The 1978 Friuli-Venezia Giulia regional election took place on 25 June 1978.
Christian Democracy was by far the largest party, largely ahead of the Italian Communist Party which came second. The regionalist parties, Friuli Movement, Slovene Union and the recently formed List for Trieste (which stole many votes from the mainstream social-democratic parties), had a total score of more than 10% for the first time.
After the election Antonio Comelli, the incumbent Christian Democratic president, formed a one-party government. In 1980 he managed to enlarge his cabinet to the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Democratic Socialist Party, the Italian Republican Party and the Italian Liberal Party (Pentapartito).[1]
| Party | votes | votes (%) | seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=White | Christian Democracy | 332,684 | 39.6 | 26 | ||
| bgcolor=Red | Italian Communist Party | 182,845 | 21.8 | 14 | ||
| bgcolor=Hotpink | Italian Socialist Party | 79,656 | 9.5 | 5 | ||
| bgcolor=Aquamarine | List for Trieste | 54,682 | 6.5 | 4 | ||
| bgcolor=Pink | Italian Democratic Socialist Party | 41,979 | 5.0 | 3 | ||
| bgcolor=Yellowgreen | Friuli Movement | 38,238 | 4.6 | 2 | ||
| bgcolor=black | Italian Social Movement | 35,084 | 4.2 | 2 | ||
| bgcolor=Lime | Italian Republican Party | 19,716 | 2.3 | 1 | ||
| bgcolor=Maroon | Proletarian Democracy | 11,184 | 1.3 | 1 | ||
| bgcolor=Blue | Italian Liberal Party | 10,575 | 1.3 | 1 | ||
| bgcolor=Plum | Slovene Union | 9,481 | 1.1 | 1 | ||
| bgcolor= | Others | 0.9 | align=right | - | ||
| Total | 840,126 | 100.0 | 60 | |||