| Election Name: | 1978 Florida gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Florida |
| Flag Year: | 1900 |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1974 Florida gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1974 |
| Next Election: | 1982 Florida gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
| Election Date: | November 7, 1978 |
| Image1: | File:Portrait of Governor Bob Graham (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Bob Graham |
| Party1: | Florida Democratic Party |
| Running Mate1: | Wayne Mixson |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,406,580 |
| Percentage1: | 55.6% |
| Nominee2: | Jack Eckerd |
| Party2: | Republican Party of Florida |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,123,888 |
| Percentage2: | 44.4% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Reubin Askew |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Bob Graham |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The 1978 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1978. Democratic nominee Bob Graham was elected, defeating Republican nominee Jack Eckerd with 55.59% of the vote.
Primary elections were held on September 12, 1978. The Democratic runoff was held on October 5, 1978.
Seven tickets ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida.
Jim Williams, the lieutenant governor, ran for governor with former state Senator Betty Castor of Florida, as his running mate. Hans G. Tanzler, the mayor of Jacksonville, ran with Manuel "Manolo" Arques, a Cuban-American real estate and insurance executive from Miami. State Secretary of State Bruce Smathers (who resigned to run) ran with state Representative Charles W. Boyd.
Claude R. Kirk Jr. of Palm Beach, who was the Republican governor of Florida from 1967 to 1971, returned to the party he left 18 years prior, switching his party affiliation to Democratic on July 5, 1978 (the month prior re-registering as an independent and launching an abortive signature drive to get on the ballot as an independent. He chose as his running mate Mary L. Singleton, the former director of the state Division of Elections and the first black woman to sit on the Jacksonville City Council.[1]