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The 1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Senator Clifford P. Case ran for re-election to a fifth term in office, narrowly losing the Republican primary by anti-tax conservative Jeff Bell, who lost the general election to Democrat Bill Bradley. Bell was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for this seat again in 2014.
Primary elections were held on June 6, 1978.[1] This was the first time Democrats won this seat since 1936, and the first time since 1938 that Democrats held both seats in the state.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Bell | 118,555 | 50.74 | |
| Republican | Clifford P. Case (incumbent) | 115,082 | 49.26 | |
| Total votes | 233,637 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley | 217,502 | 58.90 | |
| Democratic | Richard Leone | 97,667 | 26.45 | |
| Democratic | Alexander J. Menza | 32,386 | 8.77 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth C. McCarthy | 9,524 | 2.58 | |
| Democratic | Wesley K. Bell | 8,800 | 2.38 | |
| Democratic | Ray Rollinson | 3,374 | 0.91 | |
| Total votes | 369,253 | 100.00 | ||
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Bill Bradley (D) |
Jeffrey Bell (R) |
Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton | May 7–16, 1978 | 793 RV | 36% | 17% | 47% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | Sept. 19–Oct. 1, 1978 | 883 RV | 49% | 24% | 27% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | October 23–29, 1978 | 946 RV | 50% | 32% | 18% |
| 510 LV | 51% | 40% | 9% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Clifford Case (R) |
Bill Bradley (D) |
Richard Leone (D) |
Alex Menza (D) |
Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton | May 7–16, 1978 | 1007 A | ±4.0% | 37% | 27% | – | – | 36% |
| 44% | – | 24% | – | 32% | ||||
| 43% | – | – | 18% | 40% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Jeffrey Bell (R) |
Richard Leone (D) |
Alex Menza (D) |
Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton | May 7–16, 1978 | 620 LV | ±?% | 18% | 29% | – | 54% |
| 19% | – | 22% | 59% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley | 1,082,960 | 55.32% |  20.81
| |
| Republican | Jeff Bell | 844,200 | 43.13% |  19.33
| |
| Independent | Herbert H. Shaw | 4,736 | 0.24% | N/A | |
| Independent | Bill Gahres | 3,817 | 0.20% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Jack Moyers | 3,809 | 0.20% | N/A | |
| U.S. Labor | Robert Bowen | 3,656 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| Independent | J.M. Carter | 3,618 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| Independent | Jasper C. Gould | 2,955 | 0.15% | N/A | |
| Independent | William R. Thorn | 2,776 | 0.14% | N/A | |
| Socialist Labor | Paul Ferguson | 2,604 | 0.13% | 0.23
| |
| Socialist Workers | Alice Conner | 2,384 | 0.12% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,957,515 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
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