United States Senate elections, 1978

November 7, 1978

36 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Robert Byrd	Howard Baker
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	West Virginia	Tennessee
Last election	61 seats	38 seats
Seats won	58	41
Seat change	3	3
Popular vote	14,362,402	13,520,147
Percentage	50.6%	47.6%
Swing	3.1%	6.1%

	Third party

Party	Independent
Last election	1 seat
Seats before	1
Seats won	1
Seat change

Democratic gain

Democratic hold

Republican hold

Republican gain

Majority Leader before election

Robert Byrd
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Robert Byrd
Democratic

The United States Senate election of 1978 in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term. Thirteen seats changed hands between parties. The Democrats lost a net of three seats to the Republicans, leaving the balance of the chamber 58-41 in favor of the Democrats.

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
Parties		1976	1978	+/-	Vote	%
	Democratic Party	61	58	-3	14,362,402	50.60%
	Republican Party	38	41	+3	13,520,147	47.63%
	Independent	1	1	0	299,624	1.06%
	American Party	0	0	0	35,168	0.12%
	Prohibition Party	0	0	0	34,951	0.12%
	Socialist Worker's Party	0	0	0	29,796	0.10%
	Libertarian Party	0	0	0	25,071	0.09%
	Others	0	0	0	79,479	0.28%
Total		100	100	-	28,386,638	100.0%
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₅₉	D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁
I₁	D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉
D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉
D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈	D₄₉
Majority→									D₅₀
D₆₀	D₆₁	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

As a result of the elections

R₄₁+	D₅₈+	D₅₇+	D₅₆+	D₅₅+	D₅₄+	D₅₃O	D₅₂O	D₅₁O
I₁	D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉
D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉
D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄√	D₄₅√	D₄₆√	D₄₇√	D₄₈√	D₄₉√
Majority→									D₅₀O
R₄₀+	R₃₉+	R₃₈+	R₃₇+	R₃₆+	R₃₅+	R₃₄+	R₃₃O	R₃₂O	R₃₁O
R₂₁	R₂₂√	R₂₃√	R₂₄√	R₂₅√	R₂₆√	R₂₇√	R₂₈√	R₂₉√	R₃₀√
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

Key:

D_#	Democratic
I_#	Independent, caucusing with the Democrats
R_#	Republican

√	Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Gains and losses

Republican gains

Republicans took three open seats, including one in Minnesota (a special election was called after the death of Hubert Humphrey (D-MN)), as well as in Mississippi and South Dakota. They also defeated five Democratic incumbents: Floyd Haskell (Colorado), Dick Clark (Iowa), William Hathaway (Maine), Wendell Anderson (Minnesota), and Thomas McIntyre (New Hampshire). The two Republican victories in Minnesota saw the state's Senate delegation change from two Democrats to two Republicans in the same election.

Democratic gains

The Republican gains were offset by Democratic defeats of Edward Brooke (Massachusetts) and Robert Griffin (Michigan), and captures of Republican open seats in Nebraska, New Jersey, and Oklahoma.

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	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Howell Heflin (Democratic) 94.0% Jerome B. Couch (Prohibition) 6.0%
Alabama Special: Class 3	Maryon Pittman Allen	Democratic	Appointee lost nomination to finish term Democratic hold	Donald W. Stewart (Democratic) 55.1% James D. Martin (Republican) 43.3% Michael R. A. Erdey (Libertarian) 0.8% A. J. Killingsworth (Prohibition) 0.8%
Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	Re-elected	Ted Stevens (Republican) 75.6% Donald W. Hobbs (Democratic) 24.1%
Arkansas	Kaneaster Hodges, Jr.	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	David Pryor (Democratic) 76.5% Tom Kelly (Republican) 16.3% John J. Black (Independent) 7.2%
Colorado	Floyd K. Haskell	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	William L. Armstrong (Republican) 58.7% Floyd K. Haskell (Democratic) 40.3% Vedder V. Dorn (United States Party) 0.7% John Shue (National Statesman) 0.3%
Delaware	Joe Biden	Democratic	Re-elected	Joe Biden (Democratic) 58.0% James H. Baxter (Republican) 41.0% Donald G. Gies (American) 1.0%
Georgia	Sam Nunn	Democratic	Re-elected	Sam Nunn (Democratic) 83.1% John W. Stokes (Republican) 16.9%
Idaho	James A. McClure	Republican	Re-elected	James A. McClure (Republican) 68.4% Dwight Jensen (Democratic) 31.6%
Illinois	Charles H. Percy	Republican	Re-elected	Charles H. Percy (Republican) 53.3% Alex Seith (Democratic) 45.5% William R. Roy (Libertarian) 0.5% Patricia Grogan (Socialist Workers) 0.5% Gerald Rose (Socialist Labor) 0.2%
Iowa	Dick Clark	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Roger Jepsen (Republican) 51.1% Dick Clark (Democratic) 47.9% Gerald Leo Baker (Independent) 0.5% Ben L. Olson (Libertarian) 0.4%
Kansas	James B. Pearson	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Nancy Landon Kassebaum (Republican) 53.9% William R. Roy (Democratic) 42.4% James R. Maher (Conservative) 3.0% Russell Mikels (Prohibition) 0.7%
Kentucky	Walter Huddleston	Democratic	Re-elected	Walter Huddleston (Democratic) 61.0% Louis Guenthner (Republican) 36.9% Anthony A. McCord (American) 2.1%
Louisiana	Bennett Johnston Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	Bennett Johnston, Jr. (Democratic) 59.4% Woody Jenkins (Democratic) 40.6%
Maine	William Hathaway	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	William Cohen (Republican) 56.6% William Hathaway (Democratic) 33.9% Hayes E. Gahagan (Independent) 7.4% John J. Jannace (Independent) 1.5% Plato Truman (Independent) 0.6%
Massachusetts	Edward Brooke	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Paul Tsongas (Democratic) 55.1% Edward Brooke (Republican) 44.9%
Michigan	Robert P. Griffin	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Carl Levin (Democratic) 52.1% Robert P. Griffin (Republican) 47.9%
Minnesota Special: Class 1	Muriel Humphrey	Democratic	Appointee retired Republican gain	David Durenberger (Republican) 61.4% Bob Short (Democratic) 34.6% Paul Helm (American) 2.9% Christine Frank (Socialist) 0.7% Frederick Hewitt (Libertarian) 0.3%
Minnesota	Wendell Anderson	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Rudy Boschwitz (Republican) 56.6% Wendell Anderson (Democratic) 40.4% Sal Carlone (American) 1.5% William Peterson (Socialist Workers) 0.6% Brian Coyle (Public Interest Independent) 0.5% Jean T. Brust (Workers) 0.2% Leonard Richards (Libertarian) 0.2%
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Thad Cochran (Republican) 45.3% Maurice Dantin (Democratic) 31.8% Charles Evers (Independent) 22.6% Henry Kirksey (Independent) 0.3%
Montana	Paul G. Hatfield	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Max Baucus (Democratic) 55.7% Larry Williams (Republican) 44.3%
Nebraska	Carl Curtis	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	J. James Exon (Democratic) 67.6% Donald Shasteen (Republican) 32.3%
New Hampshire	Thomas J. McIntyre	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Gordon J. Humphrey (Republican) 50.7% Thomas J. McIntyre (Democratic) 48.5% Craig Franklin (Libertarian) 0.8%
New Jersey	Clifford P. Case	Republican	Lost renomination Democratic gain	Bill Bradley (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	Republican	Re-elected	Pete Domenici (Republican) 53.4% Toney Anaya (Democratic) 46.6%
North Carolina	Jesse Helms	Republican	Re-elected	Jesse Helms (Republican) 54.5% John Ingram (Democratic) 45.5%
Oklahoma	Dewey F. Bartlett	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	David L. Boren (Democratic) 65.5% Robert B. Kamm (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	Republican	Re-elected	Mark Hatfield (Republican) 61.6% Vernon Cook (Democratic) 38.3%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Re-elected	Claiborne Pell (Democratic) 75.1% James G. Reynolds (Republican) 24.9%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	Re-elected	Strom Thurmond (Republican) 55.6% Charles D. Ravenel (Democratic) 44.4%
South Dakota	James Abourezk	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Larry Pressler (Republican) 66.8% Don Barnett (Democratic) 33.2%
Tennessee	Howard Baker	Republican	Re-elected	Howard Baker (Republican) 55.5% Jane Eskind (Democratic) 40.3% Thomas Anderson (Independent) 4.0% Fern Lucius Keasler (Independent) 0.2%
Texas	John Tower	Republican	Re-elected	John Tower (Republican) 49.8% Bob Krueger (Democratic) 49.3% Luis A. Diaz de Leon (La Raza Unida) 0.8% Miguel Pendas (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
Virginia	William L. Scott	Republican	Retired Republican hold	John Warner (Republican) 50.2% Andrew P. Miller (Democratic) 49.8%
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	Re-elected	Jennings Randolph (Democratic) 50.5% Arch A. Moore, Jr. (Republican) 49.5%
Wyoming	Clifford Hansen	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Alan K. Simpson (Republican) 62.2% Raymond B. Whitaker (Democratic) 37.8%