United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1978
United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1978
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United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1978 took place on November 7, as a part of the Senate class 2 election.
Situation
Two-term popular incumbent Howard Baker, who had served as United States Senate Minority Leader since 1977, ran for reelection against first-time candidate and Democratic Party activist Jane Eskind.
Democratic nomination
Candidates:
- Jame Boyd
- Walter Bradley
- Former State Senate Majority Leader Bill Bruce
- Jane Eskind
- James Foster
- Douglas L. Heinsohn
- J. D. Lee
- Virginia Nyabongo
- Charles Gordon Vick
In the primary, held on August 3, Eskind won in an open primary against eight other candidates:[1]
- Eskind - 196,156 (34.52%)
- Bruce - 170,795 (30.06%)
- Lee - 89,939 (15.83%)
- Boyd - 48,458 (8.53%)
- Bradley - 22,130 (3.90%)
- Heinsohn - 17,787 (3.13%)
- Foster - 10,671 (1.88%)
- Nyabongo - 7,682 (1.35%)
- Vick - 4,414 (0.78%)
- Write-in - 147 (0.03%)
Republican nomination
Candidates:
- Incumbent United States Senator and Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker
- J. Durelle Boles
- Harvey Howard
- Hubert David Patty
- Dayton Seiler
- Francis Trapp
In the primary, held on August 3, Baker easily emerged as the winner:[2]
- Baker - 205,680 (83.44%)
- Howard - 21,154 (8.58%)
- Boles - 8,899 (3.61%)
- Patty - 3,941 (1.60%)
- Seiler - 3,831 (1.55%)
- Trapp - 2,994 (1.22%)
General election
Baker won with a 15-point margin in the general election, held on November 7:[3]
| General election results |
| Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
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Republican |
Howard Baker |
642,644 |
55.54 |
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Democratic |
Jane Eskind |
466,228 |
40.30 |
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Independent |
Thomas Jefferson Anderson |
45,908 |
3.97 |
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Independent |
Fern L. Keasler |
2,243 |
0.19 |
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References
