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MN US Senate

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > Minnesota > Senate Class II

Office

Senate

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

June 01, 1978 - 12:00pm

Polls Open

November 07, 1978 - 06:00am

Polls Close

November 07, 1978 - 11:00pm

Term Start

January 03, 1979 - 12:00pm

Term End

January 03, 1985 - 12:00pm

Contributor

*crickets chirp*

Last Modified

Paul September 11, 2023 08:59pm

Data Sources

Description

In 1978, all three key statewide races were up for election -- the Governorship, and both Senate Seats (the other Senate seat belonged to Hubert Humphrey, who died in 1978). But, there was a particular oddity to the three races -- all three had incumbents who were never elected to the office in the first place. This became a well played issue by the Republicans -- a billboard put up across the state read, "The DFL is going to face something scary -- an election".

When Walter Mondale ascended to the Vice Presidency in 1976, sitting Governor Wendell Anderson appointed himself to the open seat. This act did not sit well with the electorate. Plywood magnate Rudy Boschwitz campaigned as a liberal Republican and spent freely of his own money, but all that seemed to really matter was that he was neither a DFLer or Wendell Anderson in an election cycle where both were rejected by the voters. The end result was not even close -- the challenger Boschwitz won in a 16 point landslide as all three statewide offices switched into Republican hands.

LAST GENERAL ELECTION
	Party	Democratic	Won	11/07/1972
	Name	Walter F. Mondale	Votes	981,320 (56.67%)
	Term	01/03/1973 - 12/30/1976	Margin	239,199 (+13.81%)

PRIMARY/OTHER SCHEDULE
Dec 30, 1976	MN US Senate Appointment	Wendell R. "Wendy" Anderson
Sep 12, 1978	MN US Senate - R Primary	Rudy Boschwitz
Sep 12, 1978	MN US Senate - DFL Primary	Wendell R. "Wendy" Anderson