1978 United States Senate election in Alabama explained

Election Name:1978 United States Senate election in Alabama
Country:Alabama
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1972 United States Senate election in Alabama
Previous Year:1972
Next Election:1984 United States Senate election in Alabama
Next Year:1984
Election Date:November 7, 1978
Nominee1:Howell Heflin
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:547,054
Percentage1:93.99%
Nominee2:Jerome B. Couch
Party2:Prohibition Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:34,951
Percentage2:6.01%
Map Size:250px
U.S. Senator
Before Election:John Sparkman
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Howell Heflin
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1978 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Sparkman decided to retire and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Howell Heflin was elected to succeed him.

Heflin won the Democratic primary against Rep. Walter Flowers and faced only nominal opposition from Prohibition Party nominee Jerome Couch in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Prior to 1978, Alabama had never popularly elected any Senator from a party other than the Democratic Party, and Democratic candidates typically faced nominal opposition in the general election. Therefore, victory in the Democratic primary was considered tantamount to election.

Incumbent Democrat John Sparkman declined to seek a seventh consecutive term in office. Senator Sparkman retired as the longest-serving Senator in Alabama history.

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Howell Heflin and Congressman Walter Flowers of Tuscaloosa were the leading candidates. Heflin came from a noted Alabama political family which included former Senator James Thomas Heflin, a famous advocate of white supremacy. Flowers was a strong ally of Governor George Wallace, a critic of President Jimmy Carter,[1] and had cast a crucial vote to impeach President Richard Nixon, despite Nixon's strong support in the state.[2] [3]

During the campaign, Heflin attempted to tie himself to the late Senator James Allen. He was rebuffed by Allen's widow, Maryon, who succeeded her husband as Senator and supported Flowers. Maryon noted that Heflin worked for her husband's primary opponent during the 1974 campaign.[4]

Results

Heflin and Flowers both proceeded to a run-off election, where Heflin won by over 250,000 votes.

Republican primary

Candidates

Withdrew

After James Martin withdrew from the race to run in the concurrent special election to fill the late Senator Allen's seat, the Republican Party was left without a candidate for this election.

General election

Results

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: AN OLD POL TAKES ON THE NEW PRESIDENT. Martin Tolchin. The New York Times. 24 July 1977. 1 Nov 2018.
  2. Web site: The Fatal Vote to Impeach . https://web.archive.org/web/20071001005014/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,879405,00.html . dead . October 1, 2007 . 5 August 1974 . 2007-06-22 . Time.com.
  3. News: Ex-Rep. Walter Flowers of Impeachment Panel Dies. 13 April 1984. 2018-11-01. Martin Weil. The New York Times.
  4. News: Maryon Allen - The Southerngirl in the Senate. Sally Quinn. 30 July 1978. The Washington Post.