Nov. 6, 1962 - Democrat John B. Connally was elected Governor of Texas tonight, smashing the strongest Republican surge in state history. Mr. Connally piled up a 90,000-vote lead over Jack Cox, a Democrat-turned-Republican. Mr. Connally, who was President Kennedy’s first Secretary of the Navy, fought a see-saw battle with Mr. Cox in early returns but surged ahead late. Mr. Connally’s victory was regarded as a show of strength for President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson in Texas. Mr. Cox, a former Democrat, had charged Mr. Connally with being a Johnson “puppet” candidate. He had billed himself as being “free from Washington control.”
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