1998 Texas gubernatorial election
The 1998 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor George W. Bush was re-elected in a landslide over 4-term Democratic Texas Land Commissioner Garry 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.
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County results Bush: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Mauro: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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As of 2023, this is the most recent gubernatorial election in which El Paso, Hidalgo, Willacy, and Travis 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. 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 since 1966 and is, to date, the largest ever won by a Republican candidate.