1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey
← 1972 November 7, 1978 1984 →
 
Nominee Bill Bradley Jeff Bell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,082,960 844,200
Percentage 55.32% 43.13%
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

Elections in New Jersey
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
State government
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
Senate elections
General Assembly elections
Newark
Mayoral elections
Jersey City
Mayoral elections
Hoboken
Mayoral elections
Atlantic City
Mayoral elections

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.

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
  Bell
  •   50-60%
  •   60–70%
  Case
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Bell 118,555 50.74
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent) 115,082 49.26
Total votes 233,637 100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results by county
  Bradley
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Leone
  •   40–50%
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bill Bradley 217,502 58.90
Democratic Richard Leone 97,667 26.45
Democratic Alexander J. Menza 32,386 8.77
Democratic Kenneth C. McCarthy 9,524 2.58
Democratic Wesley K. Bell 8,800 2.38
Democratic Ray Rollinson 3,374 0.91
Total votes 369,253 100.00

General election

Candidates

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Bill
Bradley (D) 		Jeffrey
Bell (R) 		Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 1978 793 RV 36% 17% 47%
Rutgers-Eagleton Sept. 19–Oct. 1, 1978 883 RV 49% 24% 27%
Rutgers-Eagleton October 23–29, 1978 946 RV 50% 32% 18%
510 LV 51% 40% 9%
  1. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
Hypothetical polling
with Case
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Clifford
Case (R) 		Bill
Bradley (D) 		Richard
Leone (D) 		Alex
Menza (D) 		Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 1978 1007 A ±4.0% 37% 27% – – 36%
44% – 24% – 32%
43% – – 18% 40%
with Bell
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Jeffrey
Bell (R) 		Richard
Leone (D) 		Alex
Menza (D) 		Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton May 7–16, 1978 620 LV ±?% 18% 29% – 54%
19% – 22% 59%
  1. ^ a b Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Results

1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Bill Bradley 1,082,960 55.32% Increase20.81
Republican Jeff Bell 844,200 43.13% Decrease19.33
Independent Herbert H. Shaw 4,736 0.24% N/A
Independent Bill Gahres 3,817 0.20% N/A
Libertarian Jack Moyers 3,809 0.20% N/A
U.S. Labor Robert Bowen 3,656 0.19% N/A
Independent J.M. Carter 3,618 0.19% N/A
Independent Jasper C. Gould 2,955 0.15% N/A
Independent William R. Thorn 2,776 0.14% N/A
Socialist Labor Paul Ferguson 2,604 0.13% Decrease 0.23
Socialist Workers Alice Conner 2,384 0.12% N/A
Total votes 1,957,515 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

References

  1. ^ a b c "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.
Categories