1978 Florida gubernatorial election

The 1978 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1978. Democratic nominee Bob Graham was elected, defeating Republican nominee Jack Eckerd with 55.59% of the vote.

1978 Florida gubernatorial election
November 7, 1978
 
Nominee Bob Graham Jack Eckerd
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Wayne Mixson Paula Hawkins
Popular vote 1,406,580 1,123,888
Percentage 55.59% 44.41%
County results
Graham:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Eckerd:      50-60%      60-70%
Governor before election

Reubin Askew
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Bob Graham
Democratic

Elections in Florida
Government

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on September 12, 1978. The Democratic runoff was held on October 5, 1978.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Seven tickets ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida.

Jim Williams, the lieutenant governor, ran for governor with former state Senator Betty Castor of Florida, as his running mate. Hans G. Tanzler, the mayor of Jacksonville, ran with Manuel "Manolo" Arques, a Cuban-American real estate and insurance executive from Miami. State Secretary of State Bruce Smathers (who resigned to run) ran with state Representative Charles W. Boyd.

Claude R. Kirk Jr. of Palm Beach, who was the Republican governor of Florida from 1967 to 1971, returned to the party he left 28 years prior, switching his party affiliation to Democratic on July 5, 1978 (the month prior re-registering as an independent and launching an abortive signature drive to get on the ballot as an independent. He chose as his running mate Mary L. Singleton, the former director of the state Division of Elections and the first black woman to sit on the Jacksonville City Council.[1]

Results
Democratic primary results[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Robert L. Shevin 364,732 35.15
Democratic Bob Graham 261,972 25.25
Democratic Hans Tanzler 124,706 12.02
Democratic James H. Williams 124,427 11.99
Democratic Bruce A. Smathers 85,298 8.22
Democratic Claude R. Kirk Jr. 62,534 6.03
Democratic Leroy Eden 13,864 1.34
Total votes 1,037,533 100.00
Democratic primary runoff results[4][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bob Graham 482,535 53.55
Democratic Robert L. Shevin 418,636 46.45
Total votes 901,171 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results
Republican primary results[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jack Eckerd 244,394 63.84
Republican Louis Frey Jr. 138,437 36.16
Total votes 382,831 100.00

General election

Candidates
  • Bob Graham, Democratic
  • Jack Eckerd, Republican

Results
1978 Florida gubernatorial election[7][8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Bob Graham/ Wayne Mixson 1,406,580 55.59%
Republican Jack Eckerd/ Paula Hawkins 1,123,888 44.41%
Majority 282,692 11.18%
Turnout 2,530,468 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing
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References
  1. Slaughter, Thomas E. "Shevin TV Ad Kills Truce." Associated Press, October 3, 1978.
  2. "FL Governor, 1978 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. Florida Handbook 1985-86, p. 604.
  4. "FL Governor, 1978 - D Runoff". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  5. "FL Governor, 1978 - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  6. Florida Handbook 1985-86, p. 601.
  7. Cook, Rhodes, ed. (2015). "America Votes 31: 2013-2014, Election Returns by State". CQ Press. p. 81. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  8. "FL Governor, 1978". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  9. Florida Handbook 1985-86, p. 600.

Bibliography
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