United States · Election results history · 1978 Senate · Tennessee

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 US Senate election in Tennessee

Howard H. Baker (Republican) beat Jane Eskind (Democrat) in Tennessee in 1978, 55.5% to 40.3%, a margin of 15.2 points and 176,416 votes.

The Republican hold continued from 1972, when Howard Baker Jr. also won.

Republicans led in 68 of the 95 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 27. The largest, Shelby, cast 199,092 votes and went to the Republican by 6.7 points. The closest was Dekalb, where 13 votes separated the two parties.

United States

Results

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If only voted How this works

If the polls miss like

Or set the national mood Turnout

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.

Senate

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Howard H. Baker won	Republican	642,644	55.5%
Jane Eskind	Democratic	466,228	40.3%
All other candidates		48,222	4.2%
Total		1,157,094

Every county

County	Democrat	Republican	Others	Total	Margin
Shelby	90,744 45.6%	103,985 52.2%	4,363	199,092	R+6.7
Davidson	57,791 44.2%	69,163 52.9%	3,805	130,759	R+8.7
Knox	28,612 31.2%	57,348 62.6%	5,625	91,585	R+31.4
Hamilton	23,987 37.5%	35,649 55.7%	4,405	64,041	R+18.2
Sullivan	11,800 33.5%	21,909 62.2%	1,542	35,251	R+28.7
Blount	6,891 31.4%	13,751 62.7%	1,306	21,948	R+31.3
Washington	6,428 30.4%	13,611 64.4%	1,083	21,122	R+34.0
Anderson	6,777 32.5%	13,098 62.9%	949	20,824	R+30.4
Madison	7,704 39.4%	11,174 57.1%	677	19,555	R+17.7
Rutherford	7,697 39.9%	10,841 56.2%	765	19,303	R+16.3
Sumner	7,502 40.2%	10,528 56.5%	620	18,650	R+16.2
Williamson	4,800 30.9%	10,182 65.6%	529	15,511	R+34.7
Montgomery	6,645 43.7%	8,089 53.2%	481	15,215	R+9.5
Roane	4,873 34.6%	8,474 60.2%	727	14,074	R+25.6
Wilson	5,725 43.8%	6,946 53.1%	398	13,069	R+9.3
Gibson	5,830 45.0%	6,782 52.4%	342	12,954	R+7.3
Hamblen	4,574 35.6%	7,714 60.0%	570	12,858	R+24.4
Greene	4,042 31.8%	8,025 63.0%	663	12,730	R+31.3
Bradley	4,091 32.3%	7,507 59.3%	1,061	12,659	R+27.0
Carter	3,554 28.3%	8,320 66.3%	679	12,553	R+38.0
Putnam	5,159 42.0%	6,801 55.4%	324	12,284	R+13.4
Maury	4,006 33.7%	7,459 62.7%	431	11,896	R+29.0
Coffee	4,517 43.5%	5,455 52.6%	400	10,372	R+9.0
Hawkins	3,524 34.8%	6,261 61.9%	336	10,121	R+27.0
Sevier	2,659 26.5%	6,078 60.7%	1,279	10,016	R+34.1
Lawrence	3,923 39.2%	5,846 58.4%	236	10,005	R+19.2
McMinn	3,467 35.0%	6,159 62.1%	293	9,919	R+27.1
Monroe	3,651 40.5%	5,178 57.4%	195	9,024	R+16.9
Carroll	3,645 40.7%	5,057 56.5%	254	8,956	R+15.8
Dickson	4,171 49.9%	3,938 47.1%	257	8,366	D+2.8
Robertson	4,224 50.6%	3,870 46.4%	250	8,344	D+4.2
Jefferson	2,497 30.8%	4,975 61.4%	629	8,101	R+30.6
Loudon	2,664 33.0%	4,878 60.4%	531	8,073	R+27.4
Cumberland	2,952 36.9%	4,375 54.7%	671	7,998	R+17.8
Dyer	2,968 38.9%	3,621 47.5%	1,042	7,631	R+8.6
Franklin	3,692 49.2%	3,520 46.9%	294	7,506	D+2.3
Henry	3,380 45.6%	3,661 49.4%	375	7,416	R+3.8
Weakley	3,547 48.0%	3,032 41.0%	809	7,388	D+7.0
Bedford	3,384 46.2%	3,730 51.0%	203	7,317	R+4.7
Warren	3,476 48.1%	3,449 47.7%	307	7,232	D+0.4
Campbell	2,792 38.8%	4,019 55.8%	388	7,199	R+17.0
Tipton	3,057 42.9%	3,726 52.3%	335	7,118	R+9.4
Obion	3,385 49.4%	3,082 44.9%	390	6,857	D+4.4
McNairy	2,744 41.6%	3,734 56.6%	124	6,602	R+15.0
Cocke	2,096 32.4%	3,895 60.2%	483	6,474	R+27.8
Henderson	2,034 33.2%	3,958 64.6%	138	6,130	R+31.4
Marion	2,712 46.2%	2,932 49.9%	227	5,871	R+3.7
Lauderdale	2,878 51.8%	2,417 43.5%	262	5,557	D+8.3
Hardin	2,135 38.4%	3,290 59.2%	129	5,554	R+20.8
Marshall	2,463 46.0%	2,674 49.9%	223	5,360	R+3.9
Fayette	2,726 51.7%	2,366 44.9%	181	5,273	D+6.8
Hardeman	2,542 48.8%	2,465 47.3%	201	5,208	D+1.5
Giles	2,682 51.8%	2,188 42.3%	308	5,178	D+9.5
Lincoln	2,702 53.0%	2,266 44.5%	129	5,097	D+8.6
Rhea	2,002 39.5%	2,820 55.7%	245	5,067	R+16.1
Claiborne	1,931 38.3%	2,796 55.5%	313	5,040	R+17.2
Benton	2,465 50.0%	2,319 47.0%	145	4,929	D+3.0
Humphreys	2,602 53.0%	2,125 43.3%	183	4,910	D+9.7
Haywood	2,281 46.8%	2,317 47.6%	274	4,872	R+0.7
Cheatham	2,248 46.8%	2,359 49.1%	200	4,807	R+2.3
Unicoi	1,222 28.7%	2,823 66.3%	210	4,255	R+37.6
Hickman	2,170 51.1%	1,860 43.8%	219	4,249	D+7.3
White	1,720 41.0%	2,294 54.7%	179	4,193	R+13.7
Overton	2,087 50.4%	1,928 46.5%	127	4,142	D+3.8
Morgan	1,827 44.5%	2,037 49.6%	240	4,104	R+5.1
Wayne	1,198 29.7%	2,793 69.3%	38	4,029	R+39.6
Grainger	1,295 32.4%	2,472 61.8%	233	4,000	R+29.4
Crockett	1,622 41.6%	2,054 52.7%	223	3,899	R+11.1
Chester	1,580 42.5%	2,054 55.3%	81	3,715	R+12.8
Smith	1,907 51.4%	1,703 45.9%	101	3,711	D+5.5
Polk	1,847 49.8%	1,744 47.0%	119	3,710	D+2.8
Decatur	1,577 42.9%	2,001 54.5%	96	3,674	R+11.5
Dekalb	1,754 48.7%	1,741 48.3%	107	3,602	D+0.4
Union	1,534 44.1%	1,770 50.9%	174	3,478	R+6.8
Johnson	705 20.3%	2,690 77.5%	77	3,472	R+57.2
Scott	988 29.6%	2,215 66.3%	140	3,343	R+36.7
Macon	1,018 31.2%	2,179 66.8%	63	3,260	R+35.6
Fentress	1,289 42.1%	1,627 53.2%	143	3,059	R+11.0
Cannon	1,330 46.1%	1,476 51.2%	77	2,883	R+5.1
Bledsoe	1,211 42.1%	1,537 53.5%	127	2,875	R+11.3
Jackson	1,557 57.6%	1,068 39.5%	79	2,704	D+18.1
Lewis	1,270 51.4%	1,099 44.5%	102	2,471	D+6.9
Grundy	1,384 56.2%	994 40.3%	86	2,464	D+15.8
Stewart	1,306 55.0%	1,015 42.8%	52	2,373	D+12.3
Clay	1,046 45.0%	1,223 52.6%	56	2,325	R+7.6
Sequatchie	958 46.3%	993 47.9%	120	2,071	R+1.7
Meigs	825 41.9%	1,076 54.6%	68	1,969	R+12.7
Perry	981 50.7%	909 47.0%	45	1,935	D+3.7
Houston	1,116 59.0%	720 38.1%	56	1,892	D+20.9
Pickett	583 37.7%	940 60.8%	23	1,546	R+23.1
Hancock	478 31.3%	1,019 66.7%	30	1,527	R+35.4
Trousdale	817 54.2%	663 44.0%	28	1,508	D+10.2
Lake	855 57.9%	582 39.4%	40	1,477	D+18.5
Van Buren	611 49.6%	579 47.0%	42	1,232	D+2.6
Moore	510 45.3%	579 51.4%	37	1,126	R+6.1

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.

Tennessee Senate elections we hold

Year	Winner	Margin
2024	Marsha Blackburn (R)	R+29.6
2020	Bill Hagerty (R)	R+27.0
2018	Marsha Blackburn (R)	R+10.8
2014	Lamar Alexander (R)	R+30.0
2012	Bob Corker (R)	R+34.5
2008	Lamar Alexander (R)	R+33.5
2006	Bob Corker (R)	R+2.7
2002	Lamar Alexander (R)	R+9.9
2000	Bill Frist (R)	R+32.9
1996	Fred Thompson (R)	R+24.5
1994	Bill Frist (R)	R+14.3
1990	Albert Gore Jr. (D)	D+37.9
1988	Jim Sasser (D)	D+30.6
1984	Al Gore (D)	D+26.9
1982	Jim Sasser (D)	D+23.9
1978	Howard H. Baker (R)	R+15.2
1976	James R. Sasser (D)	D+5.4
1972	Howard Baker Jr. (R)	R+23.7
1970	William E. Brock III (R)	R+3.9
1966	Howard Baker Jr. (R)	R+11.4
1964	Al Gore Sr. (D)	D+7.2
1960	Estes Kefauver (D)	D+43.5
1958	Al Gore Sr. (D)	D+60.0
1954	Estes Kefauver (D)	D+39.9
1952	Al Gore Sr. (D)	D+53.3
1948	Estes Kefauver (D)	D+31.9
1946	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+40.4
1942	A. Tom Stewart (D)	D+47.4
1940	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+41.6
1936	Nathan Bachman (D)	D+56.5
1934	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+27.6
1930	Cordell Hull (D)	D+44.2
1928	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+18.6
1924	Lawrence D. Tyson (D)	D+14.7
1922	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+36.1
1918	John K. Shields (D)	D+24.6
1916	Kenneth McKellar (D)	D+9.8

1978 US Senate election in Tennessee

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