1924 Texas gubernatorial election


The 1924 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1924, in order to elect the Governor of Texas. Democratic nominee and former First Lady of Texas Miriam A. Ferguson defeated Republican nominee George C. Butte. With her victory, she became the first female governor of Texas and the second to be governor of any U.S. state, after Nellie Tayloe Ross, although Ferguson was the first to be elected to the office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Primary election

The Democratic primary election was held on July 26, 1924. No one candidate received greater than 50% of the vote, so a run-off was held.

Runoff election

As no candidate won a majority of votes, there was a runoff. The runoff was a proxy battle between pro-Klan political forces backing Klansman Felix Robertson and anti-Klan political forces backing Ma Ferguson. During the runoff, Thomas D. Barton endorsed Ferguson. The election was held August 23, 1924. Ferguson won the primary with 56.70% against Robertson.

General election

The general election saw the Ku Klux Klan back Republican George C. Butte, seeing him as a more acceptable alternative to the anti-Klan Ferguson, despite the state Republican platform's stated "unalterable opposition to the Ku Klux Klan." Additionally, Ferguson saw an unprecedented number of defections from the Democratic Party, notably state legislator and longtime party leader Thomas B. Love. A coalition of anti-Ferguson Democrats and prohibitionists formed the Good Government Democratic League
An atypically close race in then-staunchly Democratic Texas, Butte received 41.11% of the vote to Fergueson's 58.89% of the vote. By contrast, Democratic presidential nominee John W. Davis received 73.70% of the statewide vote in his three-way race against Calvin Coolidge and Robert M. La Follette in the same year. Ferguson was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Texas on January 20, 1925.