# 1978 United States Senate election in Tennessee

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Government :
vte :
The 1978 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 7, 1978, to elect the U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee. Two-term popular incumbent Republican U.S. Senator, Howard Baker, who had served as United States Senate Minority Leader since 1977, won reelection over first-time candidate and Democratic Party activist Jane Eskind.

## Democratic primary

Candidates:
* Jame Boyd
* Walter Bradley
* Former State Senate Majority Leader Bill Bruce
* Jane Eskind
* James Foster
* Douglas L. Heinsohn
* J. D. Lee
* Virginia Nyabongo
* Charles Gordon Vick
In an open primary on August 3, Eskind defeated eight other candidates:
* Eskind – 196,156 (34.52%)
* Bruce – 170,795 (30.06%)
* Lee – 89,939 (15.83%)
* Boyd – 48,458 (8.53%)
* Bradley – 22,130 (3.90%)
* Heinsohn – 17,787 (3.13%)
* Foster – 10,671 (1.88%)
* Nyabongo – 7,682 (1.35%)
* Vick – 4,414 (0.78%)
* Write-in – 147 (0.03%)

## Republican primary

Candidates:
* Incumbent United States Senator and Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker
* J. Durelle Boles
* Harvey Howard
* Hubert David Patty
* Dayton Seiler
* Francis Trapp
Baker easily won the August 3 primary:
* Baker – 205,680 (83.44%)
* Howard – 21,154 (8.58%)
* Boles – 8,899 (3.61%)
* Patty – 3,941 (1.60%)
* Seiler – 3,831 (1.55%)
* Trapp – 2,994 (1.22%)

## General election

Baker won with a 15-point margin in the general election, held on November 7:
General election results :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Howard Baker (incumbent) | 642,644 | 55.54% |
| Democratic | Jane Eskind | 466,228 | 40.30% |
| Independent | Thomas J. Anderson | 45,908 | 3.97% |
| Independent | Fern L. Keasler | 2,243 | 0.19% |
| Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |