# 1978 United States Senate election in Minnesota

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
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vte :
The 1978 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Wendell Anderson was defeated by Republican challenger Rudy Boschwitz. Boschwitz's landslide victory over Anderson was part of a Republican sweep of the top of the ticket in the state's elections for both U.S. Senate seats and the race for Governor which has been dubbed the "Minnesota Massacre".

## Background

In 1976, U.S. Senator Walter Mondale was elected Vice President of the United States as the running mate of Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and resigned from his current term, which was set to expire in 1979. To fill the vacancy created by Mondale's resignation, Governor Wendell Anderson resigned from office himself and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich, who appointed Anderson to complete the remainder of Mondale's term in office.
In January 1978, Minnesota's other Senator, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, died in office. Rudy Perpich appointed his widow, Muriel Humphrey, to complete his turn in office. Thus, the incumbent Governor and both Senators were all members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and none had been elected to their current office. (Republicans took advantage of this, putting up billboards that read, "The DFL is going to face something scary — an election".)

## Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary
### Candidates

* Daryl W. Anderson
* Wendell Anderson, Incumbent U.S. Senator since 1976
* Dick Bullock
* John S. Connolly, lawyer
* Emil L. Moses
* Lloyd M. Roberts

### Results

Democratic primary election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Wendell Anderson (incumbent) | 286,209 | 56.9% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | John S. Connolly | 159,974 | 31.8% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Daryl W. Anderson | 23,159 | 4.6% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Lloyd M. Roberts | 12,709 | 2.5% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Dick Bullock | 11,485 | 2.3% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Emil L. Moses | 9,580 | 1.9% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 503,116 | 100.0% |

## Independent-Republican primary
### Candidates

* Rudy Boschwitz, businessman
* Harold Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota (1939-1943)

### Results

Republican primary election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Ind.-Republican | Rudy Boschwitz | 185,393 | 86.8% |
| | Ind.-Republican | Harold Stassen | 28,170 | 13.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 213,563 | 100.0% |

## American Party primary
### Candidates

* Sal Carlone

### Results

American Party primary election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | American | Sal Carlone | 4,085 | 100.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,085 | 100.0% |

## General election
### Results

The results in Minnesota marked the first time the Republicans had held all three offices since Joseph H. Ball left the Senate in January 1949 after being defeated for re-election. Additionally, this election and the special election both marked the first time since 1958 that both Senate seats in a state flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle.
General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Ind.-Republican | Rudy Boschwitz | 894,092 | 56.57% |
| | Democratic (DFL) | Wendell Anderson (incumbent) | 638,375 | 40.39% |
| | American | Sal Carlone | 23,261 | 1.47% |
| | Socialist Workers | William Peterson | 9,856 | 0.62% |
| | Independent | Brian J. Coyle | 8,083 | 0.51% |
| | Workers League | Jean T. Brust | 3,891 | 0.25% |
| | Libertarian | Leonard J. Richards | 2,992 | 0.19% |
| | Others | Write-ins | 72 | 0.01% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,580,622 | 100.00% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 255,717 | 16.18% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,580,622 | 62.95% |
| | Ind.-Republican gain from Democratic (DFL) | Ind.-Republican gain from Democratic (DFL) | Ind.-Republican gain from Democratic (DFL) | Ind.-Republican gain from Democratic (DFL) |