# 1978 United States Senate election in Iowa

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The 1978 United States Senate election in Iowa took place on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic Senator Dick Clark ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Republican former Lieutenant Governor Roger Jepsen. This was the last time until 2014 that a Republican would win Iowa's class 2 Senate seat.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Gerald Leo Baker, computer programmer and mathematician from Cedar Falls
* Dick Clark, incumbent Senator
* Robert L. Nereim, resident of Des Moines and candidate for Senate in 1966

### Results

1978 Democratic Senate primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Dick Clark (incumbent) | 87,880 | 80.48% |
| | Democratic | Gerald Leo Baker | 13,132 | 12.03% |
| | Democratic | Robert L. Nereim | 8,176 | 7.49% |
| | Write-in | All others | 3 | 0.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 109,191 | 100.00% |
Following his defeat, Gerald Leo Baker announced an independent campaign for the general election.

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Joe Bertroche
* Roger Jepsen, former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa
* Maurie Van Nostrand

### Results

1978 Republican Senate primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Roger Jepsen | 87,397 | 57.33% |
| | Republican | Maurie Van Nostrand | 54,189 | 35.55% |
| | Republican | Joe Bertroche | 10,860 | 7.12% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 284,047 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Results

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Roger Jepsen | 421,598 | 51.12% | 7.03 |
| | Democratic | Dick Clark (incumbent) | 395,066 | 47.91% | 7.16 |
| | Independent | Gerald Leo Baker | 4,223 | 0.51% | N/A |
| | Libertarian | Ben L. Olson | 3,689 | 0.45% | N/A |
| | Write-in | All others | 78 | 0.01% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 824,654 | 100.00% |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | | |