The 1978 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1978 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in half of the state senate's districts—the 25 odd-numbered state senate districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle. A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the year 1978 is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.
The primary election on June 6, 1978, determined which candidates appeared on the November 7, 1978 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here. General election results can be obtained here.
Following the previous election in 1976, Democrats had control of the Iowa state Senate with 26 seats to Republicans' 24 seats.
To take control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net 2 Senate seats.
Republicans flipped control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1978 general election, with Republicans claiming 28 seats and Democrats falling to 22 seats after the election (a net gain of 4 seats for the Republicans).
Summary of Results NOTE: The 25 even-numbered districts did not have elections in 1978 so they are not listed here. State Senate DistrictIncumbent PartyElected Senator Party 1st Lucas DeKoster Rep Lucas DeKoster Republican 3rd Warren E. Curtis Rep Arne F. Waldstein Republican 5th Ray Taylor Rep Ray Taylor Republican 7th Milo Merritt Dem Arthur Gratias Republican 9th Dale L. Tieden Rep Dale L. Tieden Republican 11th Stephen W. Bisenius Rep Stephen W. Bisenius Republican 13th James M. Redmond Dem Arthur R. Kudart Republican 15th Robert "Bob" Rush Dem Robert "Bob" Rush Democratic 17th Fred Nolting Dem Richard L. Comito Republican 19th Clifford Earl Burroughs Rep John W. Jensen Republican 21st John S. Murray Rep John S. Murray Republican 23rd C. Joseph Coleman Dem C. Joseph Coleman Democratic 25th E. Kevin Kelly Rep Clarence S. Carney Republican 27th Louis P. Culver Dem Jack W. Hester Republican 29th Norman Rodgers Dem Norman Rodgers Democratic 31st Earl Willits Dem Earl Willits Democratic 33rd Philip B. Hill Rep Julia Gentleman Republican 35th Eugene Marshall Hill Dem Joe Brown Democratic 37th Minnette Doderer Dem Arthur A. Small Democratic 39th Roger John Shaff Rep Norman J. Goodwin Republican 41st Forrest F. Ashcraft Rep Patrick J. Deluhery Democratic 43rd Lowell Junkins Dem Lowell Junkins Democratic 45th Gene W. Glenn Dem Sue Yenger Republican 47th Richard Ramsey Rep Richard Ramsey Republican 49th Calvin Hultman Rep Calvin Hultman Republican
Source:
Detailed Results Reminder: Only odd-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for election in 1978; therefore, even-numbered seats did not have elections in 1978 & are not shown. District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33 • District 35 • District 37 • District 39 • District 41 • District 43 • District 45 • District 47 • District 49__NOTOC__ Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).
District 1
District 3
District 5
District 7
District 9
District 11
District 13
District 15
District 17
District 19
District 21
District 23
District 25
District 27
District 29
District 31
District 33
District 35
District 37
District 39
District 41
District 43
District 45
District 47
District 49
See also United States elections, 1978 United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 1978 Elections in Iowa
References