Election Name: | 1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election |
Type: | presidential |
Country: | New Mexico |
Previous Election: | 1974 New Mexico gubernatorial election |
Previous Year: | 1974 |
Next Election: | 1982 New Mexico gubernatorial election |
Next Year: | 1982 |
Ongoing: | no |
Election Date: | November 7, 1978 |
Image1: | File:Governor Bruce King.jpg |
Nominee1: | Bruce King |
Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
Popular Vote1: | 174,631 |
Percentage1: | 50.55% |
Nominee2: | Joe Skeen |
Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
Popular Vote2: | 170,848 |
Percentage2: | 49.45% |
Map Size: | 230px |
Governor | |
Before Election: | Jerry Apodaca |
Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
After Election: | Bruce King |
After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The 1978 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Due to term limits, incumbent Democrat Jerry Apodaca was ineligible to seek a second term as governor. Bruce King, a member of the Democratic Party who had previously served as governor from 1971 to 1975, won the open seat. With a margin of victory of just 1.09% this was the second closest contest of the 1978 Gubernatorial Cycle, behind only the election in Texas.
The Democratic primary was won by former Governor Bruce King.
The Republican primary was won by former state senator Joe Skeen.
County | Bruce King Democratic | Joe Skeen Republican | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | |||||||||||||
Bernalillo | 55,448 | 48.26% | 59,443 | 51.74% | -3,995 | -3.48% | 114,891 | ||||||||
Catron | 649 | 49.13% | 672 | 50.87% | -23 | -1.74% | 1,321 | ||||||||
Chaves | 5,134 | 33.94% | 9,991 | 66.06% | -4,857 | -32.11% | 15,125 | ||||||||
Colfax | 2,187 | 53.12% | 1,930 | 46.88% | 257 | 6.24% | 4,117 | ||||||||
Curry | 4,054 | 48.51% | 4,303 | 51.49% | -249 | -2.98% | 8,357 | ||||||||
De Baca | 521 | 52.31% | 475 | 47.69% | 46 | 4.62% | 996 | ||||||||
Doña Ana | 9,539 | 45.12% | 11,603 | 54.88% | -2,064 | -9.76% | 21,142 | ||||||||
Eddy | 7,419 | 54.02% | 6,314 | 45.98% | 1,105 | 8.05% | 13,733 | ||||||||
Grant | 4,624 | 59.74% | 3,116 | 40.26% | 1,508 | 19.48% | 7,740 | ||||||||
Guadalupe | 1,591 | 69.72% | 691 | 30.28% | 900 | 39.44% | 2,282 | ||||||||
Harding | 259 | 41.77% | 361 | 58.23% | -102 | -16.45% | 620 | ||||||||
Hidalgo | 766 | 54.36% | 643 | 45.64% | 123 | 8.73% | 1,409 | ||||||||
Lea | 4,665 | 44.48% | 5,824 | 55.52% | -1,159 | -11.05% | 10,489 | ||||||||
Lincoln | 1,009 | 29.46% | 2,416 | 70.54% | -1,407 | -41.08% | 3,425 | ||||||||
Los Alamos | 2,349 | 32.65% | 4,845 | 67.35% | -2,496 | -34.70% | 7,194 | ||||||||
Luna | 2,117 | 45.29% | 2,557 | 54.71% | -440 | -9.41% | 4,674 | ||||||||
McKinley | 5,244 | 59.29% | 3,600 | 40.71% | 1,644 | 18.59% | 8,844 | ||||||||
Mora | 1,494 | 62.07% | 913 | 37.93% | 581 | 24.14% | 2,407 | ||||||||
Otero | 4,140 | 44.43% | 5,178 | 55.57% | -1,038 | -11.14% | 9,318 | ||||||||
Quay | 1,632 | 47.65% | 1,793 | 52.35% | -161 | -4.70% | 3,425 | ||||||||
Rio Arriba | 7,106 | 68.78% | 3,226 | 31.22% | 3,880 | 37.55% | 10,332 | ||||||||
Roosevelt | 1,793 | 36.87% | 3,070 | 63.13% | -1,277 | -26.26% | 4,863 | ||||||||
San Juan | 6,866 | 44.31% | 8,631 | 55.69% | -1,765 | -11.39% | 15,497 | ||||||||
San Miguel | 4,729 | 62.29% | 2,863 | 37.71% | 1,866 | 24.58% | 7,592 | ||||||||
Sandoval | 5,303 | 59.77% | 3,570 | 40.23% | 1,733 | 19.53% | 8,873 | ||||||||
Santa Fe | 14,080 | 60.44% | 9,217 | 39.56% | 4,863 | 20.87% | 23,297 | ||||||||
Sierra | 1,486 | 47.66% | 1,632 | 52.34% | -146 | -4.68% | 3,118 | ||||||||
Socorro | 2,524 | 57.39% | 1,874 | 42.61% | 650 | 14.78% | 4,398 | ||||||||
Taos | 4,418 | 66.07% | 2,269 | 33.93% | 2,149 | 32.14% | 6,687 | ||||||||
Torrance | 1,858 | 62.06% | 1,136 | 37.94% | 722 | 24.11% | 2,994 | ||||||||
Union | 704 | 41.46% | 994 | 58.54% | -290 | -17.08% | 1,698 | ||||||||
Valencia | 8,923 | 61.03% | 5,698 | 38.97% | 3,225 | 22.06% | 14,621 | ||||||||
Total | 174,631 | 50.55% | 170,848 | 49.45% | 3,783 | 1.10% | 345,479 |