Question: What Texas governor refused to leave office after his successor was inaugurated?
Answer: Edmund J. Davis. Elected in 1869 during Reconstruction, the Republican governor earned the ire of former Confederates for his actions in office, including establishing a state police force to prosecute racially based crimes.
Davis was soundly defeated by Democrat Richard Coke in 1873, but his supporters claimed the election was conducted illegally. The Texas Supreme Court agreed. However, Coke ignored the decision, and when Davis refused to leave his office on the Capitol grounds, Coke’s supporters secured the keys to the second floor, where the legislature convened and inaugurated him as governor.
A militia summoned to protect Davis aligned with Coke instead, and President Grant declined to intervene, forcing Davis to relinquish his post.