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United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978

United States Senate election in Mississippi, 1978
Mississippi
← 1972 November 5, 1978 1984 →
  Thad Cochran 1977 Congressional photo.jpg
Nominee Thad Cochran Maurice Dantin Charles Evers
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Popular vote 267,302 187,541 133,646
Percentage 45.3% 31.8% 22.6%

Senator before election

James Eastland
Democratic

Elected Senator

Thad Cochran
Republican


James Eastland
Democratic

Thad Cochran
Republican

The 1978 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland decided to retire. Republican Thad Cochran won the open seat.

Evers was the first African American elected since the Reconstruction era to be mayor in any Mississippi city in 1969. He ran as an independent, and as a result his campaign divided the Democrats and allowed Cochran to win the senate seat with a 45 percent plurality. This made him the first Republican to win a statewide election in Mississippi in a century. Eastland resigned on December 27, 1978 to give Cochran a seniority advantage over new incoming senators.


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