1978 Florida state elections

Governor and lieutenant governor edit

Seven tickets ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida.

Jim Williams, the lieutenant governor, ran for governor with former state Senator Betty Castor of Florida, as his running mate. Hans G. Tanzler, the mayor of Jacksonville, ran with Manuel "Manolo" Arques, a Cuban-American real estate and insurance executive from Miami. State Secretary of State Bruce Smathers (who resigned to run) ran with state Representative Charles W. Boyd.

Claude R. Kirk, Jr. of Palm Beach, who was the Republican governor of Florida from 1967 to 1971, returned to the party he left 28 years prior, switching his party affiliation to Democratic on July 5, 1978 (the month prior to re-registering as an independent and launching an abortive signature drive to get on the ballot as an independent. He chose as his running mate Mary L. Singleton, the former director of the state Division of Elections and the first black woman to sit on the Jacksonville City Council.[1]

Democratic primary

Republican primary

Democratic primary runoff

General election

Attorney general edit

Democratic primary

Democratic primary runoff

Secretary of state edit

Democratic primary

Democratic primary runoff

General election

Comptroller edit

Democratic primary

Treasurer edit

Democratic primary

General election

Commissioner of Education edit

United States House of Representatives edit

1st congressional district edit

Democratic primary - Runoff Indicated

Democratic primary runoff

General election

  • Earl Hutto (DEM) - 85,608 (63.3%)
  • Warren Briggs (REP) - 49,715 (36.7%)

2nd congressional district edit

Democratic primary

General election

4th congressional district edit

5th congressional district edit

Democratic primary - Runoff Indicated

Democratic primary runoff

General election

6th congressional district edit

7th congressional district edit

Democratic primary

9th congressional district edit

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election'

11th congressional district edit

Democratic primary

General election

12th congressional district edit

Democratic primary - Runoff Indicated

Democratic primary runoff'

Republican primary

General election

14th congressional district edit

Democratic primary

  • Marcus Ambrose - 2,901 (7.4%)
  • Sam Brenner - 4,513 (11.6%)
  • Claude Pepper - 31,597 (81.0%)

Republican primary

General election

15th congressional district edit

State senate edit

District 2

District 11

District 14

District 16

District 18

District 20

District 23

District 24

District 36

District 28

District 30

District 32

District 36

District 38

District 40

State House edit

District 2 Democratic primary

District 3 Democratic primary

District 3

District 4 Democratic primary

District 4 Democratic runoff

District 5 Democratic primary

District 5 Democratic runoff

District 5

District 6

District 8

District 19

District 23

District 24

District 25

  • Frank Williams (DEM) - 12,737 (60.9%)
  • Howard Dunn (REP) - 8,167 (39.1%)

District 26

District 28

District 33

District 34

District 35

District 38

District 39

District 40

District 41

District 42

  • Suzanne Campbell (DEM) - 34,133 (38.9%)
  • Toni Jennings (REP) - 53,575 (61.1%)

District 43

District 44

District 45

District 46

District 47

District 53

District 55

District 57

District 58

District 59

District 61

District 62

District 65

District 73

District 75

District 76

District 77

District 78

District 79

District 80

District 81

District 82

District 83

District 84 Republican primary

District 84

District 85

District 86

District 87

District 88 Republican primary

District 88 general election

District 89 Republican primary

District 89 general election

District 90

District 91

District 95

District 96

District 98

District 100

District 103

District 105

District 109

District 110

District 111

District 112 Republican primary

District 112

District 113

District 114

District 116 Democratic runoff

District 116

District 117 Democratic primary

District 117 general election

District 118

District 119 Democratic primary

District 119 Democratic runoff

District 120

Constitutional Amendments edit

Revision of Florida Constitution (basic document)

  • Yes - 623,703 (29.2%)
  • No - 1,512,106 (70.8%)

Declaration of rights (rev. of Art. I, Sec. 2)

  • Yes - 1,002,479 (43.1%)
  • No - 1,323,497 (56.9%)

Legislative [Single-Member Districts and Reapportionment Commission] (rev. Art. III, Sec. 16)

  • Yes - 982,747 (46.9%)
  • No - 1,113,394 (53.1%)

Executive [Cabinet] (rev. Art. IV, Secs. (g) 3, 4, 5, 6, 8(a); Art. XI, Sec. 2)

  • Yes - 540,979 (25.1%)
  • No - 1,614,630 (74.9%)

Executive [Public Service Commission and Public Counsel] (rev. Art. IV, Sec. 10; Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(3))

  • Yes - 772,066 (35.9%)
  • No - 1,375,548 (64.1%)

Judiciary [Selection and retention of circuit and county judges] (rev. Art. V, Secs. 10 and 11 (a) and (b))

  • Yes - 1,058,574 (49.1%)
  • No - 1,095,756 (50.9%)

Finance and Taxation (rev. Art. VII; Art. X, Sec. 12(h))

  • Yes - 779,389 (36.3%)
  • No - 1,368,346 (63.7%)

Education (rev. Art. IX)

  • Yes - 771,282 (36.3%)
  • No - 1,353,986 (63.7%)

Casino gambling (Art. X, Sec. 15)

  • Yes - 687,460 (28.6%)
  • No - 1,720,275 (71.4%)

State Attorney and Public Defender edit

State Attorney (Circuit 20)

Public Defender (Circuit 20)

District Court of Appeal edit

Florida First District Court of Appeal

Shall Judge Woodrow M. Melvin, Sr. be retained in office?

  • YES - 194,993 (54.9%)
  • No - 160,183 (45.1%)

Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Shall Judge Edward F. Boardman be retained in office?

  • YES - 378,388 (61.3%)
  • NO - 238,714 (38.7%)

Shall Judge Paul W. Danahy, Jr. be retained in office?

  • YES - 384,035 (63.2%)
  • NO - 223,636 (36.8%)

Shall Judge Herboth S. Ryder be retained in office?

  • YES - 383,128 (63.3%)
  • NO - 222,439 (36.7%)

Florida Third District Court of Appeal

Shall Judge Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr. be retained in office?

  • YES - 182,157 (68.5%)
  • NO - 83,837 (31.5%)

Shall Judge Robert M. Haverfield be retained in office?

  • YES - 181,789 (70.4%)
  • NO - 76,580 (29.6%)

Shall Judge James W. Kehoe be retained in office?

  • YES - 184,840 (71.8%)
  • NO - 72,458 (28.2%)

Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal

Shall Judge Spencer C. Cross be retained in office?

  • YES - 324,882 (62.0%)
  • NO - 199,315 (38.0%)

Shall Judge John H. Moore, II be retained in office?

  • YES - 334,680 (64.6%)
  • NO - 183,693 (35.4%)

Circuit Judge edit

Circuit 4, Group 17

Circuit 5, Group 1

Circuit 9, Group 1

Circuit 11, Group 30

Circuit 17, Group: 4

Circuit 19, Group 1

Circuit 20, Group 2

References edit

  1. ^ Slaughter, Thomas E. "Shevin TV Ad Kills Truce." Associated Press, October 3, 1978.