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County and independent city results Warner: 50–60% 60–70% Miller: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Virginia |
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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.
1978 Virginia Republican Convention [1] | ||||||
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Ballot | 1 | 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.
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. [2] [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John Warner | 613,232 | 50.17% | -1.28% | |
Democratic | Andrew P. Miller | 608,511 | 49.79% | +3.67% | |
Write-ins | 513 | 0.04% | +0.04% | ||
Majority | 4,721 | 0.39% | +0.39% | ||
Turnout | 1,222,256 | ||||
Republican hold |