Governor Ann Richards Democratic

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%. The 1990 election marks the last time that a Democrat was elected Governor of Texas.

Primaries

Republican

Republican Primary Results ^[1]

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

Democratic Primary Results

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

Democratic Runoff

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

Williams spent freely from his personal fortune, running a "Good Old Boy" campaign initially appealing to conservatives.^[2] Prior to a series of legendary gaffes, he was leading Richards (the race was dubbed "Claytie vs. The Lady")^[3] 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.^[4]

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".^[5] 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.^[6][7] 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.^[8] Richards was sworn-in as the 45th Governor of Texas on January 15, 1991.

Results

General Election Results

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

1. Texas Alamac
2. Texas Since World War II, Handbook of Texas Online, Robert A. Calvert.
3. New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams
4. 1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Texas
5. "Texas Candidate's Comment About Rape Causes a Furor". The New York Times. March 26, 1990.
6. New book relates wild political, personal life of Clayton Williams, LubbockOnline.com, Kelly Shannon, August 14, 2007
7. Trick Town, Dallas Observer, Joe Pappalardo, May 31, 2001.
8. "KERA "Voters' Revenge" videos frightfully pointed". The Dallas Morning News. October 31, 1990.