The 1978 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978, to elect the next
governor of Tennessee
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...
. Although the
Tennessee State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee.
The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, ...
had been amended in early 1978 to allow a governor to succeed himself, Incumbent Democratic governor
Ray Blanton
Leonard Ray Blanton (April 10, 1930 – November 22, 1996)Fred Rolater"Leonard Ray Blanton" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: December 31, 2012.Republican
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1 ...
once again ran for governor. In the general election, Alexander defeated Democratic nominee
Jake Butcher
Jacob Franklin Butcher (May 8, 1936 – July 19, 2017) was an American banker and politician. He built a financial empire in East Tennessee and was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978. He was also the primary promo ...
with 55.8% of the vote.
Primary elections
Primary elections
Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
were held on August 3, 1978.
Democratic primary
Candidates
*
Jake Butcher
Jacob Franklin Butcher (May 8, 1936 – July 19, 2017) was an American banker and politician. He built a financial empire in East Tennessee and was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978. He was also the primary promo ...
, businessman
*
Bob Clement
Robert Nelson Clement (born September 23, 1943) is an American politician and academic administrator. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 5th congressional dist ...
Richard Fulton
Richard Harmon Fulton (January 27, 1927 – November 28, 2018) was an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the Tennessee State Senate and of the United States House of Representatives, and the second mayor of the Metropolit ...
,
Mayor of Nashville
The Mayoralty in the United States, Mayor of Nashville is the chief executive of the government of Nashville, Tennessee. The current mayor is Freddie O'Connell. Each mayor serves a term of four years, with a limit of two consecutive terms, unless ...
*Roger Murray
*Shelley Stiles
*Bill Jacox
*William K. Jackson
*Ben Miller
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
*
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1 ...
, attorney and nominee for governor in
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
*Harold Sterling,
State Representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...
*John H. Harper
*Hubert David Patty,
perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
Gubernatorial
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...