1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election

← 1974

November 7, 1978

1982 →


Nominee	Bruce King	Joe Skeen
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	174,631	170,848
Percentage	50.5%	49.4%

County results
King: 50–60% 60–70%
Skeen: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

Governor before election

Jerry Apodaca
Democratic

Elected Governor

Bruce King
Democratic

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The 1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Due to term limits, incumbent Democrat Jerry Apodaca was ineligible to seek a second term as governor. Bruce King, a member of the Democratic Party won the open seat. With a margin of victory of just 1.09% this was the second closest contest of the 1978 Gubernatorial Cycle, behind only the election in Texas.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was won by former Governor Bruce King.

Results

New Mexico Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1978^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bruce King	92,432	61.31
	Democratic	Robert E. Ferguson	58,334	38.69
Total votes			150,766	100.00

Republican primary

The Republican primary was won by former state senator Joe Skeen.

Results

New Mexico Republican gubernatorial primary, 1978^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Skeen	38,638	81.17
	Republican	Philip R. Grant	8,966	18.84
Total votes			47,604	100.00

General election

Results

New Mexico gubernatorial election, 1978^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bruce King	174,631	50.53
	Republican	Joe Skeen	170,848	49.44
	Other		98	0.03
Total votes			345,577	100.00
	Democratic hold

References

^ "NM Governor D Primary 1978". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ "NM Governor R Primary 1978". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ "NM Governor 1978". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 16, 2016.

v t e (1977 ←) 1978 United States elections (→ 1979)
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v t e New Mexico gubernatorial elections (1911-present)
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