1861 Texas gubernatorial election

1861 Texas gubernatorial election

August 5, 1861

Nominee Francis Lubbock Edward Clark Thomas J. Chambers Party Independent Independent Independent Popular vote 21,854 21,730 13,759 Percentage 38.1% 37.8% 24.0%

County Results[a][1] Lubbock   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   >90% Clark   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   >90% Chambers   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Unknown/No Vote

Governor before election Edward Clark Independent Elected Governor Francis Lubbock Independent

The 1861 Texas gubernatorial election was held on August 5 1861, to elect the governor of Texas. In a three-way election, former Democratic lieutenant governor Francis Lubbock defeated incumbent Governor Edward Clark and Thomas J. Chambers, a wealthy political gadfly from East Texas. All candidates were staunch secessionists, promising to wage vigorous war upon the North in cooperation with Confederate authorities.[3]

Clark had elevated himself to the governorship after swearing an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy, following the previous Governor Sam Houston's removal due to his refusal to take such an oath. This move was seen by unionist as an affront to Houston, who did not recognize the validity of his removal. Despite being a secessionist himself, Lubbock was backed by Houston and Unionists in the election, who would rather vote for him than Clark. This backing, along with Lubbock's ability to appeal to former non-voters, particularly non-slaveholders, were the main factors that caused Clark's defeat by a slim margin of 124 votes.[3]

Results

General Election Results[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Francis Lubbock	21,854	38.05%
	Independent	Edward Clark (incumbent)	21,730	37.84%
	Independent	Thomas J. Chambers	13,759	23.96%
	No Party	Write-ins	85	0.15%
Total votes			57,428	100.00%
	Independent hold

Notes

1. No returns reported for Clay, Hidalgo and Mason counties.[1] According to the Atlas of Historical County Borders, Greer County was disputed between Texas and the Indian Territory. A strip of territory was disputed between Jack and Clay Counties. Most other counties were unorganized.[2]

References

1. Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County. McFarland & Company. pp. 528–529. ISBN 9780786456468.
2. "TX: Consolidated Chronology". digital.newberry.org. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
3. Baum, Dale (1998). The Shattering of Texas Unionism: Politics in the Lone Star State During the Civil War Era. LSU Press. pp. 85–87. ISBN 9780807122457.
4. "Texas Almanac". Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.