# 1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election

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The 1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Due to term limits, incumbent Democrat Jerry Apodaca was ineligible to seek a second term as governor. Bruce King, a member of the Democratic Party who had previously served as governor from 1971 to 1975, won the open seat. With a margin of victory of just 1.09% this was the second closest contest of the 1978 Gubernatorial Cycle, behind only the election in Texas.

## Primary election
### Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was won by former Governor Bruce King.

#### Results

New Mexico Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1978 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Bruce King | 92,432 | 61.31% |
| | Democratic | Robert E. Ferguson | 58,334 | 38.69% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 150,766 | 100.00% |

### Republican primary

The Republican primary was won by former state senator Joe Skeen.

#### Results

New Mexico Republican gubernatorial primary, 1978 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Joe Skeen | 38,638 | 81.17% |
| | Republican | Philip R. Grant | 8,966 | 18.84% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 47,604 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Results

1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Bruce King | 174,631 | 50.55% | +0.61% |
| | Republican | Joseph R. Skeen | 170,848 | 49.45% | −0.65% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,783 | 1.10% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 345,479 | 100.00% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Swing | -0.04% | |

### Results by county

| County | Bruce King Democratic | Bruce King Democratic | Joe Skeen Republican | Joe Skeen Republican | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Bernalillo | 55,448 | 48.26% | 59,443 | 51.74% | -3,995 | -3.48% | 114,891 |
| Catron | 649 | 49.13% | 672 | 50.87% | -23 | -1.74% | 1,321 |
| Chaves | 5,134 | 33.94% | 9,991 | 66.06% | -4,857 | -32.11% | 15,125 |
| Colfax | 2,187 | 53.12% | 1,930 | 46.88% | 257 | 6.24% | 4,117 |
| Curry | 4,054 | 48.51% | 4,303 | 51.49% | -249 | -2.98% | 8,357 |
| De Baca | 521 | 52.31% | 475 | 47.69% | 46 | 4.62% | 996 |
| Doña Ana | 9,539 | 45.12% | 11,603 | 54.88% | -2,064 | -9.76% | 21,142 |
| Eddy | 7,419 | 54.02% | 6,314 | 45.98% | 1,105 | 8.05% | 13,733 |
| Grant | 4,624 | 59.74% | 3,116 | 40.26% | 1,508 | 19.48% | 7,740 |
| Guadalupe | 1,591 | 69.72% | 691 | 30.28% | 900 | 39.44% | 2,282 |
| Harding | 259 | 41.77% | 361 | 58.23% | -102 | -16.45% | 620 |
| Hidalgo | 766 | 54.36% | 643 | 45.64% | 123 | 8.73% | 1,409 |
| Lea | 4,665 | 44.48% | 5,824 | 55.52% | -1,159 | -11.05% | 10,489 |
| Lincoln | 1,009 | 29.46% | 2,416 | 70.54% | -1,407 | -41.08% | 3,425 |
| Los Alamos | 2,349 | 32.65% | 4,845 | 67.35% | -2,496 | -34.70% | 7,194 |
| Luna | 2,117 | 45.29% | 2,557 | 54.71% | -440 | -9.41% | 4,674 |
| McKinley | 5,244 | 59.29% | 3,600 | 40.71% | 1,644 | 18.59% | 8,844 |
| Mora | 1,494 | 62.07% | 913 | 37.93% | 581 | 24.14% | 2,407 |
| Otero | 4,140 | 44.43% | 5,178 | 55.57% | -1,038 | -11.14% | 9,318 |
| Quay | 1,632 | 47.65% | 1,793 | 52.35% | -161 | -4.70% | 3,425 |
| Rio Arriba | 7,106 | 68.78% | 3,226 | 31.22% | 3,880 | 37.55% | 10,332 |
| Roosevelt | 1,793 | 36.87% | 3,070 | 63.13% | -1,277 | -26.26% | 4,863 |
| San Juan | 6,866 | 44.31% | 8,631 | 55.69% | -1,765 | -11.39% | 15,497 |
| San Miguel | 4,729 | 62.29% | 2,863 | 37.71% | 1,866 | 24.58% | 7,592 |
| Sandoval | 5,303 | 59.77% | 3,570 | 40.23% | 1,733 | 19.53% | 8,873 |
| Santa Fe | 14,080 | 60.44% | 9,217 | 39.56% | 4,863 | 20.87% | 23,297 |
| Sierra | 1,486 | 47.66% | 1,632 | 52.34% | -146 | -4.68% | 3,118 |
| Socorro | 2,524 | 57.39% | 1,874 | 42.61% | 650 | 14.78% | 4,398 |
| Taos | 4,418 | 66.07% | 2,269 | 33.93% | 2,149 | 32.14% | 6,687 |
| Torrance | 1,858 | 62.06% | 1,136 | 37.94% | 722 | 24.11% | 2,994 |
| Union | 704 | 41.46% | 994 | 58.54% | -290 | -17.08% | 1,698 |
| Valencia | 8,923 | 61.03% | 5,698 | 38.97% | 3,225 | 22.06% | 14,621 |
| Total | 174,631 | 50.55% | 170,848 | 49.45% | 3,783 | 1.10% | 345,479 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Colfax
* De Baca
* Hidalgo
* Torrance

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Doña Ana