 | |||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 60.0% 19.9pp[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Ferguson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Butte: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% No Vote: Unorganized: | |||||||||||||||||
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The1924 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1924, in order to elect theGovernor of Texas.Democratic nominee and formerFirst Lady of TexasMiriam A. Ferguson defeatedRepublican nomineeGeorge C. Butte. With her victory, she became the first female governor of Texas and the second to be governor of any U.S. state, afterNellie Tayloe Ross, although Ferguson was the first to be elected to the office.[2][3]
The Democraticprimary election was held on July 26, 1924. No one candidate received greater than 50% of the vote, so arun-off was held.
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.[6] During the runoff, Thomas D. Barton endorsed Ferguson.[5] The election was held August 23, 1924. Ferguson won the primary with 56.70% against Robertson.[9]
| Candidate | First Round | Run-off | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |
| Miriam A. Ferguson | 146,424 | 20.82 | 413,751 | 56.70 |
| Felix D. Robertson | 193,508 | 27.52 | 316,019 | 43.30 |
| Lynch Davidson | 141,208 | 20.08 | ||
| Thomas Whitfield Davidson | 125,011 | 17.78 | ||
| Thomas D. Barton | 29,217 | 4.16 | ||
| Vinson A. Collins | 24,864 | 3.54 | ||
| Joe Burkett | 21,720 | 3.09 | ||
| W. E. Pope | 17,136 | 2.44 | ||
| George W. Dixon | 4,035 | 0.57 | ||
| Total | 703,123 | 100.00 | 729,770 | 100.00 |
| Source:[10] | ||||
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."[11][12] Additionally, Ferguson saw an unprecedented number of defections from the Democratic Party, notably state legislator and longtime party leader Thomas B. Love.[13] A coalition of anti-Ferguson Democrats and prohibitionists formed theGood Government Democratic League[12]
An atypically close race in then-staunchly Democratic Texas, Butte received 41.11% of the vote to Fergueson's 58.89% of the vote.[14] By contrast, Democratic presidential nomineeJohn W. Davis received 73.70% of the statewide vote inhis three-way race againstCalvin Coolidge (19.78%) andRobert M. La Follette (6.52%) in the same year.[15] Ferguson was sworn in as the 29th Governor of Texas on January 20, 1925.[14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Miriam A. Ferguson | 422,558 | 58.89 | |
| Republican | George C. Butte | 294,970 | 41.11 | |
| Total votes | 717,528 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
Owing to problems with the original collection of returns, these figures differ from those inGéoelections and Edgar Eugene Robinson's work. These totals exclude some counties (noted in the table) where the Texas Secretary of State did not compile data.
