Texas. Governor (1907-1911 : Campbell)

Thomas Mitchell Campbell served as governor of Texas from January 15, 1907 to January 17, 1911. Campbell, the second native Texan to become governor, was born in Cherokee County in 1856, and was a boyhood friend of Governor Jim Hogg. He attended Rusk Masonic Institute and spent a year at Trinity University before being admitted to the bar in 1878 at Longview. In 1891 Campbell was named receiver for the International and Great Northern Railroad, and in 1893 he became the line's general manager. Conflict with the owners over policies toward employees and the public caused him to resign in 1897 and reenter private law practice.

Endorsed by former Governor Jim Hogg, Campbell ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in the state's first primary in 1906. He received a plurality but no majority, and since the law did not yet provide for a primary run-off, the issue went into party convention. The last-minute support of U.S. Senator Joe Bailey may have guaranteed Campbell's nomination. In 1908 he was easily re-elected. Among the reform items passed during Campbell's administration were stronger anti-trust laws, a pure food law, lobby regulation, municipal regulation of utilities, increased tax support for public schools, and insurance reform. Other changes included the creation of the Department of Insurance, Banking, Statistics, and History, the creation of the Texas State Library and Historical Commission, stock quarantine laws, reorganization of the state banking system, the establishment of irrigation and drainage districts, and the abolition of contract leasing of prison labor. Campbell returned to private practice in 1911, and was defeated in a 1916 race for U.S. Senate. He died in 1923.

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