1958 Texas gubernatorial election

1958 Texas Democratic gubernatorial primary election

← 1956 November 4, 1958 1960 →

Nominee Price Daniel Henry B. González W. Lee O'Daniel Party Democratic Democratic Democratic Popular vote 799,107 246,969 238,767 Percentage 60.7% 18.8% 18.1%

County results Daniel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% González:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90% O'Daniel:      60–70%

Governor before election Price Daniel Democratic Elected Governor Price Daniel Democratic

The 1958 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic governor Price Daniel was reelected a second term, winning 88% of the vote to Republican Edwin Mayer's 12%.

To date, this was the last election in which a candidate for Governor of Texas received more than 75% of the vote.

Primaries

Democratic

Candidates

• Price Daniel, incumbent governor, former United States Senator from Texas (1953-1957), former Texas Attorney General (1947-1953), former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (1943-1945)
• Henry B. González, state senator from the 26th district, former San Antonio councilmember (1953-1956)
• W. Lee O'Daniel, former governor (1939-1941), former United States Senator (1941-1949), unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for governor in 1956
• Joe A. Irwin, insurance salesman^[1]

Democratic primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Price Daniel (incumbent)	799,107	60.65%
	Democratic	Henry B. González	246,969	18.75%
	Democratic	W. Lee O'Daniel	238,767	18.12%
	Democratic	Joe A. Irwin	33,643	2.55%
Total votes			1,317,492	100.00%

Constitution Party

During the 1958 elections, the Constitution Party, a small right-wing third party which formed in 1952, had more candidates for the statewide slate than the Republican party.^[3] The party attempted to nominate former governor W. Lee O'Daniel as their candidate, but the state's "sore loser" law disqualified him from appearing on the ballot due to his participation in the Democratic primary.^[4][5]

General election

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Price Daniel (incumbent)	695,779	88.09%
	Republican	Edwin S. Mayer	94,086	11.91%
Total votes			789,865	100.00%
	Democratic hold

References

1. Hill, Gladwin (July 24, 2026). "TEXAS DEMOCRATS TO RENEW BATTLE; Primary Election Tomorrow and Party Conventions to Decide State Control". The New York Times. p. 40. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
2. "Texas Almanac". Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
3. "GOP Has Fewer Candidates Than Constitution Party". El Paso Herald-Post. October 10, 1958. p. 23. Retrieved April 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "O'Daniel Ruled Out in Texas". The Shreveport Journal. September 12, 1956. p. 21. Retrieved April 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "O'Daniel Accepts Constitution Party Nomination". The Odessa American. September 9, 1956. p. 5. Retrieved April 1, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.