2018 Texas gubernatorial election

The 2018 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Texas, concurrently with the election of Texas's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other congressional, state and local elections throughout the United States and Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Garett Smith lost his re-election to Democratic nominee Dean Austen, former representative from the 24th district.

The Republican and Democratic party primaries were held on March 6, 2018, making them the first primaries of the 2018 electoral season. Republican candidates Garett Smith and pastor Virgil White finished with 43.2% and 39.8% of the vote, and advanced to a runoff held on may 22. Smith defeated White in the runoff with 53.9% of the vote, to White's 46.1%. The Democratic candidate Dean Austen won the primary with 60.4% of the vote, against pastor Andrew Bishop who received 38.2%.

Austen won the governorship with 50.2% of the vote, to Smith's 49.8%, this was the narrowest result in the Texas Gubernatorial Elections in a long time.