 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Bush: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Mauro: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The1998 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect thegovernor of Texas. IncumbentRepublican governorGeorge W. Bush was re-elected in a landslide over four-termDemocraticTexas Land CommissionerGarry Mauro, winning 68% of the vote to Mauro's 31%. Bush carried 239 counties, while Mauro carried just 15. Exit polls revealed that Bush won 27% of the African-American vote, which was the highest percentage for any Republican statewide candidate, and 49% of the Latino vote. Bush was sworn in for a second term as governor on January 19, 1999. He resigned from his position on December 21, 2000, one month before being inaugurated as the 43rdpresident of the United States. Incumbent Lieutenant GovernorRick Perry served the remainder of Bush's second term as governor.
As of 2024, this is the most recent gubernatorial election in whichEl Paso,Hidalgo,Willacy, andTravis counties voted for the Republican candidate, with the latter giving Bush over 60%, a rarity for Republicans in that county given its status as a liberal stronghold.[a] This was the first election in which Republicans won consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. Bush's 37-point margin of victory was the largest won by any candidate since1964 and is, to date, the largest ever won by a Republican candidate.
George W. Bush, the son of formerPresident of the United StatesGeorge H. W. Bush, was elected governor in1994, defeating incumbentDemocratic governorAnn Richards. Upon taking office in January 1995, Bush had a low approval rating of 38%. Over the course of his first term, this increased significantly, reaching 70% in February 1997.[1] Going into the election, Bush had an approval rating of 76%.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George W. Bush (incumbent) | 576,528 | 96.60% | |
| Republican | R. C. Crawford | 20,311 | 3.40% | |
| Total votes | 596,839 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Garry Mauro | 492,419 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 492,419 | 100.00% | ||
Throughout the entire campaign, George W. Bush led in the polls by wide margins. After Garry Mauro declared his candidacy in November 1997, a Scripps Howard Texas Poll of 793 registered voters showed Bush leading by 68%–16%, with 14% undecided. George Bush spokeswomanKaren Hughes said, "The philosophical differences between Gov. Bush and Garry Mauro are clear and stark. Gov. Bush is a conservative, as most Texans are, and Garry Mauro is a liberal."[3] In mid-June 1998, a Scripps Howard Texas Poll was conducted with Bush versus Mauro. The poll showed 70% likely voters support Bush, 17% favored Mauro, 11% were undecided, and 2% would vote for neither. Bush's approval rating was also virtually unchanged polling at 75%. In response to the poll, government professor Bruce Buchanan at theUniversity of Texas at Austin said, "Gov. Bush looks to be unbeatable, but there's enough time for anything to happen. There is a slim chance for Mauro but still a real chance for him to reach voters with ad dollars and issue choices. It's just too early to call the November election in June."[4]
On June 22, 1998, Mauro called Bush out of touch saying, "Governor Bush is out of touch with the concerns of ordinary citizens and in bed with the giant HMO's." This was because in 1995, Bush vetoed the Patient Protection Act, which would have forced state-regulated healthcare organizations to allow their customers to choose their own doctor. The Patient Protection Act would have also mandated that insurance companies to cover cancer treatment received at theUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.[5]
Another Scripps Howard Texas Poll was conducted from August 12 to August 27, 1998. It indicated that 77% of likely voters support Bush, 20% favored Mauro, and 1% supported Libertarian candidate Lester Turlington Jr. About 10% were undecided and 2% didn't answer. Again, Bush's approval rating barely fell and was 74% of Texans remarked that he was doing a good to excellent job as governor. Allan Saxe, an assistant political science professor at the University of Texas said, "Now he's ahead [Bush] by an awfully huge margin. If Garry Mauro can close that to a 10 to 15 percent difference by election day, it will be a symbolic victory. But it will be hard to do – a 50-point difference is a big one." Among Hispanics, Bush led Mauro 51%–31%, down from 67%–20% in June.[6]
Bush and Mauro met for the sole gubernatorial election debate in El Paso on October 16, 1998. Initially, Bush seemed rather nervous and defensive. Mauro attacked Bush for his position on teachers salaries and support for anuclear waste dump inSierra Blanca. However, Bush was well prepared and attacked Mauro's tax and spending proposals, describing them as "overambitious".[7] The results of the debate would have little impact on the general election in November.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George W. Bush (incumbent) | 2,550,821 | 68.24% | |
| Democratic | Garry Mauro | 1,165,592 | 31.18% | |
| Libertarian | Lester R. Turlington Jr. | 20,711 | 0.47% | |
| Independent | Susan Lee Solar | 954 | 0.03% | |
| Total votes | 3,738,078 | 100.00% | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Following his defeat, Garry Mauro was succeeded byDavid Dewhurst as the Commissioner of the General Land Office in early 1999.[8] Mauro would later serve as the Texas State Chairman for various Democratic presidential candidates, including forAl Gore in2000,Dick Gephardt in2004, andHillary Clinton in2008. However, Mauro himself never sought political office again. Eventually, he opened aprivate law practice in his hometown of Austin.[9]
George W. Bush was inaugurated for his second term as Governor of Texas on January 19, 1999. With his brotherJeb sworn-in asGovernor of Florida earlier that month, George and Jeb Bush became the first two brothers to simultaneously serve as governors sinceNelson andWinthrop Rockefeller from 1967 to 1971. Five months later, in June 1999, Bush announced his candidacy for President of the United States in 2000.[10] At the2000 Republican National Convention, Bush was nominated for President of the United States and narrowly won the election against Al Gore. On December 21, 2000, less than two years into his second term, George W. Bush resigned as Governor of Texas and was succeeded byRick Perry.[2][11]
Official campaign websites (archived)
| |||||||
| Presidency (timeline) |
|   | |||||
| Life and legacy | |||||||
| Speeches | |||||||
| Elections |
| ||||||
| Public image | |||||||
| Books |
| ||||||
| Popular culture | |||||||
| Family |
| ||||||
.jpg)
.jpg)
