1853 Texas gubernatorial election

1853 Texas gubernatorial election

August 1, 1853

Nominee Elisha M. Pease William B. Ochiltree George T. Wood Party Democratic Whig Independent Democrat Popular vote 13,091 9,178 5,983 Percentage 36.2% 25.4% 16.6%   Nominee Lemuel D. Evans Thomas J. Chambers Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 4,677 2,449 Percentage 12.9% 6.8%

Results by county: Pease:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Ochiltree:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60% Wood:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Evans:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%     50–60%      60–70%      80–90% Chambers:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%

Governor before election Peter H. Bell Democratic Elected Governor Elisha M. Pease Democratic

The 1853 Texas gubernatorial election was held on August 1, 1853, to elect the governor of Texas.

Incumbent Governor Peter Hansborough Bell did not run for a third term. The election was won by Elisha M. Pease, who received 36% of the vote. This is the lowest percentage of the popular vote a Texas governor has received and still won an election.

General election

Candidates

• Thomas J. Chambers, unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1851, former chief justice of Texas, land speculator and real estate developer (Democratic)
• John W. S. Dancy, state representative, former member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas (Democratic)
• Lemuel D. Evans, lawyer, former district judge of Harrison County, veteran of the Mexican-American War, delegate to the 1845 annexation convention (Democratic)
• William Beck Ochiltree, Nacogdoches judge, former Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas, delegate to the 1845 annexation convention (Whig)
• Elisha M. Pease, unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1851, former state senator, former Comptroller of Public Accounts of the Republic of Texas (Democratic)
• George Tyler Wood, former Governor of Texas, plantation owner, veteran of the Mexican-American War (Independent Democratic)

Results

1853 Texas gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elisha M. Pease	13,091	36.21%
	Whig	William Beck Ochiltree	9,178	25.39%
	Independent Democrat	George Tyler Wood	5,983	16.56%
	Democratic	Lemuel D. Evans	4,677	12.94%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Chambers	2,449	6.77%
	Write-in		459	1.27%
	Democratic	John W. S. Dancy	315	0.87%
Total votes			36,152	100.00%
	Democratic hold