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In the spring of 1961, Wilson, along with some seventy other individuals, paid the $50 filing fee to enter the [[special election]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat vacated by [[Vice President of the United States]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]],<ref name=tsc/> who along with [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], as [[United States Secretary of the Navy]], had joined the new administration of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections''</ref> Ultimately, Republican [[John Tower]], then a college [[professor]] from [[Wichita Falls]] and later from Dallas, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Arvis Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.​

In the spring of 1961, Wilson, along with some seventy other individuals, paid the $50 filing fee to enter the [[special election]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat vacated by [[Vice President of the United States]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]],<ref name=tsc/> who along with [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], as [[United States Secretary of the Navy]], had joined the new administration of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Wilson trailed in fourth place in the special election with 121,961 votes (11.5 percent).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections''</ref> Ultimately, Republican [[John Tower]], then a college [[professor]] from [[Wichita Falls]] and later from Dallas, won the remaining five and one-half years of Johnson's term by approximately ten thousand votes over Senator William Arvis Blakley of Dallas. who had been appointed on an interim basis by Governor Daniel, himself a former U.S. senator and Texas attorney general.​

Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including [[incumbent]] Marion Price Daniel, Sr., of Liberty]], highway commissioner Marshall Formby of Plainview]], General Edwin A. Walker, who made [[anti-communism]] the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville, and [[liberal]] attorney Don Yarborough of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] (no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move ... to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John,'' New York: William Morrow, 1974, p. 98.</ref>​

Wilson did not seek a fourth two-year term as attorney general in 1962; instead he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary against several prominent opponents, including [[incumbent]] Marion Price Daniel, Sr., of Liberty, Texas, highway commissioner Marshall Formby of Plainview] north of [[Lubbock]], General Edwin A. Walker, who made [[anti-communism]] the centerpiece of his campaign, and the leading candidates, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Connally of Floresville, and [[liberal]] attorney Don Yarborough of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] (no relation to his fellow liberal U.S. Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] of Austin). In the campaign, Wilson was particularly critical of a politician not on the ballot: Lyndon Johnson. Wilson declared that Johnson had engineered Connally's candidacy because the vice president feared a Republican victory in Texas in 1962. According to Wilson, Johnson was engaged in "a move ... to oust Price Daniel, oust me, oust Senator Ralph Yarborough and gain complete control of the state government."<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John,'' New York: William Morrow, 1974, p. 98.</ref>​

Ultimately, Connally narrowly won the nomination in a runoff election against Yarborough and then defeated the strongest Republican gubernatorial candidate in Texas since 1924, Jack M. Cox]] of Houston in the [[general election]]. Cox had lost the Democratic nomination to Governor Daniel in the 1960 party primary.<ref>Review of Texas gubernatorial election returns, ''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report.''</ref> In 1964, Cox, a part of the [[conservative]] wing of his new party, lost the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate to [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], also of Houston, and the future vice president and U.S. President.​

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==Federal service==​

==Federal service==​

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Wilson was married for thirty-six years, until her death, to the former Marjorie Lou Ashcroft (1918–1984). The couple had two children and five grandchildren. Known for his [[cowboy]] [[humor]], Wilson operated two ranches: Brushy Creek in Williamson County and Little River Ranch in Milam County. He served as director of the Brushy Creek and Upper Brushy Creek Water Control Improvement Districts for two decades. He was also chairman of the Cullum and Boren and the Wilson Land and Cattle companies.<ref name=obit/>​

Wilson was married for thirty-six years, until her death, to the former Marjorie Lou Ashcroft (1918–1984). The couple had two children and five grandchildren. Known for his [[cowboy]] [[humor]], Wilson operated two ranches: Brushy Creek in Williamson County and Little River Ranch in Milam County. He served as director of the Brushy Creek and Upper Brushy Creek Water Control Improvement Districts for two decades. He was also chairman of the Cullum and Boren and the Wilson Land and Cattle companies.<ref name=obit/>​

 

Wilson died at the age of ninety-three and was interred on December 17, 2005, alongside his wife in the Patriot's Hill section, Row R, No. 24, of the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.<ref name=tsc/>​

Wilson died at the age of ninety-three and was interred on December 17, 2005, alongside his wife in the Patriot's Hill section, Row R, No. 24, of the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.<ref name=tsc/>​

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