led the Antelope Hills expedition into the Comancheria, winning the Battle of Antelope Hills in May. Later in the year, the Rangers fought an inconclusive battle in the Rio Grande Valley against Mexican bandit Juan Cortina. Despite these efforts, the Rangers failed to secure peace on the frontier. Runnels advocated for reductions in the level of support the state provided railroad companies, arguing that the railroads had been slow in fulfilling their contractual obligations. The Democratic party renominated Runnels for governor during the election of 1859, with Houston again running against him. Runnels, however, received most of the blame for continuing frontier depredations, while Houston had regained his popularity. As a result, Runnels was defeated by Houston by a vote of 33,375 to 27,500. Later life After leaving office, Runnels returned to his home and never again ran for elected office. He remained active in politics, serving as a member of both the 1861 Secession Convention and the 1866 Constitutional convention. Runnels died on December 25, 1873, and was buried in a family plot in Bowie County. His remains were re-interred in a state cemetery in Austin in 1929. Footnotes References |- 1820 births 1873 deaths Democratic Party governors of Texas Lieutenant Governors of Texas Speakers of the Texas House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Bowie County, Texas 19th-century American politicians Runnels County, Texas