United States Senate elections, 1978

The United States Senate election of 1978 in the middle of Democratic President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

's term. The Democrats lost a net of three seats to the Republicans, leaving the balance of the chamber 58-41 in favor of the Democrats.

Republicans took three open seats, including one in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

(a special election was called after the death of Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...

(D-MN)), as well as in Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

and South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. They also defeated five Democratic incumbents: Floyd Haskell (D-CO), Dick Clark

Dick Clark (senator)

Richard Clarence "Dick" Clark represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate from 1973 to 1979.Clark, a Democrat, was only successful in his first election for the Senate when he defeated Republican incumbent, Jack R. Miller in 1972. Clark received 662,637 votes to Miller's 530,525...

(D-IA), William Hathaway

William Hathaway

William Dodd Hathaway is an American Democratic Party politician from Maine.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served in World War II in the Army Air Corps, where he was shot down while bombing the Ploesti, Romania...

(D-ME), Wendell Anderson

Wendell Anderson

Wendell Richard "Wendy" Anderson is an American politician and was the 33rd Governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1971 to December 29, 1976. In late 1976, he resigned the governor's office in order to be named U.S. Senator to replace Walter Mondale, who had been elected Vice President of the...

(D-MN), and Thomas McIntyre

Thomas J. McIntyre

Thomas James McIntyre was a U.S. senator from New Hampshire, and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Laconia, New Hampshire, he attended the public and parochial schools of Laconia; he graduated from Manlius Military School in Manlius, New York, in 1933, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New...

(D-NH). The two Republican victories in Minnesota saw the state's Senate delegation change from two Democrats to two Republicans in the same election. These were partially balanced by Democratic defeats of Edward Brooke

Edward Brooke

Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...

(R-MA) and Robert Griffin

Robert P. Griffin

Robert Paul Griffin was a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan and Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court....

(R-MI), and captures of Republican open seats in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, and Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

Notable freshmen included future Defense Secretary

United States Secretary of Defense

The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...

William Cohen

William Sebastian Cohen is an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as Secretary of Defense under Democratic President Bill Clinton.-Early life and education:...

(R-ME), future Senate Majority Whip Alan K. Simpson

Alan K. Simpson

Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...

(R-WY), future Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin

Carl Levin

Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

(D-MI), and Paul Tsongas

Paul Tsongas

Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...

(D-MA), who would run for President in 1992

United States presidential election, 1992

The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....

Results summary

> >

Summary of the 1978 United States Senate election results
Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
Parties		1976 United States Senate election, 1976 The United States Senate election, 1976 was an election for the United States Senate that coincided with Democratic Jimmy Carter's election to the presidency as well as the United States Bicentennial celebration...	1978	+/-	Vote	%
Democratic Party	61	58	-3	14,362,402	50.59%
Republican Party	38	41	+3	13,520,147	47.63%
	Others	1	1	0	504,089	1.78%
Total		100	100	-	28,386,638	100.0%
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Complete list of races

A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman John Sparkman John Jackson Sparkman was an American politician from the state of Alabama. A conservative Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate from 1937 until 1979. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President as Adlai Stevenson's running mate in...	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Howell Heflin Howell Heflin Howell Thomas Heflin was a United States Senator from Tuscumbia, Alabama, and a member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:... (Democratic) 94.0% Jerome B. Couch (Prohibition) 6.0%
Alabama Special: Class 3	Maryon Pittman Allen Maryon Pittman Allen Maryon Pittman Allen is a former United States Senator from Alabama.In 1978, she was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate by Governor George Wallace, to succeed her late husband, James Allen....	Democratic	Interim appointee lost nomination to finish term Democratic hold	Donald W. Stewart Donald W. Stewart Donald Wilbur Stewart is a former Democratic United States Senator from the state of Alabama.Stewart was born in Anniston, the seat of Calhoun County, and attended the University of Alabama both in undergraduate and in law school. During his years in law school, he ran a successful campaign for... (Democratic) 55.1% James D. Martin James D. Martin James Douglas Martin is a retired Republican politician from the US state of Alabama. His 1962 campaign for the United States Senate was the first serious showing by a member of his party since Reconstruction.... (Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... ) 43.3% Michael R. A. Erdey (Libertarian Libertarian Party (United States) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration... ) 0.8% A. J. Killingsworth (Prohibition Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement... ) 0.8%
Alaska	Ted Stevens Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...	Republican	Re-elected, 75.6%	Donald W. Hobbs (Democratic) 24.1% Write-in Write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu... 0.3%
Arkansas	Kaneaster Hodges, Jr. Kaneaster Hodges, Jr. Kaneaster Hodges, Jr. served as a Democratic United States Senator from the U.S. State of Arkansas.Hodges was born in Newport, Arkansas and graduated from Princeton University...	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	David Pryor David Pryor David Hampton Pryor is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966... (Democratic) 76.5% Tom Kelly (Republican) 16.3% John J. Black (Independent) 7.2% Write-in Write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu... (Under) 0.1%
Colorado	Floyd K. Haskell Floyd K. Haskell Floyd Kirk Haskell was a United States Senator from Colorado, and a member of the Democratic Party. He graduated from Harvard University 1937; graduated from Harvard Law School 1941; admitted to the New York and Colorado bars in 1946 and commenced practice in Denver, Colorado.; served in the...	Democratic	Lost re-election, 40.3% Republican gain	William L. Armstrong William L. Armstrong William Lester "Bill" Armstrong is an American businessman and politician. He is member of the Republican party and was a United States Representative and Senator from Colorado. Armstrong was born in Fremont, Nebraska... (Republican) 58.7% Vedder V. Dorn (United States Party) 0.7% John Shue (National Statesman) 0.3%
Delaware	Joe Biden Joe Biden Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...	Democratic	Re-elected, 58.0%	James H. Baxter James H. Baxter James H. Baxter was an American stamp collector and printer, especially interested in the printing of engraved postage stamps.-Collecting interests:... (Republican) 41.0% Donald G Gies (American) 1.0%
Georgia United States Senate election in Georgia, 1978 The 1978 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Sam Nunn won re-election by a decisively large margin in contrast to the tumultuously competitive Senate election of 1972 six years earlier....	Sam Nunn Sam Nunn Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...	Democratic	Re-elected, 83.1%	John W. Stokes (Republican) 16.9%
Idaho	James A. McClure James A. McClure James Albertus "Jim" McClure was an American politician from the state of Idaho, most notably serving as a Republican in the U.S. Senate....	Republican	Re-elected, 68.4%	Dwight Jensen Dwight Jensen Dwight Jensen was the 1978 Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Idaho. He was defeated by the Republican incumbent, Jim McClure.-References:... (Democratic) 31.6%
Illinois United States Senate election in Illinois, 1978 -General election:-References:* ...	Charles H. Percy Charles H. Percy Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964. He was elected United States Senator from Illinois in 1966, re-elected through his term ending in 1985; he concentrated on business and foreign relations...	Republican	Re-elected, 53.3%	Alex Seith Alex Seith Alex Seith was the 1978 Democratic nominee for the United States Senate from Illinois. A complete newcomer to electoral politics, he nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Senate history when he narrowly lost to nationally renowned incumbent Republican Charles Percy by eight percentage... (Democratic) 45.5% William R. Roy William R. Roy William Robert Roy , also known as Bill Roy, is a former United States Representative from Kansas, a retired phyisician, and a columnist for The Topeka Capital-Journal.-Biography:... (Libertarian) 0.5% Patricia Grogan (Socialist Workers) 0.5% Gerald Rose (Socialist Labor) 0.2% Write-in 0.005%
Iowa	Dick Clark Dick Clark (senator) Richard Clarence "Dick" Clark represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate from 1973 to 1979.Clark, a Democrat, was only successful in his first election for the Senate when he defeated Republican incumbent, Jack R. Miller in 1972. Clark received 662,637 votes to Miller's 530,525...	Democratic	Lost re-election, 47.9% Republican gain	Roger Jepsen Roger Jepsen Roger William Jepsen is an American politician from the state of Iowa. A Republican, he served in the United States Senate.-Biography :... (Republican) 51.1% Gerald Leo Baker (Independent) 0.5% Ben L. Olson (Libertarian) 0.4%
Kansas	James B. Pearson James B. Pearson James Blackwood Pearson was a United States Senator from Kansas from 1962 to 1979.-Biography:Pearson was born in 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of a Methodist minister. With his parents, he moved to Virginia in 1934 and attended public school. He went on to attend college at Duke University...	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Nancy Landon Kassebaum Nancy Kassebaum Baker Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the 1936 Republican nominee for president... (Republican) 53.9% William R. Roy William R. Roy William Robert Roy , also known as Bill Roy, is a former United States Representative from Kansas, a retired phyisician, and a columnist for The Topeka Capital-Journal.-Biography:... (Democratic) 42.4% James R. Maher (Conservative) 3.0% Russell Mikels (Prohibition) 0.7%
Kentucky	Walter Huddleston Walter Huddleston Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston is a retired American politician. He is a Democrat from the state of Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the United States Senate from 1973 until 1985....	Democratic	Re-elected, 61.0%	Louis Guenthner (Republican) 36.9% Anthony A. McCord (American) 2.1% Write-In 0.00009%
Louisiana	Bennett Johnston Jr. Bennett Johnston Jr. John Bennett Johnston, Jr., known as J. Bennett Johnston , is an American lobbyist who was a Democratic Party politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1972 to 1997.-Early life:...	Democratic	Re-elected in primary
Maine United States Senate election in Maine, 1978 The 1978 Maine United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1978 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Maine. Freshman Democratic Senator William Hathaway decided to seek re-election, but was trounced by Congressman William Cohen in the November general election by a margin of 22.6...	William Hathaway William Hathaway William Dodd Hathaway is an American Democratic Party politician from Maine.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served in World War II in the Army Air Corps, where he was shot down while bombing the Ploesti, Romania...	Democratic	Lost re-election, 33.9% Republican gain	William Cohen William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen is an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as Secretary of Defense under Democratic President Bill Clinton.-Early life and education:... (Republican) 56.6% Hayes E. Gahagan (Independent) 7.4% John J. Jannace (Independent) 1.5% Plato Truman (Independent) 0.6%
Massachusetts United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1978 The United States Senate election of 1978 in Massachusetts was held on November 7, 1978 with the incumbent Republican Senator Edward Brooke being defeated by then Democratic Congressman Paul E. Tsongas.-Republican:...	Edward Brooke Edward Brooke Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...	Republican	Lost re-election, 44.9% Democratic gain	Paul Tsongas Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S... (Democratic) 55.1% Write-in 0.09%
Michigan United States Senate election in Michigan, 1978 The 1978 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Robert P. Griffin lost re-election to Democrat Carl Levin.-Results: -References:...	Robert P. Griffin Robert P. Griffin Robert Paul Griffin was a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan and Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court....	Republican	Lost re-election, 47.9% Democratic gain	Carl Levin Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... (Democratic) 52.1% Write-in 0.01%
Minnesota Special: Class 1	Muriel Humphrey Muriel Humphrey Muriel Fay Buck Humphrey Brown was the widow of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Following her husband's death, she was appointed to his seat in the United States Senate, thus being the first wife of a Vice President to hold public office...	Democratic	Interim appointee retired Republican gain	David Durenberger David Durenberger David Ferdinand Durenberger is an American politician and a former Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Minnesota.- Early life :... (Republican) 61.4% Bob Short Bob Short Robert Earl Short was an American sport teams owner and politician.-Biography:A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Short bought the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association in the late 1950s and moved the team to Los Angeles in 1960... (Democratic) 34.6% Paul Helm (American) 2.9% Christine Frank (Socialist) 0.7% Frederick Hewitt (Libertarian) 0.3% Write-in 0.06%
Minnesota	Wendell Anderson Wendell Anderson Wendell Richard "Wendy" Anderson is an American politician and was the 33rd Governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1971 to December 29, 1976. In late 1976, he resigned the governor's office in order to be named U.S. Senator to replace Walter Mondale, who had been elected Vice President of the...	Democratic	Lost re-election, 40.4% Republican gain	Rudy Boschwitz Rudy Boschwitz Rudolph Ely "Rudy" Boschwitz is a former Independent-Republican United States Senator from Minnesota. He served in the Senate from December 1978 to January 1991, in the 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, and 101st congresses. He was then defeated by Paul Wellstone.-Life and career:Boschwitz was born... (Republican) 56.6% Sal Carlone (American) 1.5% William Peterson (Socialist Workers) 0.6% Brian John Coyle (Public Interest Independent) 0.5% Jean T. Brust (Workers) 0.2% Leonard Richards (Libertarian) 0.2% Write-in 0.005%
Mississippi United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978 The 1978 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland decided to retire. Republican Thad Cochran won the open seat.- Campaign :...	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Thad Cochran Thad Cochran William Thad Cochran is the senior United States Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, he is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and was its chairman and 2005 to 2007.-Early life:He was born in Pontotoc,... (Republican) 45.3% Maurice Dantin (Democratic) 31.8% Charles Evers Charles Evers James Charles Evers is a prominent American civil rights advocate. The older brother of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, Charles Evers is a leading civil rights spokesman within the Republican Party in his native Mississippi. In 1969 he became the first African American since the... (Independent) 22.6% Henry Kirksey (Independent) 0.3%
Montana	Paul G. Hatfield Paul G. Hatfield Paul Gerhart Hatfield, was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served briefly as United States Senator from Montana in 1978, and was later a United States federal judge.-Early life:...	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Max Baucus Max Baucus Max Sieben Baucus is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S... (Democratic) 55.7% Larry Williams (Republican) 44.3%
Nebraska United States Senate election in Nebraska, 1978 The 1978 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Carl Curtis decided to retire instead of seeking a fifth term. Democratic nominee J. James Exon won the open seat.-Results:...	Carl Curtis Carl Curtis Carl Thomas Curtis was an American politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as a Republican in the House of Representatives and later the Senate ....	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	J. James Exon J. James Exon John James "Jim" Exon was an American Democratic politician. He served as the 33rd Governor of Nebraska from 1971 to 1979, and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1979 to 1997. Exon was a Nebraska Democrat who never lost an election, and the only Democrat to hold his Nebraska's Senate Class 2 seat... (Democratic) 67.6% Donald Shasteen (Republican) 32.3%
New Hampshire	Thomas J. McIntyre Thomas J. McIntyre Thomas James McIntyre was a U.S. senator from New Hampshire, and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Laconia, New Hampshire, he attended the public and parochial schools of Laconia; he graduated from Manlius Military School in Manlius, New York, in 1933, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New...	Democratic	Lost re-election, 48.5% Republican gain	Gordon J. Humphrey Gordon J. Humphrey Gordon John Humphrey is a New Hampshire politician who served two terms in the Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1990, and twice ran for Governor of New Hampshire, though both bids were unsuccessful.-Early life:... (Republican) 50.7% Craig Franklin (libertarian) 0.8%
New Jersey	Clifford P. Case Clifford P. Case Clifford Philip Case was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives and the State of New Jersey in the United States Senate .-Biography:Clifford P. Case was born in Franklin Park in Somerset County, New Jersey...	Republican	Lost renomination Democratic gain	Bill Bradley Bill Bradley William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St.... (Democratic) 55.3% Jeffrey Bell (Republican) 43.1% Herbert Harry Shaw (Independent) 0.2% Bill Gahres (Independent) 0.2% Jack Moyers (Independent) 0.2% Robert Bowen (Labor) 0.2% J.M. Carter, Jr. (Independent) 0.2% Jasper C. Gould (Independent) 0.2% William R. Thorn (Independent) 0.1% Paul Ferguson (Independent) 0.1% Alice Conner (Independent) 0.1%
New Mexico	Pete Domenici Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....	Republican	Re-elected, 53.4%	Toney Anaya Toney Anaya Toney Anaya is a U.S. Democratic politician who was born in Moriarty, New Mexico. He went to undergraduate school at Georgetown University and graduated with a law degree from American University's Washington College of Law in 1967... (Democratic) 46.6%
North Carolina United States Senate election in North Carolina, 1978 The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1978 was held on 7 November 1978 as part of the nation-wide elections to the Senate. The general election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democrat nominee John Ingram. Helms won re-election, by a slightly wider...	Jesse Helms Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...	Republican	Re-elected, 54.5%	John Ingram John Ingram (politician) John Randolph Ingram is a retired American Democratic politician, attorney, and insurance commissioner. He served as North Carolina's Commissioner of Insurance from 1973 until 1985, and ran repeatedly for other state-wide offices in his later career.Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Ingram... (Democratic) 45.5%
Oklahoma	Dewey F. Bartlett Dewey F. Bartlett Dewey Follett Bartlett, Sr. , a U.S. politician, served as the 19th Governor of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971, following his same-party Republican predecessor, Henry Bellmon. State law at that time did not allow consecutive terms for governor. In 1966, he was elected governor after defeating the...	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	David L. Boren David L. Boren David Lyle Boren is an academic leader and American politician from the state of Oklahoma. A Democrat, he served as the 21st Governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1994. He is currently president of the University of Oklahoma. He was the longest serving... (Democratic) 65.5% Robert B. Kamm Robert B. Kamm Robert B. Kamm served as the 13th president of Oklahoma State University–Stillwater from July 1, 1966 to January 31, 1977. He was the nominee of the Oklahoma Republican party facing Democrat nominee and then Governor David L. Boren the eventual winner in the Oklahoma U.S... (Republican) 32.9% Glenn E. Hager (Independent) 0.5% Riley Donica (Independent) 0.4% Paul Edward Trent (Independent) 0.4% Richard King Carter (Independent) 0.3%
Oregon	Mark Hatfield Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...	Republican	Re-elected, 61.6%	Vernon Cook Vernon Cook Vernon Cook is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives. and former faculty member of the University of Akron Political Science Department.Cook was the first Director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.... (Democratic) 38.3% Write-in 0.08%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...	Democratic	Re-elected, 75.1%	James G. Reynolds (Republican) 24.9%
South Carolina United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1978 The 1978 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1978 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Republican Senator Strom Thurmond defeated Democratic challenger Charles D. Ravenel....	Strom Thurmond Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...	Republican	Re-elected, 55.6%	Charles D. Ravenel (Democratic) 44.4%
South Dakota	James Abourezk James Abourezk James George Abourezk is a former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Arab-American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented South Dakota in the U.S...	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Larry Pressler (Republican) 66.8% Don Barnett (Democratic) 33.2%
Tennessee	Howard Baker Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...	Republican	Re-elected, 55.5%	Jane Eskind (Democratic) 40.3% Thomas Anderson (Independent) 4.0% Fern Lucius Keasler (Independent) 0.2% Write-in 0.006%
Texas	John Tower John Tower John Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He was George H. W...	Republican	Re-elected, 49.8%	Bob Krueger (Democratic) 49.3% Luis A. Diaz de Leon (La Raza Unida) 0.8% Miguel Pendas (Socialist Workers) 0.2% Others 0.006%
Virginia	William L. Scott William L. Scott William Lloyd Scott was a Republican politician from Virginia.Scott was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He received a law degree from George Washington University, and was employed by the federal government 1934–1961, principally as trial attorney with Department of Justice...	Republican	Retired Republican hold	John Warner John Warner John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009... (Republican) 50.2% Andrew P. Miller (Democratic) 49.8% Write-in 0.04%
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph Jennings Randolph Jennings Randolph was an American politician from West Virginia. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was the last surviving member of the United States Congress to have served during the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.-Early life and career:Randolph was born in...	Democratic	Re-elected, 50.5%	Arch A. Moore, Jr. Arch A. Moore, Jr. Arch Alfred Moore, Jr. was the 28th and 30th Governor of West Virginia from 1969 until 1977 and from 1985 until 1989. He was a Congressman from 1957 until entering the governor's office. He is a member of the United States Republican Party. He ran for reelection in 1988, but was defeated by... (Republican) 49.5%
Wyoming	Clifford Hansen Clifford Hansen Clifford Peter Hansen was a Republican politician from the American state of Wyoming. He served as both the 26th Governor and U.S. senator...	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Alan K. Simpson Alan K. Simpson Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S... (Republican) 62.2% Raymond B. Whitaker (Democratic) 37.8%

Senate composition before and after elections

Senate composition before the elections
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Senate composition in the next Congress 96th United States Congress The Ninety-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1981, during the last two years...
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Key:	C=Conservative	D=Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	I=Independent	R=Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	V=Vacant
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Results summary

Complete list of races

Senate composition before and after elections

See also