1938 Texas gubernatorial election

The 1938 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938.

Democratic politician W. Lee O'Daniel defeated Republican nominee Alexander Boynton with 96.84% of the vote.

Nominations

The Democratic primary election was won by O'Daniel by winning over 50% of the vote, and subsequently avoided a run-off.

Democratic primary results^[3]^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. Lee O'Daniel	573,166	51.41
	Democratic	Ernest O. Thompson	231,630	20.78
	Democratic	William McCraw	152,278	13.66
	Democratic	Tom F. Hunter	117,634	10.55
	Democratic	Karl A. Crowley	19,153	1.72
	Democratic	P.D. Renfro	8,127	0.73
	Democratic	Clarence E. Farmer	3,869	0.35
	Democratic	James A. Ferguson	3,800	0.34
	Democratic	Marvin P. McCoy	1,491	0.13
	Democratic	Thomas Self	1,405	0.13
	Democratic	S.T. Brogdon	892	0.08
	Democratic	Joseph King	773	0.07
	Democratic	James A. Ferguson	667	0.06
Total votes			1,114,885	100.00

The Republican state convention was held at Houston on August 9, 1938. Alexander Boynton, Houston oilman, was nominated for Governor.^[6]

1938 Texas gubernatorial election^[5]^[7]^[8]^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. Lee O'Daniel	358,943	96.84%
	Republican	Alexander Boynton	11,309	3.05%
	Socialist	Earl E. Miller	282	0.08%
	Communist	Homer Brooks	207	0.06%
Turnout			370,741	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McKay, S. S. (June 1945). "O'Daniel, Roosevelt, and the Texas Republican Counties". The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly. 26 (1): 1–21. JSTOR 42879908.
^ Hunter, Ann Cox (April 2, 1981). "1612 Buchanan". Witchita Falls Cultural Resources Survey. Witchita Falls, Texas. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ "TX Governor, 1938 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
^ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 145.
^ ^a ^b Texas Almanac & 1954-1955, p. 348.
^ "Boynton Choice Of Texas G.O.P". The Shamrock Texan. Shamrock, Wheeler County, Tex. August 10, 1938. p. 1. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
^ "TX Governor, 1938". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
^ Journal of the Senate of the State of Texas, Regular Session of the Forty-Sixth Legislature. Austin, Texas: Capital Printing Company, Inc. 1939. p. 1.
^ Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1932-1952: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7864-7034-1.

Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.
Texas Almanac, 1954-1955. Dallas, Texas: A. H. Belo Corporation. 1953.

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