United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978

United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978

November 5, 1978

Nominee Thad Cochran Maurice Dantin Charles Evers Party Republican Democratic Independent Popular vote 267,302 187,541 133,646 Percentage 45.3% 31.8% 22.6%

Senator before election James Eastland Democratic Elected Senator Thad Cochran Republican

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.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Maurice Dantin, former District Attorney^[1]

Independent

• Charles Evers, Mayor of Fayette

Republican

• Thad Cochran, U.S. Congressman

Campaign

Evers was the first African American elected since the Reconstruction era to be mayor in any Mississippi city in 1969. He ran as an independent, and as a result his campaign divided the Democrats and allowed Cochran to win the senate seat with a 45 percent plurality.^[2] This made him the first Republican to win a statewide election in Mississippi in a century.^[3] Eastland resigned on December 27, 1978 to give Cochran a seniority advantage over new incoming senators.^[4]

Results

Mississippi U.S. Senate Election, 1978[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thad Cochran	267,302	45.3
	Democratic	Maurice Dantin	187,541	31.8
	Independent	Charles Evers	133,646	22.6
	Independent	Henry Jay Kirksey	1,747	0.3

References

1. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5ngsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yvoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7196,1592291&dq=maurice+dantin&hl=en
2. Black, Earl; Merle Black (2003). The Rise of Southern Republicans. Harvard University Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-674-01248-6.
3. "Results of Elections Across the Nation". The Blade. 1978-11-07. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
4. Associated Press (1978-12-27). "Eastland Quits Early To Aid His Successor". The Blade. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
5. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=5320