1978 United States Senate election in North Carolina

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.

1978 United States Senate election in North Carolina

November 7, 1978

Nominee Jesse Helms John Ingram Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 619,151 516,663 Percentage 54.5% 45.5%

County Results Helms:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Ingram:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Jesse Helms Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jesse Helms Republican

Primaries

Democratic primary

1978 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – First round [1]

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%
Turnout			650,942

1978 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – Second round [1]

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

Republican primary

Jesse Helms won the Republican Party's nomination unopposed.

Result

1978 North Carolina U.S. Senate election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jesse Helms	619,151	54.51%	+0.50%
	Democratic	John Ingram	516,663	45.49%	-0.50%
Turnout			1,135,814
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 1978 United States Senate elections

References

1. "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2009.