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The 1978 United States Senate election in Iowa took place on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic Senator Dick Clark ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Republican former Lieutenant Governor Roger Jepsen. This was the last time until 2014 that a Republican would win Iowa's class 2 Senate seat.

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Gerald Leo Baker, computer programmer and mathematician from Cedar Falls
  • Dick Clark, incumbent Senator
  • Robert L. Nereim, resident of Des Moines and candidate for Senate in 1966

Results

1978 Democratic Senate primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dick Clark (incumbent) 87,880 80.48%
Democratic Gerald Leo Baker 13,132 12.03%
Democratic Robert L. Nereim 8,176 7.49%
Write-in All others 3 0.00%
Total votes 109,191 100.00%

Following his defeat, Gerald Leo Baker announced an independent campaign for the general election.

Republican primary

Candidates

  • Joe Bertroche
  • Roger Jepsen, former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa
  • Maurie Van Nostrand

Results

1978 Republican Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Roger Jepsen 87,397 57.33%
Republican Maurie Van Nostrand 54,189 35.55%
Republican Joe Bertroche 10,860 7.12%
Total votes 284,047 100.00%

General election

Results

General election results[3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Roger Jepsen 421,598 51.12% Increase7.03
Democratic Dick Clark (incumbent) 395,066 47.91% Decrease7.16
Independent Gerald Leo Baker 4,223 0.51% N/A
Libertarian Ben L. Olson 3,689 0.45% N/A
Write-in All others 78 0.01% N/A
Total votes 824,654 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing

See also

References

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