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United States · Election results history · 1978 governors · Iowa
Election 1978 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1978 Iowa governor election

Robert E. Ray (Republican) beat Jerome D. Fitzgerald (Democrat) in Iowa in 1978, 58.3% to 41.0%, a margin of 17.3 points and 146,194 votes.

The Republican hold continued from 1974, when Robert E. Ray also won.

Republicans led in 92 of the 99 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 7. The largest, Polk, cast 88,810 votes and went to the Republican by 5.4 points. The closest was Lucas, where 87 votes separated the two parties.

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Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

Governor

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Robert E. Ray won Republican 491,713 58.3%
Jerome D. Fitzgerald Democratic 345,519 41.0%
All other candidates 5,958 0.7%
Total843,190

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Polk 41,594 46.8% 46,351 52.2% 865 88,810 R+5.4
Linn 20,115 43.0% 26,230 56.1% 452 46,797 R+13.1
Scott 15,658 38.7% 24,536 60.7% 255 40,449 R+21.9
Black Hawk 16,313 41.2% 22,946 58.0% 290 39,549 R+16.8
Dubuque 14,562 52.3% 13,108 47.0% 194 27,864 D+5.2
Woodbury 11,819 44.5% 14,601 55.0% 137 26,557 R+10.5
Story 8,079 35.0% 14,549 63.1% 428 23,056 R+28.1
Johnson 7,888 34.2% 14,348 62.2% 813 23,049 R+28.0
Pottawattamie 6,697 35.6% 12,052 64.0% 76 18,825 R+28.4
Clinton 6,602 39.3% 10,125 60.2% 89 16,816 R+21.0
Webster 7,833 53.4% 6,774 46.2% 63 14,670 D+7.2
Cerro Gordo 5,145 35.5% 9,277 64.0% 76 14,498 R+28.5
Marshall 5,136 38.9% 7,887 59.7% 183 13,206 R+20.8
Des Moines 5,104 41.1% 7,254 58.3% 75 12,433 R+17.3
Wapello 5,862 50.6% 5,674 49.0% 45 11,581 D+1.6
Jasper 4,790 42.3% 6,462 57.1% 67 11,319 R+14.8
Lee 4,478 43.1% 5,848 56.3% 52 10,378 R+13.2
Warren 4,702 46.6% 5,313 52.7% 76 10,091 R+6.1
Boone 3,982 46.2% 4,582 53.1% 60 8,624 R+7.0
Sioux 1,810 21.0% 6,754 78.5% 37 8,601 R+57.5
Dallas 4,049 47.6% 4,399 51.8% 52 8,500 R+4.1
Fayette 3,272 38.5% 5,177 61.0% 41 8,490 R+22.4
Muscatine 2,694 33.4% 5,292 65.7% 72 8,058 R+32.2
Kossuth 3,294 42.3% 4,459 57.3% 29 7,782 R+15.0
Marion 3,315 44.4% 4,113 55.1% 37 7,465 R+10.7
Benton 2,970 40.6% 4,304 58.8% 43 7,317 R+18.2
Mahaska 3,185 43.7% 4,063 55.7% 40 7,288 R+12.0
Clayton 2,871 39.8% 4,302 59.7% 38 7,211 R+19.8
Hardin 2,574 37.4% 4,269 62.1% 33 6,876 R+24.7
Plymouth 2,506 36.6% 4,310 63.0% 28 6,844 R+26.4
Jones 2,900 42.7% 3,875 57.1% 13 6,788 R+14.4
Buena Vista 2,425 35.8% 4,305 63.5% 51 6,781 R+27.7
Bremer 2,102 32.5% 4,328 67.0% 31 6,461 R+34.5
Buchanan 2,577 39.9% 3,873 60.0% 7 6,457 R+20.1
Jackson 2,391 37.5% 3,947 61.9% 38 6,376 R+24.4
Poweshiek 2,530 40.0% 3,760 59.4% 39 6,329 R+19.4
Carroll 3,462 55.7% 2,738 44.0% 17 6,217 D+11.6
Tama 2,522 41.1% 3,572 58.2% 40 6,134 R+17.1
Floyd 2,264 37.0% 3,824 62.5% 28 6,116 R+25.5
Hamilton 2,270 37.7% 3,709 61.6% 43 6,022 R+23.9
Clay 2,017 34.1% 3,869 65.4% 27 5,913 R+31.3
Winneshiek 1,852 32.6% 3,791 66.7% 39 5,682 R+34.1
Iowa 2,225 41.7% 3,087 57.9% 18 5,330 R+16.2
Cedar 1,720 32.7% 3,501 66.6% 34 5,255 R+33.9
Cass 1,700 32.5% 3,522 67.3% 13 5,235 R+34.8
Chickasaw 2,286 43.7% 2,935 56.2% 5 5,226 R+12.4
Cherokee 1,949 37.7% 3,199 61.9% 16 5,164 R+24.2
Calhoun 2,175 43.6% 2,793 56.0% 22 4,990 R+12.4
Appanoose 2,346 47.1% 2,620 52.7% 10 4,976 R+5.5
Henry 1,980 40.2% 2,931 59.5% 16 4,927 R+19.3
Page 1,413 28.8% 3,481 70.8% 20 4,914 R+42.1
Washington 1,653 34.4% 3,122 65.0% 30 4,805 R+30.6
Crawford 2,046 42.7% 2,721 56.7% 28 4,795 R+14.1
Delaware 1,875 39.3% 2,879 60.4% 16 4,770 R+21.0
Wright 1,957 41.3% 2,761 58.2% 26 4,744 R+16.9
Harrison 1,877 40.2% 2,786 59.7% 7 4,670 R+19.5
Madison 2,096 45.4% 2,502 54.2% 17 4,615 R+8.8
Dickinson 1,544 34.1% 2,950 65.2% 28 4,522 R+31.1
Humboldt 1,889 41.8% 2,612 57.8% 16 4,517 R+16.0
Howard 1,798 40.0% 2,686 59.8% 8 4,492 R+19.8
O'Brien 1,297 28.9% 3,179 70.8% 14 4,490 R+41.9
Winnebago 1,184 26.7% 3,236 73.0% 13 4,433 R+46.3
Greene 1,907 43.5% 2,450 55.9% 28 4,385 R+12.4
Grundy 1,367 31.3% 2,986 68.5% 8 4,361 R+37.1
Keokuk 1,952 45.1% 2,368 54.7% 9 4,329 R+9.6
Jefferson 1,418 33.2% 2,840 66.4% 17 4,275 R+33.3
Shelby 1,558 36.5% 2,696 63.2% 10 4,264 R+26.7
Butler 1,265 29.8% 2,950 69.6% 23 4,238 R+39.8
Allamakee 1,382 33.0% 2,790 66.6% 20 4,192 R+33.6
Mitchell 1,304 31.2% 2,851 68.3% 22 4,177 R+37.0
Palo Alto 1,998 48.3% 2,120 51.3% 18 4,136 R+2.9
Guthrie 1,747 43.8% 2,220 55.6% 23 3,990 R+11.9
Union 1,702 42.8% 2,260 56.9% 13 3,975 R+14.0
Hancock 1,307 33.5% 2,579 66.0% 21 3,907 R+32.6
Emmet 1,341 34.5% 2,523 64.9% 26 3,890 R+30.4
Pocahontas 1,725 45.2% 2,044 53.5% 51 3,820 R+8.4
Montgomery 1,193 31.6% 2,570 68.0% 18 3,781 R+36.4
Sac 1,374 37.0% 2,325 62.5% 19 3,718 R+25.6
Franklin 1,300 35.4% 2,356 64.2% 12 3,668 R+28.8
Decatur 1,747 48.5% 1,841 51.2% 11 3,599 R+2.6
Lyon 978 27.5% 2,561 71.9% 21 3,560 R+44.5
Adair 1,479 42.5% 1,998 57.4% 6 3,483 R+14.9
Ida 1,304 38.7% 2,065 61.3% 2 3,371 R+22.6
Monona 1,409 41.8% 1,951 57.9% 7 3,367 R+16.1
Lucas 1,608 48.7% 1,695 51.3% 2 3,305 R+2.6
Mills 1,067 32.7% 2,173 66.6% 22 3,262 R+33.9
Clarke 1,656 51.8% 1,528 47.8% 10 3,194 D+4.0
Worth 1,112 35.5% 2,012 64.2% 9 3,133 R+28.7
Monroe 1,615 51.8% 1,499 48.1% 4 3,118 D+3.7
Davis 1,540 51.5% 1,449 48.5% 1 2,990 D+3.0
Wayne 1,256 44.6% 1,553 55.2% 6 2,815 R+10.6
Fremont 1,127 40.8% 1,626 58.9% 8 2,761 R+18.1
Audubon 1,080 40.2% 1,604 59.7% 3 2,687 R+19.5
Louisa 841 31.4% 1,833 68.5% 3 2,677 R+37.1
Taylor 1,116 42.0% 1,536 57.8% 6 2,658 R+15.8
Adams 1,003 43.1% 1,323 56.8% 2 2,328 R+13.7
Van Buren 884 38.0% 1,432 61.6% 9 2,325 R+23.6
Ringgold 961 42.8% 1,281 57.1% 2 2,244 R+14.3
Osceola 675 32.8% 1,372 66.7% 10 2,057 R+33.9

Counties as they stood in 1978; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Iowa governor elections we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2022 Kim Reynolds (R) R+18.5
2018 Kim Reynolds (R) R+2.7
2014 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+21.7
2010 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+9.6
2006 Chet Culver (D) D+9.6
2002 Tom Vilsack (D) D+8.2
1998 Tom Vilsack (D) D+5.8
1994 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+15.2
1990 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+21.8
1986 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+3.9
1982 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+6.3
1978 Robert E. Ray (R) R+17.3
1974 Robert E. Ray (R) R+17.1
1972 Robert E. Ray (R) R+18.2
1970 Robert E. Ray (R) R+4.4
1968 Robert E. Ray (R) R+8.2
1966 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+11.2
1964 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+36.8
1962 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+5.1
1960 Norman A. Erbe (R) R+4.3
1958 Herschel C. Loveless (D) D+8.3
1956 Herschel C. Loveless (D) D+2.4
1954 Leo A. Hoegh (R) R+3.0
1952 William Beardsley (R) R+4.1
1950 William Beardsley (R) R+18.6
1948 William Beardsley (R) R+12.0
1946 Robert D. Blue (R) R+15.3
1944 Robert D. Blue (R) R+12.4
1942 Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R) R+25.8
1940 George Wilson (R) R+5.7
1938 George Wilson (R) R+7.0
1936 Nelson G. Kraschel (D) D+0.2
1934 Clyde L. Herring (D) D+8.2
1932 Clyde LaVerne Herring (D) D+5.5
1930 Dan W. Turner (R) R+32.1
1928 John Hammill (R) R+25.6
1926 John Hammill (R) R+42.9
1924 John Hammill (R) R+45.4
1922 Nathan E. Kendall (R) R+41.1
1920 Nathan E. Kendall (R) R+20.0
1918 William L. Harding (R) R+3.6
1916 William L. Harding (R) R+24.6
1914 George W. Clarke (R) R+6.4
1912 George W. Clarke (R) R+0.4
1910 Beryl F. Carroll (R) R+4.4
1908 Beryl F. Carroll (R) R+12.8
1906 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+4.8
1903 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+18.9
1901 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+21.3
1899 Leslie M. Shaw (R) R+13.0
1897 Leslie M. Shaw (R) R+6.8
1895 Francis M. Drake (R) R+14.8
1893 Frank D. Jackson (R) R+7.7
1891 Horace Boies (D) D+2.0
1889 Horace Boies (D) D+1.8
1887 William Larrabee (R) R+4.7
1885 William Larrabee (R) R+2.0
1883 Buren R. Sherman (R) R+7.4
1881 Buren R. Sherman (R) R+25.5
1879 John Henry Gear (R) R+24.7
1877 John Henry Gear (R) R+17.1
1875 Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (R) R+14.4
1873 Cyrus Clay Carpenter (R) R+56.0
1871 Cyrus Clay Carpenter (R) R+23.2
1869 Samuel Merrill (R) R+25.9
1867 Samuel Merrill (R) R+17.8
1865 William M. Stone (R) R+13.1