# 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election

Elections in Arkansas :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1836
1837
1840
1843
1844 sp
1846
1848
1848 sp
1853
1855
1859
1868
1870
1876
1877
1878
1883
1885
1885 sp
1889
1891
1895
1897
1901
1903
1906
1907
1909
1913
1913 sp
1914
1916 sp
1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1932 sp
1936
1937 sp
1938
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1836
1837
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1847
AL sp
1848
1851
1852
1853
1854
1856
1858
1860
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1885
3rd sp
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
2nd sp
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1913
6th sp
1914
1916
1918
1920
1921
6th sp
1922
1923
6th sp
1924
1926
1928
1930
4th sp
1932
1933
5th sp
1934
1936
1938
1939
4th sp
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1961
6th sp
1962
1964
1966
4th sp
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2001
3rd sp
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
State elections
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1836
1840
1844
1848
1849 sp
1852
1856
1860
1862 (C)
1864 (U)
1868
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1913 sp
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
2022
Secretary of State elections
2022
Attorney General elections
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
2024 (special)
Senate elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
1990
Amendment 3
2004
Amendment 3
2008
Act 1
2012
Issue 1
2018
Issue 5 :
Little Rock
Mayoral elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Fayetteville
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Fort Smith
Mayoral elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Springdale
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Jonesboro
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Rogers
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Conway
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
vte :
* This article is part of a series aboutBill Clinton
Personal
Eponyms
Family
Nonprofit organizations
Foundation
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
One America Appeal
Honors
Public image
Sexual assault and misconduct allegations
Bibliography
Post-presidency
40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas
Governorships
Troopergate
Elections
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1990
42nd President of the United States
Presidency
timeline
Transition
Inaugurations
first
second
Presidential library
Tenure
Executive actions
pardons
Foreign trips
1995–1996 shutdown
Controversies
Whitewater
White House travel office
pardon
Republican Revolution
Operation Infinite Reach
Bombings
Iraq
Yugoslavia
Impeachment
efforts
Clinton–Lewinsky scandal
House inquiry
Senate trial
Policies
Economic
1993 health care plan
PRWORA
Balanced Budget Act
Gun control
Environment
Foreign policy
Clinton Doctrine
NAFTA
Dayton Agreement
Social issues
1994 Crime Bill
DOMA
One America Initiative
Appointments
Cabinet
Federal judges
Supreme Court candidates
Presidential campaigns
1992
primaries
convention
debates
election
1996
primaries
convention
debates
election :
vte :
The 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election, held on November 7, was the first time that future president Bill Clinton was elected Governor of Arkansas.

## Democratic primary

At this time, one gubernatorial term was two years. Incumbent two-term Democratic governor David Pryor decided to not seek re-election in order to run for the United States Senate, as his predecessor and future Senate colleague Dale Bumpers did.

### Candidates

* Bill Clinton, Attorney General
* Frank Lady II, former state representative and candidate for governor in 1976
* Randall Mathis, Clark County Judge
* Monroe Schwarzlose, turkey farmer
* Joe Woodward, Seventh Circuit Prosecuting Attorney

### Results

Clinton, a former assistant to U.S. senator J. William Fulbright and since 1977 the state attorney general, won the nomination easily.
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Bill Clinton | 341,118 | 59.55 |
| | Democratic | Joe Woodward | 123,674 | 21.59 |
| | Democratic | Frank Lady II | 76,026 | 13.27 |
| | Democratic | Randall Mathis | 26,096 | 4.56 |
| | Democratic | Monroe Schwarzlose | 5,898 | 1.03 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 572,809 | 100.00 |

## Republican nomination

A. Lynn Lowe, a Texarkana farmer, who served as state Republican Party chairman from 1974 to 1980, was unopposed for the 1978 gubernatorial nomination. He had also been the Republican nominee for Arkansas's 4th congressional district seat in 1966.

## Election result

Clinton easily won the general election.
Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1978 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Bill Clinton | 335,101 | 63.36 |
| | Republican | Lynn Lowe | 193,746 | 36.64 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 528,847 | 100.00 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
Clinton also led in fundraising. His campaign budget was a combined $709,234.00 while Lynn's was $171,382.
Clinton, at the age of thirty-two, became the youngest man to be elected Arkansas governor, the youngest governor in the United States since Harold E. Stassen won in Minnesota in 1938 at the age of thirty-one, and the youngest governor in the nation at this time. In 1992 he was elected as the third-youngest U.S. president in history.
Lowe's total was the highest for a Republican nominee in Arkansas since Winthrop Rockefeller's third term bid in 1970. He carried fourteen out of seventy-five counties, including Miller, Columbia, and Union counties in South Arkansas.