On January 16, 1979, Clements replaced Democrat Dolph Briscoe as governor of Texas. He defeated State Representative Ray Hutchison in the Republican primary by a vote of 115,345 to 38,268. Clements won the November 1978 general election defeating Democrat John Hill. Hill had been the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and had been the Texas Attorney General for six years. Clements got 49.96% of the votes. With help from the votes of several minor candidates he narrowly won the election. 