1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey

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1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey
Flag of New Jersey.svg
  1972 November 7, 1978 1984  
  Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) (1).jpg Jeff Bell, 2014 (cropped).JPG
Nominee Bill Bradley Jeff Bell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,082,960844,200
Percentage55.32%43.13%

1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey results map by county.svg
County results
Bradley:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Bell:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Clifford P. Case
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Bill Bradley
Democratic

The 1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Senator Clifford P. Case ran for re-election to a fifth term in office, narrowly losing the Republican primary by anti-tax conservative Jeff Bell, who lost the general election to Democrat Bill Bradley. Bell was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for this seat again in 2014.

Contents

Primary elections were held on June 6, 1978. [1] This was the first time Democrats won this seat since 1936, and the first time since 1938 that Democrats held both seats in the state.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results by county
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Bell
50-60%
60-70%
Case
50-60%
60-70% 1978 United States Senate Republican primary election in New Jersey results map by county.svg
Republican primary results by county
  Bell
  •   50-60%
  •   60–70%
  Case
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Bell 118,555 50.74
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent)115,08249.26
Total votes233,637 100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results by county
Bradley
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
Leone
40-50% 1978 United States Senate Democratic primary election in New Jersey results map by county.svg
Democratic primary results by county
  Bradley
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Leone
  •   40–50%
Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Bill Bradley 217,502 58.90
Democratic Richard Leone 97,66726.45
Democratic Alexander J. Menza 32,3868.77
Democratic Kenneth C. McCarthy9,5242.58
Democratic Wesley K. Bell8,8002.38
Democratic Ray Rollinson3,3740.91
Total votes369,253 100.00

General election

Candidates

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [lower-alpha 1]
Bill
Bradley (D)
Jeffrey
Bell (R)
Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 1978793 RV36%17%47%
Rutgers-Eagleton Sept. 19–Oct. 1, 1978883 RV49%24%27%
Rutgers-Eagleton October 23–29, 1978946 RV50%32%18%
510 LV51%40%9%
  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
Hypothetical polling
with Case
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Clifford
Case (R)
Bill
Bradley (D)
Richard
Leone (D)
Alex
Menza (D)
Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 19781007 A±4.0%37%27%36%
44%24%32%
43%18%40%
with Bell
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Jeffrey
Bell (R)
Richard
Leone (D)
Alex
Menza (D)
Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 1978620 LV±?%18%29%54%
19%22%59%
  1. 1 2 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Results

1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Bill Bradley 1,082,960 55.32% Increase2.svg20.81
Republican Jeff Bell 844,20043.13%Decrease2.svg19.33
Independent Herbert H. Shaw4,7360.24%N/A
Independent Bill Gahres3,8170.20%N/A
Libertarian Jack Moyers3,8090.20%N/A
U.S. Labor Robert Bowen3,6560.19%N/A
Independent J.M. Carter3,6180.19%N/A
Independent Jasper C. Gould2,9550.15%N/A
Independent William R. Thorn2,7760.14%N/A
Socialist Labor Paul Ferguson2,6040.13%Decrease2.svg 0.23
Socialist Workers Alice Conner2,3840.12%N/A
Total votes1,957,515 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "1978 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1978. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  2. "1978 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1978. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2018.