1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election

none related races 1978 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election Arkansas 1924 presidential no 1976 Arkansas gubernatorial election 1976 November 7, 1978 1980 Arkansas gubernatorial election 1980 File:Bill Clinton (37899881792) (3x4a).jpg 150x150px Bill Clinton Democratic Party (United States) 335,101 63.36% Lynn Lowe Republican Party (United States) 193,746 36.64% 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 210px County resultsClinton: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Lowe: #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% Governor David Pryor Democratic Party (United States) Bill Clinton Democratic Party (United States) The 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election, held on November 7, was the first time that future president Bill Clinton was elected Governor of Arkansas. Democratic primary Electoral history of Bill Clinton#1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election At this time, one gubernatorial term was two years. Incumbent two-term Democratic governor David Pryor decided to not seek re-election in order to run for the United States Senate, as his predecessor and future Senate colleague Dale Bumpers did.Our Campaigns - AR. Governor - D Primary Race - May 30, 1978 Candidates Bill Clinton, Attorney General Frank Lady II, former state representative and candidate for governor in 1976 Randall Mathis, Clark County Judge Monroe Schwarzlose, turkey farmerJune 2019 Joe Woodward, Seventh Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Results Clinton, a former assistant to U.S. senator J. William Fulbright and since 1977 the state attorney general, won the nomination easily. Democratic primary results Bill Clinton Democratic Party (United States) 341,118 59.55 Joe Woodward Democratic Party (United States) 123,674 21.59 Frank Lady II Democratic Party (United States) 76,026 13.27 Randall Mathis Democratic Party (United States) 26,096 4.56 Monroe Schwarzlose Democratic Party (United States) 5,898 1.03 572,809 100.00 Republican nomination A. Lynn Lowe, a Texarkana farmer, who served as state Republican Party chairman from 1974 to 1980, was unopposed for the 1978 gubernatorial nomination. He had also been the Republican nominee for Arkansas's 4th congressional district seat in 1966. Election result Clinton easily won the general election.Our Campaigns - AR Governor Race - Nov 07, 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1978 Bill Clinton Democratic Party (United States) 335,101 63.36 Lynn Lowe Republican Party (United States) 193,746 36.64 528,847 100.00 Democratic Party (United States) Clinton also led in fundraising. His campaign budget was a combined $709,234.00 while Lynn's was $171,382. Clinton, at the age of thirty-two, became the youngest man to be elected Arkansas governor, the youngest governor in the United States since Harold E. Stassen won in Minnesota in 1938 at the age of thirty-one, and the youngest governor in the nation at this time. In 1992 he was elected as the third-youngest U.S. president in history. Lowe's total was the highest for a Republican nominee in Arkansas since Winthrop Rockefeller's third term bid in 1970. He carried fourteen out of seventy-five counties, including Miller, Columbia, and Union counties in South Arkansas. References Politics United States Gubernatorial Arkansas 1978 Category:November 1978 in the United States Category:Governorships of Bill Clinton