1845 Texas gubernatorial election
 | |||||||||||||||||
December 15, 1845
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Henderson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Miller: 80–90% No Data/Vote: | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Texas |
|---|
 |
 Government |
The 1845 Texas gubernatorial election was held on December 15, 1845, to elect the first governor of Texas. The election was held in preparation for the annexation of Texas by the United States. As such the election actually predated Texas' entry into the Union by 14 days. James Pinckney Henderson was elected over James B. Miller with 83% of the vote and became the first governor of the new state.
General election
[edit]Organized political parties did not exist in the Republic, with factions generally revolving around presidents Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar. Both Henderson and Miller had served in Houston's cabinet during his times in office.[1] The first political party in state history, the Democrats, would not be organized for another year and both candidates ran nominally independent campaigns.[2][3]
Candidates
[edit]- James Pinckney Henderson, former Republic of Texas minister to the United Kingdom and France
- James B. Miller, physician and politician in the Republic of Texas, from Fort Bend[1]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | James Pinckney Henderson | 8,190 | 83.04% | |
| Independent | James B. Miller | 1,672 | 16.96% | |
| Total votes | 9,862 | 100.00% | ||
By county
[edit]| County[4][b] | James P. Henderson | James B. Miller | Timothy Pillsbury | Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Austin | 99 | 53.2% | 87 | 46.8% | 0 | 0.0% | 12 | 6.4% | 186 |
| Bowie | 299 | 73.1% | 110 | 26.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 189 | 46.2% | 409 |
| Brazoria | 96 | 100.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 96 | 100.0% | 96 |
| Brazos* | 45 | 54.9% | 37 | 45.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 8 | 9.8% | 82 |
| Colorado | 218 | 89.7% | 25 | 10.3% | 0 | 0.0% | 193 | 70.4% | 243 |
| Fort Bend | 23 | 16.0% | 121 | 84.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 98 | 68.0% | 144 |
| Galveston | 334 | 96.3% | 13 | 3.7% | 0 | 0.0% | 321 | 92.6% | 347 |
| Harris | 318 | 57.4% | 236 | 42.6% | 0 | 0.0% | 82 | 14.8% | 554 |
| Harrison | 120 | 96.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 5 | 4.0% | 116 | 92.0% | 125 |
| Houston | 331 | 98.8% | 4 | 1.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 327 | 97.6% | 335 |
| Jackson* | 74 | 79.6% | 19 | 20.4% | 0 | 0.0% | 55 | 59.2% | 93 |
| Jasper | 201 | 91.8% | 18 | 8.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 183 | 83.6% | 219 |
| Lamar | 331 | 99.1% | 3 | 0.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 328 | 98.2% | 334 |
| Matagorda | 106 | 67.5% | 51 | 32.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 55 | 35.0% | 157 |
| Milam | 152 | 74.5% | 52 | 25.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 100 | 49.0% | 204 |
| Montgomery | 541 | 73.1% | 199 | 26.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 342 | 46.2% | 740 |
| Nacogdoches | 711 | 99.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 0.1% | 710 | 99.8% | 712 |
| Red River | 449 | 98.0% | 9 | 2.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 440 | 96.0% | 458 |
| Robertson | 276 | 83.6% | 54 | 16.4% | 0 | 0.0% | 222 | 67.2% | 330 |
| Rusk | 271 | 100.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 271 | 100.0% | 271 |
| Sabine | 250 | 96.2% | 10 | 3.8% | 0 | 0.0% | 240 | 92.4% | 260 |
| San Augustine | 256 | 95.9% | 11 | 4.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 245 | 91.8% | 267 |
| San Patricio | 111 | 91.7% | 10 | 8.3% | 0 | 0.0% | 101 | 83.4% | 121 |
| Shelby | 375 | 90.4% | 40 | 9.6% | 0 | 0.0% | 335 | 86.8% | 415 |
| Travis | 185 | 86.0% | 30 | 14.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 155 | 72.0% | 215 |
| Victoria | 66 | 62.3% | 40 | 37.7% | 0 | 0.0% | 26 | 24.6% | 106 |
| Washington | 202 | 50.1% | 201 | 49.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 0.2% | 403 |
| Totals | 8,190 | 83.0% | 1,672 | 17.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 6,518 | 66.0% | 9,862 |
* counties whose results were not included in the official tabulation
See also
[edit]- 1844 Republic of Texas presidential election, the last presidential election in the Republic of Texas
References
[edit]- ^ Sources differ as to the vote totals in 1845. The Texas Almanac gives the votes as 7,853 (81.99%) for Henderson, 1,673 (17.47%) for Miller, and 52 (0.54%) Scattering.[5] Micheal J. Dubin's United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776 1860 gives the totals as reflected in official state records and these are shown below, however his own results by county add up to 6,321 (82.62%) for Henderson, 1,324 (17.30%) for Miller, and 6 (0.08%) for Thomas Pillsbury.
- ^ The totals in this list do not add up to the official tabulation of the vote in the Journal of the Texas House of Representatives, February 17, 1846. The total according to the Journal is at the bottom of this list, however.
- ^ a b "TSHA | James B. Miller". 1952. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
- ^ "TSHA | The Evolution of the Democratic Party in Texas: A Historical Overview". tshaonline.org. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
Despite sympathy for the Democratic party in the United States, as yet there was no strong party tradition in the Republic of Texas. Before 1848, elections in Texas were conducted without organized political parties. Personality was the dominant political force in the state.
- ^ "Elections of Texas Governors, 1845-2010". texasalmanac.com. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
Prior to 1857 most candidates ran independently.
- ^ a b Micheal J. Dubin. "United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776 1860: The Official Results By State And County". Retrieved April 22, 2026.
- ^ "Texas Almanac". Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
 | This Texas elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |