Preston Smith

Governor
Born
March 8, 1912
Died
October 18, 2003
Age at death
91
Home state
Texas
Party
Democratic
On the ballot
1968–1970
Career timeline
2-0
RecordWin–Loss
Total Popular Votes
Smith2.9M
Opponents2.3M
2
Elections run

Between 1968 and 1970, Preston Smith ran in 2 governor elections, winning all 2. Smith's biggest single-election total was 1,662,019 votes, in the 1968 governor election in Texas. Smith's closest win came in the 1970 governor election in Texas, decided by 158,675 votes.

Browse every governor election in Texas or all 1970 governor races.

How many votes has Preston Smith received?

Preston Smith has received 2,894,525 popular votes across 2 U.S. elections, with a career record of 2–0.

Election history

Preston Smith’s election history
YearOfficeResultVotesOpponent(s)
1970GovernorTexasWon1,232,50653.4%Paul Eggers (head-to-head)
1968GovernorTexasWon1,662,01957%Paul Eggers (head-to-head)
Identity & sources. Identity verified against Wikidata (Q880822). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.
Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “Preston Smith: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/preston-smith. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.