# 1978 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 1978, in 36 states and two territories. The Republicans had a net gain of six seats, Democrats sustained a net loss of five seats, and there would be no governors of any other parties following these elections.
This was the first year in which Illinois held a gubernatorial election in a midterm election year since 1846. The state of Illinois moved its gubernatorial election date from presidential election years to midterm congressional election years. This election coincided with the Senate and the House elections.

## Election results
### States

| State | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| Alabama | George Wallace | Democratic | 1962 1966 (term-limited) 1970 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Fob James (Democratic) 72.6% H. Guy Hunt (Republican) 25.9% Jim Partain (Prohibition) 1.1% Richard Dare (Independent) 0.5% |
| Alaska | Jay Hammond | Republican | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Jay Hammond (Republican) 39.1% Wally Hickel (write-in) 26.4% Chancy Croft (Democratic) 20.2% Tom Kelly (Independent) 12.3% Don R. Wright (Alaskan Ind.) 1.9% |
| Arizona | Bruce Babbitt | Democratic | 1978 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y Bruce Babbitt (Democratic) 52.5% Evan Mecham (Republican) 44.8% V. Gene Lewter (Libertarian) 1.9% Jessica Sampson (Socialist Workers) 0.8% |
| Arkansas | David Pryor | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Bill Clinton (Democratic) 63.4% Lynn Lowe (Republican) 36.6% |
| California | Jerry Brown | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Jerry Brown (Democratic) 56.1% Evelle J. Younger (Republican) 36.5% Ed Clark (Independent) 5.5% Marilyn Seals (PF) 1.0% Theresa F. Dietrich (AI) 1.0% |
| Colorado | Richard Lamm | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Richard Lamm (Democratic) 58.8% Ted L. Strickland (Republican) 38.5% Roy Peister (Tea) 1.7% Elsa Blum (Socialist Workers) 0.4% Sal Mandor (Independent) 0.3% Earl Dodge (Prohibition) 0.3% |
| Connecticut | Ella Grasso | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Ella Grasso (Democratic) 59.1% Ronald A. Sarasin (Republican) 40.7% |
| Florida | Reubin Askew | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Bob Graham (Democratic) 55.6% Jack Eckerd (Republican) 44.4% |
| Georgia | George Busbee | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y George Busbee (Democratic) 80.7% Rodney M. Cook (Republican) 19.3% |
| Hawaii | George Ariyoshi | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y George Ariyoshi (Democratic) 54.5% John R. Leopold (Republican) 44.3% Alema Leota (non-partisan) 0.7% Gregory Reeser (Libertarian) 0.4% John Moore (Aloha Democratic) 0.2% |
| Idaho | John Evans | Democratic | 1978 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y John Evans (Democratic) 58.8% Allan Larsen (Republican) 39.6% Wayne Loveless (American) 1.7% |
| Illinois | James R. Thompson | Republican | 1976 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y James R. Thompson (Republican) 59.0% Michael Bakalis (Democratic) 40.1% Georgia Shields (Libertarian) 0.4% Cecil Lampkin (Socialist Workers) 0.4% Melvin Klenetsky (U.S. Labor) 0.2% |
| Iowa | Robert D. Ray | Republican | 1968 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Robert D. Ray (Republican) 58.3% Jerome D. Fitzgerald (Democratic) 41.0% John Ball (Libertarian) 0.5% Joseph Grant (Socialist) 0.2% |
| Kansas | Robert F. Bennett | Republican | 1974 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y John W. Carlin (Democratic) 49.4% Robert Frederick Bennett (Republican) 47.3% Frank W. Shelton Jr. (American) 2.3% Berry Beets (Prohibition) 1.0% |
| Maine | James B. Longley | Independent | 1974 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic) 47.7% Linwood E. Palmer Jr. (Republican) 34.3% Herman Franklin (Independent) 17.8% James B. Longley (write-in) 0.2% |
| Maryland | Marvin Mandel (Blair Lee III, acting governor) | Democratic | 1969 (special) | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Harry Hughes (Democratic) 70.6% J. Glenn Beall Jr. (Republican) 29.4% |
| Massachusetts | Michael Dukakis | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Edward J. King (Democratic) 52.5% Francis W. Hatch Jr. (Republican) 47.2% |
| Michigan | William Milliken | Republican | 1969 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y William Milliken (Republican) 56.8% William B. Fitzgerald Jr. (Democratic) 43.2% |
| Minnesota | Rudy Perpich | Democratic | 1976 | Incumbent lost election to full term. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Al Quie (Republican) 52.3% Rudy Perpich (Democratic) 45.3% Richard Pedersen (American) 1.3% Jill Lakowske (Socialist Workers) 0.4% Tom McDonald (Honest Government) 0.3% Robin E. Miller (Libertarian) 0.2% Edwin C. Pommerening (Savings Account) 0.1% |
| Nebraska | J. James Exon | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Charles Thone (Republican) 56.0% Gerald T. Whelan (Democratic) 44.0% |
| Nevada | Mike O'Callaghan | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Robert List (Republican) 56.2% Robert E. Rose (Democratic) 39.7% Thomas F. Jefferson (Ind. American) 1.7% None of These Candidates1.7% John W. Grayson Jr. (Libertarian) 0.8% |
| New Hampshire | Meldrim Thomson Jr. | Republican | 1972 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Hugh Gallen (Democratic) 49.4% Meldrim Thomson Jr. (Republican) 45.4% Wesley Powell (Independent) 4.6% Mabel Everett (Libertarian) 0.4% Ralph Brewster (Independent) 0.2% |
| New Mexico | Jerry Apodaca | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Bruce King (Democratic) 50.5% Joe Skeen (Republican) 49.4% |
| New York | Hugh Carey | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Hugh Carey (Democratic) 50.9% Perry B. Duryea Jr. (Republican) 45.2% Mary Jane Tobin (Right to Life) 2.7% Gary Greenberg (Libertarian) 0.4% Dianne M. Feeley (Socialist Workers) 0.3% Jarvis Tyner (Communist) 0.2% Paul Gallagher (U.S. Labor) 0.2% |
| Ohio | Jim Rhodes | Republican | 1962 1970 (term-limited) 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Jim Rhodes (Republican) 49.3% Dick Celeste (Democratic) 47.6% Patricia H. Wright (Independent) 1.2% John O'Neill (Independent) 1.0% Allan Friedman (Independent) 0.8% |
| Oklahoma | David Boren | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y George Nigh (Democratic) 51.7% Ron Shotts (Republican) 47.2% Billy Joe Clegg (Independent) 0.5% Floyd Sheally (Independent) 0.3% Jim McCuiston (Independent) 0.2% |
| Oregon | Robert W. Straub | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Victor Atiyeh (Republican) 54.9% Robert W. Straub (Democratic) 45.1% |
| Pennsylvania | Milton Shapp | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Dick Thornburgh (Republican) 52.5% Peter F. Flaherty (Democratic) 46.4% Mark Zola (Socialist Workers) 0.5% Lee Frissell (Consumer) 0.5% |
| Rhode Island | J. Joseph Garrahy | Democratic | 1976 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y J. Joseph Garrahy (Democratic) 62.8% Lincoln Almond (Republican) 30.7% Joseph A. Doorley Jr. (Independent) 6.5% |
| South Carolina | James B. Edwards | Republican | 1974 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Richard Riley (Democratic) 61.9% Edward Lunn Young (Republican) 38.1% |
| South Dakota | Harvey L. Wollman | Democratic | 1978 | Incumbent lost nomination. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Bill Janklow (Republican) 56.6% Roger D. McKellips (Democratic) 43.4% |
| Tennessee | Ray Blanton | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Lamar Alexander (Republican) 55.8% Jake Butcher (Democratic) 44.2% |
| Texas | Dolph Briscoe | Democratic | 1972 | Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Bill Clements (Republican) 50.0% John Hill (Democratic) 49.2% Mario Compean (La Raza Unida) 0.6% Sara Jean Johnston (Socialist Workers) 0.2% |
| Vermont | Richard A. Snelling | Republican | 1972 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 62.8% Edwin C. Granai (Democratic) 34.1% Earl S. Gardner (Liberty Union) 2.9% |
| Wisconsin | Martin J. Schreiber | Democratic | 1977 | Incumbent lost election to full term. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Lee S. Dreyfus (Republican) 54.4% Martin J. Schreiber (Democratic) 44.9% Eugene R. Zimmerman (Constitution) 0.4% John C. Doherty (Independent) 0.1% Adrienne Kaplan (Socialist Workers) 0.1% Henry A. Ochsner (Socialist Labor) 0.1% |
| Wyoming | Edgar Herschler | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Edgar Herschler (Democratic) 50.9% John C. Ostlund (Republican) 49.1% |

### Territories and federal district

| Territory | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| District of Columbia | Walter Washington | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent lost renomination. New mayor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Marion Barry (Democratic) 70.2% Arthur Fletcher (Republican) 28.1% Susan Pennington (U.S. Labor) 1.1% |
| Guam | Ricardo Bordallo | Democratic | 1974 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Paul M. Calvo (Republican) 52.1% Ricardo Bordallo (Democratic) 47.9% |
| U.S. Virgin Island | Juan Francisco Luis | ICM | 1978 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y Juan Francisco Luis (ICM) 59.19% Ron de Lugo (Democratic) 40.81% |

## Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 1%:
* Texas, 0.8%
States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
* New Mexico, 1.1%
* Ohio, 1.7%
* Wyoming, 1.8%
* Kansas, 2.1%
* New Hampshire, 4.0%
* Guam, 4.2%
* Oklahoma, 4.5%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
* Massachusetts, 5.3%
* New York, 5.7%
* Pennsylvania, 6.1%
* Minnesota, 7.0%
* Arizona, 7.7%
* Wisconsin, 9.5%
* Oregon, 9.8%