Edmund Jackson Davis, a former district judge in South Texas, Brigadier General in the Union Army and later a Republican governor lost the 1874 Governor's election to Democrat, Richard Coke. Davis refused to vacate the Texas State Capitol even though he lost by a margin of two to one. State democrats and state republicans considered Davis, originally a democrat, a Radical Republican. His folly, if you wish, was to strictly enforce reconstruction laws after the civil war. Davis' tactics proved too harsh for even those who sided against secessionists. Ex-Governor Davis surrounded the State Capitol with the renewed militia and State Police. Texas had two governors, and two legislatures meeting at the same time (They occupied the first two floors of the Capitol) for at least three and a half months. Edmund J. Davis requested by way of many letters and dispatches that President Grant send Federal troops to keep the new governor from taking office. President Grant refused his many requests and Governor Coke eventually took office. His portrait hangs in the Capitol rotunda (the second floor) with no mention of this incident. In these days of hanging chads and constant voter recounts it is nice to know that our recent "election shenanigans" are paltry compared to those in our colorful state election history. The Coke-Davis Dispute as historians know it ought to make a good movie. - Tom Davis