1972 Texas gubernatorial election

The 1972 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972, to elect the Governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Preston Smith was running for reelection, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by businessman Dolph Briscoe. Briscoe went on to win the election by a relatively small margin, winning 48% of the vote to Republican Henry Grover's 45%. Raza Unida candidate Ramsey Muniz won 6%.

1972 Texas gubernatorial election

November 7, 1972
 
Nominee Dolph Briscoe Henry Grover Ramsey Muñiz
Party Democratic Republican Raza Unida
Popular vote 1,633,493 1,533,986 214,118
Percentage 47.8% 45.0% 6.3%

County results


Briscoe:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Grover:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Muñiz:      40–50%      50–60%



Governor before election

Preston Smith
Democratic

Elected Governor

Dolph Briscoe
Democratic

The 1972 election marked the last time that a gubernatorial election was held concurrently with a presidential election and the last time that a governor was elected for a two-year term.

Primaries

Republican

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Henry Grover 37,118 32.56%
Republican Albert B. Fay 24,329 21.34%
Republican David Reagan 20,119 17.65%
Republican Tom McElroy 19,559 17.16%
Republican John A. Hall Sr. 8,018 7.03%
Republican J. A. Jenkins 4,864 4.27%
Total votes 114,007 100.00%

Democratic

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dolph Briscoe 963,397 43.93%
Democratic Frances Farenthold 612,051 27.91%
Democratic Ben Barnes 392,356 17.89%
Democratic Preston Smith (incumbent) 190,709 8.70%
Democratic William H. Posey 13,727 0.62%
Democratic Gordon F. Wills 10,438 0.48%
Democratic Robert E. Looney 10,225 0.47%
Total votes 2,192,903 100.00%
Democratic Runoff Results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dolph Briscoe 1,095,168 55.32%
Democratic Frances Farenthold 884,594 44.68%
Total votes 1,979,762 100.00%

Results

Results for Raza Unida by County:
General election results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dolph Briscoe 1,633,493 48.79%
Republican Henry Grover 1,533,986 44.99%
Raza Unida Ramsey Muniz 214,118 6.28%
Socialist Workers Deborah Leonard 24,103 0.71%
Others 3,891 0.11%
Total votes 3,409,501 100.00%
Democratic hold


  • May 6, 1972 – Democratic primary results for Texas Governor
  • May 6, 1972 – Republican primary results for Texas Governor
  • June 3, 1972 – Democratic primary runoff
  • June 3, 1972 – Republican primary runoff
  • November 7, 1972 – General election results
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