1978 United States Senate election in Virginia

none March 2026 September 2023 1978 United States Senate election in Virginia Virginia presidential no 1972 United States Senate election in Virginia 1972 1984 United States Senate election in Virginia 1984 November 7, 1978 150x150px John W Warner Sec of Navy (cropped).jpg John Warner (Replacing Richard D. Obenshain) Republican Party (United States) 613,232 50.17% Official portrait of Andrew P. Miller, Attorney General of Virginia.jpg Andrew P. Miller Democratic Party (United States) 608,511 49.79% 1978 United States Senate election in Virginia results map by county.svg 300px County and independent city resultsWarner: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70%Miller: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator William Lloyd Scott Republican Party (United States) John Warner Republican Party (United States) The 1978 United States Senate election in Virginia was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican Senator William L. Scott did not run for re-election to a second term. Republican former Secretary of the Navy John Warner narrowly defeated Democratic Attorney General of Virginia Andrew P. Miller to succeed him. Originally, this election was a match between Republican Richard Obenshain and Miller, then Obenshain died in a plane crash, leaving the party in disarray. Warner was then nominated to run in Obenshain's place, and his victorious election thrust him into a thirty-year career in the United States Senate, which started with this election. Republican nomination Candidates Linwood Holton, former Governor of Virginia (1970–1974) and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs (1974–1975) Nathan H. Miller, State Senator from Harrisonburg Richard D. Obenshain, Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party since 1972 and nominee for Attorney General in 1969 John Warner, former United States Secretary of the Navy Convention 1978 Virginia Republican Conventionhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=776609 Our Campaigns - VA US Senate - R Convention Race - Jun 03, 1978 Ballot1 2 3 4 5 6 Obenshain 1,192 1,261 1,338 1,521 1,516 1,580 Warner 853 908 996 1,338 1,393 1,474 Holton 780 751 620 0 0 0 Miller 262 160 122 201 166 0 Obenshain's victory set up the general election as a rematch of the 1969 Attorney General race between him and Andrew P. Miller, the Democratic nominee who defeated Obenshain in 1969. Aftermath On August 2, Obenshain died in a twin-engine plane crash, effectively shaking up this election. He was then replaced by Warner after other recruits turned down the chance to be nominated in respect for Obenshain.https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/08/04/crash-kills-obenshain/3e42abe9-7a4a-4fb1-ac0f-338fd0815715/ Crash Kills Obenshain Ken Ringle 4 August 1978 Washington Post 8 May 2016Harden Blaine https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/08/04/pilot-of-obenshain-plane-called-very-cautious/fbadce7d-062d-4f46-8e70-04f6118ae205/ Pilot of Obenshain Plane Called 'Very Cautious' The Washington Post August 4, 1978 8 May 2016 General election Candidates Andrew P. Miller, Attorney General of Virginia (Democratic) John Warner, former United States Secretary of the Navy (Republican) Results United States Senate election in Virginia, 1978http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=5329 Our Campaigns - VA US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1978 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1978election.pdf Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1978 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives U.S. Government Printing Office 1979 Republican Party (United States) John Warner 613,232 50.17% -1.28% Democratic Party (United States) Andrew P. Miller 608,511 49.79% +3.67% Write-ins 513 0.04% +0.04% 4,721 0.39% -4.94% 1,222,256 Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) See also 1978 United States Senate elections References Virginia 1978 Category:1978 Virginia elections