The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1978 was held on November 7, 1978 as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. The general election was between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democratic nominee John Ingram. Helms won re-election, by a slightly wider margin than in 1972. This was the first Senate election where Republicans were re-elected.
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 County results Helms: 50– 60% 60–70% 70–80% Ingram: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Republican primary
editCandidates
edit- Jesse Helms, incumbent Senator since 1973
Results
editJesse Helms won the Republican Party's nomination unopposed.
Democratic primary
editCandidates
edit- Lawrence Davis
- William Griffin
- Joe Felmet, Winston-Salem Journal editorialist, civil rights activist, and candidate for U.S. House in 1974
- Luther H. Hodges Jr., chairman of North Carolina National Bank and son of former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges
- John Ingram, North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance since 1973
- Dave McKnight
- Tom Sawyer
- McNeill Smith, State Senator from Greensboro
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Luther H. Hodges Jr. | 260,868 | 40.08% | |
| Democratic | John Ingram | 170,715 | 26.23% | |
| Democratic | Lawrence Davis | 105,381 | 16.19% | |
| Democratic | McNeill Smith | 82,703 | 12.71% | |
| Democratic | Dave McKnight | 9,422 | 1.45% | |
| Democratic | William Griffin | 8,907 | 1.37% | |
| Democratic | Tom Sawyer | 8,482 | 1.30% | |
| Democratic | Joe Felmet | 4,464 | 0.69% | |
| Turnout | 650,942 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Ingram | 244,469 | 54.24% | +28.01% | |
| Democratic | Luther H. Hodges, Jr. | 206,223 | 45.76% | +5.68% | |
| Turnout | 450,692 | ||||
General election
editCandidates
edit- Jesse Helms, U.S. Senator since 1973 (Republican)
- John Ingram (Democratic)
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jesse Helms (incumbent) | 619,151 | 54.51% | +0.50% | |
| Democratic | John Ingram | 516,663 | 45.49% | −0.50% | |
| Turnout | 1,135,814 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - NC US Senate - D Primary Race - May 09, 1978".