Question: What popular governor did LBJ defeat in the 1948 primary for the U.S. Senate?
Answer: Coke Stevenson, the only Texan to serve as Speaker of the Texas House, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor. Stevenson earned 39.7% of votes in the 1948 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, compared to Johnson’s 33.7%. In a runoff election, Johnson defeated Stevenson by 87 votes out of 988,295 cast, a victory that was marred by allegations of ballot stuffing in Jim Wells County, where a ballot box containing 200 votes for Johnson and 2 for Stevenson was found six days after polls closed. After the Democratic State Central Committee sustained Johnson’s apparent victory, a federal district court barred Johnson from the general election ballot. However, the Supreme Court overturned that decision, ruling that the contest wasn’t subject to federal jurisdiction.
