| Election Name: | 1920 Texas gubernatorial election |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1918 Texas gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1918 |
| Next Election: | 1922 Texas gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1922 |
| Election Date: | 2 November 1920 |
| Turnout: | 68.3%[1] |
| Image1: | PatMNeff.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Pat Morris Neff |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 289,188 |
| Percentage1: | 60.0% |
| Nominee2: | J. G. Culbertson |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 90,217 |
| Percentage2: | 18.7% |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | William P. Hobby |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Pat Morris Neff |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Country: | Texas |
| Party4: | American |
| Image4 Upright: | 0.9 |
| Nominee4: | T. H. McGregor |
| Popular Vote4: | 69,380 |
| Percentage4: | 14.4% |
| Nominee5: | Hickerson Capers |
| Popular Vote5: | 26,091 |
| Percentage5: | 5.4% |
| Party5: | Black-and-Tan Republican |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Colour4: | D99FE8 |
| Colour5: | FDAB66 |
| Map Size: | 335 |
The 1920 Texas gubernatorial election was held on 2 November 1920 in order to elect the Governor of Texas. Former Democratic state representative Pat Morris Neff won comfortably in a four-way race against Republican nominee J. G. Culbertson, American Party of Texas nominee T. H. McGregor, and Black and Tan Republican nominee Hickerson Capers.[2]
In the primary, held on July 24, 1920, former Senator Joseph W. Bailey won the most votes, with Neff in second place; with neither candidate achieving 50%, a runoff was required.[3]
In the runoff, Neff won by just under 18 percentage points against Bailey, or 79,373 raw votes, making him the Democratic nominee and the presumptive governor; Texas - in this era - was a Democratic-dominated southern state in which the primary was almost always the deciding race in the election.[4]
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Neff faced numerous opponents in the general election, including T.H. McGregor of the American Party, a party established by formerly impeached and convicted Texas governor "James "Pa" Ferguson for the purposes of running for president in the concurrent presidential election.[5] Neff received 60.0% of the vote, a lower share than usual for most Democrats in Texas at the time, but this was due large, multi-candidate field rather than the more typical 1-on-1 between a Democrat and a Republican.[6]
| Texas Gubernatorial Election, 1920 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Democratic | Pat Morris Neff | 289,188 | 60.03% | ||
| Republican | J. G. Culbertson | 90,217 | 18.73% | ||
| American | T.H. McGregor | 69,380 | 14.40% | ||
| Black and Tan Republican | Hickson Capers | 26,091 | 5.42% | ||
| Socialist | Lee Lightfoot Rhodes | 6,796 | 1.41% | ||
| Others | 59 | 0.01% | |||
| Total Votes | 481,731 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||