1978 Senate elections · New Jersey history
New Jersey U.S. Senate election 1978
Bill Bradley DEM +12.2 gain · Class II seat · held 11/7/78
- Votes counted
- 1,957,515
- Margin
- 12.2 pts
- Seat held by
- Republicanchanged party
General election 11/7/78
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Bradley Won | DEM | 1,082,960 | 55.32% | |
| Jeffrey Bell | REP | 844,200 | 43.13% | |
| Herbert H. Shaw | IND | 4,736 | 0.24% | |
| Bill Gahres | IND | 3,817 | 0.20% | |
| Jack Moyers | IND | 3,809 | 0.20% | |
| Robert Brown | LBR | 3,656 | 0.19% | |
| J. M. Carter | IND | 3,618 | 0.19% | |
| Jasper C. Gould | IND | 2,955 | 0.15% | |
| William R. Thorn | IND | 2,776 | 0.14% | |
| Paul Ferguson | IND | 2,604 | 0.13% | |
| Alice Conner | IND | 2,384 | 0.12% | |
| Total | 1,957,515 | |||
Official source: data
Other New Jersey Senate races
| Year | Seat | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Class I | Andy Kim | 9.6 |
| 2020 | Class II | Cory A. Booker | 16.3 |
| 2018 | Class I | Bob Menendez | 11.2 |
| 2014 | Class II | Cory A. Booker | 13.5 |
| 2013 special | Class II | Cory A. Booker | 10.9 |
| 2012 | Class I | Bob Menendez | 19.5 |
| 2008 | Class II | Frank R. Lautenberg | 14.1 |
| 2006 | Class I | Bob Menendez | 16.0 |
| 2002 | Class II | Frank R. Lautenberg | 9.9 |
| 2000 | Class I | Jon Stevens Corzine | 3.0 |
| 1996 | Class II | Robert G. Torricelli | 10.1 |
| 1994 | Class I | Frank R. Lautenberg | 3.3 |
Full New Jersey Senate history →
Questions and answers
Who won the 1978 New Jersey Senate race?
Bill Bradley (DEM) won with 55.3% of the vote, ahead of Jeffrey Bell (43.1%), a margin of 12.2 points.
Did the New Jersey Senate seat change party in 1978?
Yes. It moved from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.
How many votes were cast in the 1978 New Jersey Senate race?
1,957,515 votes were counted for the candidates in the general election.
Compiled by FiveThirtyEight from the official source linked above.