The 1978 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Robert P. Griffin ran for re-election to a third full term and lost to the Democratic nominee, Detroit City Council President Carl Levin. Griffin was later elected to Michigan's State Supreme Court in 1986. [1]
 | |||||||||||||||||
November 7, 1978
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Levin: 50–60% 60–70% Griffin: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Republican primary
editCandidates
edit- Robert P. Griffin, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1967
- L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Prosecutor and anti-busing activist
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Robert P. Griffin (incumbent) | 322,530 | 78.30% | |
| Republican | L. Brooks Patterson | 89,383 | 21.70% | |
| Write-in | 22 | 0.01% | ||
| Total votes | 411,935 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
editCandidates
edit- Anthony Derezinski, State Senator from Ann Arbor[3]
- Carl Levin, President of the Detroit City Council
- John Otterbacher, State Senator from Grand Rapids[3]
- Phil Power, newspaper publisher
- Paul Rosenbaum, State Representative from Battle Creek[4]
- Richard Vander Veen, former U.S. Representative from Grand Rapids
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carl Levin | 226,584 | 38.90% | |
| Democratic | Phil Power | 115,117 | 19.77% | |
| Democratic | Richard Vander Veen | 89,257 | 15.33% | |
| Democratic | Anthony Derezinski | 53,696 | 9.22% | |
| Democratic | John Otterbacher | 50,860 | 8.73% | |
| Democratic | Paul Rosenbaum | 46,892 | 8.05% | |
| Write-in | 23 | 0.00% | ||
| Total votes | 582,429 | 100.00% | ||
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carl Levin | 1,484,193 | 52.14% |  5.85 | |
| Republican | Robert P. Griffin (incumbent) | 1,362,165 | 47.85% |  4.43 | |
| Write-in | 272 | 0.01% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 2,846,630 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Robert P. Griffin (1923 – 2015)". DOL. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Our Campaigns - MI US Senate- R Primary Race - Aug 08, 1978".
- 1 2 "Members of the Senate 1977–1978" (PDF). Michigan State Legislature.
- ↑ "Members of the House of Representatives 1977–1978" (PDF). Michigan State Legislature.
- ↑ "Our Campaigns - MI US Senate- D Primary Race - Aug 08, 1978".
- ↑ Parker, Randy; crickets chirp (July 7, 2003). "Our Campaigns: MI U.S. Senate". Our Campaigns.
- ↑ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1979). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1978" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.