The 1978 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978. Republican Lee S. Dreyfus won the election with 54% of the vote, winning his first term as Governor of Wisconsin and defeating incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Bob Kasten Robert Walter Kasten Jr. (born June 19, 1942) is an American Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin who served as a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a United States Senator from 1981 to 1993. Background Kasten was born ...

unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination. As of 2024, this is the most occasion that Florence County has voted Democratic in a gubernatorial election.

Primary election

The primary election was held on September 12, 1978. Nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were selected in separate primaries before running on a joint ticket in the general election.

Democratic party

Governor

=Candidates

= *David Carley, nominee for lieutenant governor in 1962 *Edmond Hou-Seye, American party nominee for United States Senate in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

* Martin J. Schreiber, incumbent governor

=Results

Lieutenant Governor

=Candidates

= *Robert A. Anderson * Douglas J. La Follette,

Secretary of State of Wisconsin A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

* Dale T. McKenna, member of

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

* Paul Offner, member of

* Harout Sanasarian, former member of

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

*Charles E. Smith * Monroe Swan, member of

=Results

Republican party

Governor

=Candidates

= * Lee S. Dreyfus, Chancellor of

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

* Robert W. Kasten, member of

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from the 9th district

=Results

Lieutenant Governor

=Candidates

= * Russell A. Olson, member of

* La Verne Ausman, member of

=Results

Conservative party

Governor

=Candidates

= *Eugene R. Zimmerman, American party nominee for Secretary of State in 1974

=Results

Lieutenant Governor

=Candidates

= *George Reed, American party nominee for Secretary of State in 1970

=Results

Independent nominations

Candidates

*John C. Doherty & Marion A. Doherty *Adrienne Kaplan & William Breihan *Henry A. Ochsner & Robert E. Nordlander

Results

General election

Candidates

*Martin J. Schreiber & Douglas J. La Follette, Democrat *Lee S. Dreyfus & Russell A. Olson, Republican *Eugene R. Zimmerman & George Reed, Conservative *John C. Doherty & Marion A. Doherty, Independent *Adrienne Kaplan & William Breihan, Independent *Henry A. Ochsner & Robert E. Nordlander, Independent

Results

Results by county

Dreyfus was the first Republican since Walter J. Kohler Jr. in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

to win Forest County, Portage County, and Rusk County. St. Croix County backed the losing candidate for the first time since

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

, breaking a bellwether streak of 40 consecutive gubernatorial elections. Barron County, Buffalo County, Pepin County, and Washburn County would not vote for the losing candidate again until

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

* Calumet * Chippewa *

Clark Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

* Crawford * Dane *

Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare". Place names (Canada) Communities *Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

* Langlade *

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

* Marinette * Outagamie * Ozaukee *

Portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

* Racine *

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry Biscuit#Biscuits in British usage, biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the ...

Sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. Places in the United States Communities * Sawyer, Kansas * Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * Sawyer, Minnesota * Sawyer, Nebraska * Sawyer, New York * Sawyer, North Dakota * Sawyer, Oklahoma ...

* Sheboygan *

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

* Trempealeau *

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

* Waukesha *

Wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

References

{{United States elections, 1978 1978 Wisconsin elections

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 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...