1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey

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.

1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey

November 7, 1978

Nominee Bill Bradley Jeff Bell Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,082,960 844,200 Percentage 55.32% 43.13%

County results Bradley:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Bell:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Clifford P. Case Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bill Bradley Democratic

Primary elections were held on June 6, 1978. 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.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jeff Bell, political aide and speechwriter for Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign
• Clifford P. Case, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Republican primary results by county

  Bell

•   50-60%
•   60–70%

  Case

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Republican primary results

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Wesley K. Bell, former Mayor of Stafford Township
• Bill Bradley, former professional basketball player
• Richard Leone, former New Jersey State Treasurer
• Alexander J. Menza, State Senator from Hillside
• Kenneth C. McCarthy
• Ray Rollinson

Results

Democratic primary results by county

  Bradley

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Leone

•   40–50%

Democratic primary results

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

General election

Candidates

• Jeff Bell, political aide and speechwriter for Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign (Republican)
• Robert Bowen (Labor)
• Bill Bradley, former professional basketball player (Democratic)
• J.M. Carter (God We Trust)
• Alice Conner (Socialist Workers)
• Bill Gahres (Down With Lawyers)
• Paul Ferguson (Socialist Labor)
• Jasper C. Gould (Independent)
• Jack Moyers (Libertarian)
• Herbert H. Shaw, perennial candidate (Politicians are Crooks)
• William R. Thorn (Independent)

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	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%

Hypothetical polling

with Case

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	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%

with Bell

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	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%

Results

1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey

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