# 1978 United States Senate election in Virginia

Elections in Virginia :
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vte :
The 1978 United States Senate election in Virginia was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican Senator William L. Scott did not run for re-election to a second term. Republican former Secretary of the Navy John Warner narrowly defeated Democratic Attorney General of Virginia Andrew P. Miller to succeed him. Originally, this election was a match between Republican Richard Obenshain and Miller, then Obenshain died in a plane crash, leaving the party in disarray. Warner was then nominated to run in Obenshain's place, and his victorious election thrust him into a thirty-year career in the United States Senate, which started with this election.

## Republican nomination
### Candidates

* Linwood Holton, former Governor of Virginia (1970–1974) and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs (1974–1975)
* Nathan H. Miller, State Senator from Harrisonburg
* Richard D. Obenshain, Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party since 1972 and nominee for Attorney General in 1969
* John W. Warner, former United States Secretary of the Navy

### Convention

1978 Virginia Republican Convention :
| Ballot | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Obenshain | 1,192 | 1,261 | 1,338 | 1,521 | 1,516 | 1,580 |
| Warner | 853 | 908 | 996 | 1,338 | 1,393 | 1,474 |
| Holton | 780 | 751 | 620 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miller | 262 | 160 | 122 | 201 | 166 | 0 |
Obenshain's victory set up the general election as a rematch of the 1969 Attorney General race between him and Andrew P. Miller, the Democratic nominee who defeated Obenshain in 1969.

### Aftermath

On August 2, Obenshain died in a twin-engine plane crash, effectively shaking up this election. He was then replaced by Warner after other recruits turned down the chance to be nominated in respect for Obenshain.

## General election
### Candidates

* Andrew P. Miller, Attorney General of Virginia (Democratic)
* John Warner, former United States Secretary of the Navy (Republican)

### Results

United States Senate election in Virginia, 1978 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | John Warner | 613,232 | 50.17% | −1.28% |
| | Democratic | Andrew P. Miller | 608,511 | 49.79% | +3.67% |
| | Write-ins | | 513 | 0.04% | +0.04% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,721 | 0.39% | +0.39% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,222,256 | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |