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 County results Helms: 50– 60% 60–70% 70–80% Ingram: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in North Carolina |
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The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1978 was held on November 7, 1978 as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. The general election was between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democratic nominee John Ingram. Helms won re-election, by a slightly wider margin than in 1972. This was the first Senate election where Republicans were re-elected.
Jesse Helms won the Republican Party's nomination unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Luther H. Hodges Jr. | 260,868 | 40.08% | |
| Democratic | John Ingram | 170,715 | 26.23% | |
| Democratic | Lawrence Davis | 105,381 | 16.19% | |
| Democratic | McNeill Smith | 82,703 | 12.71% | |
| Democratic | Dave McKnight | 9,422 | 1.45% | |
| Democratic | William Griffin | 8,907 | 1.37% | |
| Democratic | Tom Sawyer | 8,482 | 1.30% | |
| Democratic | Joe Felmet | 4,464 | 0.69% | |
| Turnout | 650,942 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Ingram | 244,469 | 54.24% | +28.01% | |
| Democratic | Luther H. Hodges, Jr. | 206,223 | 45.76% | +5.68% | |
| Turnout | 450,692 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jesse Helms (incumbent) | 619,151 | 54.51% | +0.50% | |
| Democratic | John Ingram | 516,663 | 45.49% | -0.50% | |
| Turnout | 1,135,814 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
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