The 1906 Texas gubernatorial election was held to elect the Governor of Texas. Thomas Mitchell Campbell was elected to a two-year term in office.
This was the first election in which a party held a primary to determine its nominee. Thomas Mitchell Campbell won the Democratic nomination over a four-man field including M. M. Brooks, Oscar Branch Colquitt and Charles K. Bell; his victory was tantamount to election with the Republican Party already weak in Texas and deeply divided at the time.
Democratic primary This marked the first time the Texas Democratic party held a statewide primary election under the "Terrell election law." It was not a primary in the sense that the popular vote directly determined the nominee, instead the vote was used to allocate pledged delegates from each county at the state convention.
Candidates Charles K. Bell, Attorney General of Texas and former U.S. Representative from Hamilton Micajah Madison Brooks, associate justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals Thomas Mitchell Campbell, attorney and general manager of the International–Great Northern Railroad Oscar Branch Colquitt, member of the Texas Railroad Commission
Results
General election Candidates Alexander W. Acheson, physician and former mayor of Denison (Reorganized Republican) Thomas Mitchell Campbell, attorney and general manager of the International–Great Northern Railroad (Democratic) C. A. Gray (Republican) George Clifton Edwards, editor and publisher of the Laborer (Socialist) J. W. Pearson (Prohibition) Arthur S. Dowler, postmaster of Finlay (Socialist Labor)
Acheson was the candidate of the "black and tan" faction of the Republicans, while Gray was nominated by the "lily-white movement" which sought to exclude non-white men from the party.
Results
References