Why did Ann Richards lose in 1994?

[old timey villain]

In her wikipedia article, they list Karl Rove's 3 main reasons for her defeat:

1) Opposition to a concealed weapons ban
2) Her initial desire to put 5 Texas waterways under federal control
3) Feminist remarks made to a girl scout conference

Are there any other reasons besides the national Republican wave? It seems she was very personally popular and had a positive public image, but she lost by 8 points!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Bush - Not W, just having the Bush name running meant instant recognition. Also considering this is a state 41 had carried and likely disapproved of Clinton's early performanced, those together would have created a nostalgia for "Bush" because it wasn't Clinton.

Shame it didn't work so well for Jeb, but consider that FL voted for Clinton once and TX never did. Everything being of larger size in Texas, thus hatred for Clinton and desire for Bush was all the more.

[Lief 🗽]

Her 49% to 47% 1990 victory was a fluke against a guy who literally made a rape joke for no reason during the campaign.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Shame it didn't work so well for Jeb, but consider that FL voted for Clinton once and TX never did. Everything being of larger size in Texas, thus hatred for Clinton and desire for Bush was all the more.

Jeb was facing Lawton Chiles, a beloved veteran of Florida politics. Richards was anywhere near having as strong position as Chiles' and George had an easy way compared to Jeb, though coming parasysly close to unstead such a legend as Lawton tells a lot of good about Jeb's skills.

With hinsight of what GWB would become, I'd trade FL for TX.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It was 1994. In Texas. And also...

Her 49% to 47% 1990 victory was a fluke against a guy who literally made a rape joke for no reason during the campaign.

[Holmes]

Her 49% to 47% 1990 victory was a fluke against a guy who literally made a rape joke for no reason during the campaign.

It always comes down to rape with Republicans, huh?

[Meeker]

"in 1994" is the operative phrase here.

[CountryRoads]

She won in 1990 not only because her opponent was a POS, but because the GOP Governor at the time, Bill Clements was unpopular.

A good chunk of the reason for his fall from grace was the late 1980s SMU football scandal (he was a booster)

[RRusso1982]

Richards was the equivalent of Bob Ehrlich in Maryland in 2006.  Ehrlich won in a fluke in 2002, against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who made Martha Coakley's campaign look good by comparison.  He had high approvals his whole term as governor.  His approval rating was 60% on Election Day 2006, and he still lost.  Because of the anti GOP wave.

[The Mikado]

Richards' win in 1990 was an anomaly, and she was actually well to the left of even the Texas Democratic Party, let alone the state.  It's not unfair to say that Bob Bullock enjoyed running the state when George W. Bush was governor more than he did when Ann Richards was governor: he and Richards were old rivals from opposite wings of the Democratic Party.  Also, yeah, 1994 was a terrible year for especially Southern Democrats, and sped up the transition of traditionally Democratic East Texas to the GOP.  By 1998, the transformation of the state would be complete and there'd be no statewide elected Democrats, something that has been true from then until now.

[Keystone Phil]

Poor Ann. She can't help it...

[RogueBeaver]

Poor Ann. She can't help it...

I saw what you did there.

[Lincoln Republican]

After telling W before a debate

This is gonna be so hard on yewwwww

W went on to crush Richards in the debate

revealing once and for all what a political lightweight she really was

[RogueBeaver]

Hard on ya, boy. She also called him "some jerk."

[Keystone Phil]

It is said that she fully expected W. to lose his cool during the debate. Instead, he owned her. Oh, to imagine what was going through her head during that. "Wait just a minute there. This ain't how it supposed to go!"

[Maxwell]

Richards was the equivalent of Bob Ehrlich in Maryland in 2006.  Ehrlich won in a fluke in 2002, against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who made Martha Coakley's campaign look good by comparison.  He had high approvals his whole term as governor.  His approval rating was 60% on Election Day 2006, and he still lost.  Because of the anti GOP wave.

That disappointed me when he lost. Ehrlich was a FF Republican.

[sg0508]

Richards was the equivalent of Bob Ehrlich in Maryland in 2006.  Ehrlich won in a fluke in 2002, against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who made Martha Coakley's campaign look good by comparison.  He had high approvals his whole term as governor.  His approval rating was 60% on Election Day 2006, and he still lost.  Because of the anti GOP wave.

That disappointed me when he lost. Ehrlich was a FF Republican.

Don't underestimate what a powerful politican machine and warchest will do for a candidate.  Ehrlich made some politican missteps with one of them being that he had chances to moderate some of his stances (i.e. gay marriage, etc) and refused to do it.  Now, kudos to him I suppose for maintaining his stances from the get go, but in MD, where the GOP ceiling is maybe 52%, you're going to need at least 25% of democrats to vote for you and that wasn't the smartest idea.

[hopper]

Richards was the equivalent of Bob Ehrlich in Maryland in 2006.  Ehrlich won in a fluke in 2002, against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who made Martha Coakley's campaign look good by comparison.  He had high approvals his whole term as governor.  His approval rating was 60% on Election Day 2006, and he still lost.  Because of the anti GOP wave.

That disappointed me when he lost. Ehrlich was a FF Republican.

Don't underestimate what a powerful politican machine and warchest will do for a candidate.  Ehrlich made some politican missteps with one of them being that he had chances to moderate some of his stances (i.e. gay marriage, etc) and refused to do it.  Now, kudos to him I suppose for maintaining his stances from the get go, but in MD, where the GOP ceiling is maybe 52%, you're going to need at least 25% of democrats to vote for you and that wasn't the smartest idea.

Gay Marriage? Was Gay Marriage even a big issue in Maryland in 2006? Most blacks that live in Baltimore probably didn't favor Gay Marriage back then.

I think Elrich lost because MD is a heavily Dem state and O' Malley(D) was Mayor Of Baltimore   before he ran for Governor so he had high name recognotion in Baltimore.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Dubya's pro immigration stance helped him alot running for governor and for prez.  Ann Richards along with the rest of the Dems were a dying bread in texas.

[Incipimus iterum]

Ann Richard, thinking that Bush is a weak candidate, thought that he would make a lot of gaffes, but it was the opposite, Bush ran a Excellent campaign and she made gaffes that harmed her.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Hard on ya, boy. She also called him "some jerk."

She also called him "Shrub" and "Prince George".

[The Mikado]

Dubya's pro immigration stance helped him alot running for governor and for prez.  Ann Richards along with the rest of the Dems were a dying bread in texas.

Democrats may have been a dying breed, but they weren't a dying bread.

[old timey villain]

I'm proud that this thread has generated so much discussion. +1 for me

[Liberalrocks]

Hard on ya, boy. She also called him "some jerk."

She also called him "Shrub" and "Prince George".

LOL I loved her, she may of lost but damn it was the hard truth !!...took awhile to reach the masses too bad she wasnt around to enjoy it in 2008.