The 1978 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, for the post of

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent

Jay Hammond Jay Sterner Hammond (July 21, 1922 – August 2, 2005) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy, New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pilo ...

defeated four opponents: former

Governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

and write-in candidate

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1 ...

, Alaska Senator and Democratic nominee

Chancy Croft Leland Chancy Croft (August 21, 1937 – August 30, 2022) was a workers' compensation attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968, he served a single term from ...

, former Commissioner of Natural Resources and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate Tom Kelly and

Alaskan Independence Party The Alaskan Independence Party (AKIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party that advocates an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also advocates positions similar to those ...

nominee Don Wright. After losing to Hammond in the Republican primary, Hickel ran as a write-in candidate and was able to outperform Croft. Republican

Tom Fink Thomas A. Fink (August 26, 1928 – June 4, 2021) was an American Republican politician from Alaska. He was Mayor of Anchorage from 1987 to 1994 and Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1973 to 1975. He was also a member of the F ...

and Democrat

Jay Kerttula Jalmar Martin "Jay" Kerttula (April 6, 1928 – November 13, 2020) was an American businessman, farmer, and politician in Alaska. A member of the Democratic Party, Kerttula was the longest-serving member of the Alaska Legislature, having served i ...

also ran in the open primary. This is the first time an incumbent Republican governor was successfully re-elected for a second term, and this would not occur again until 2022.

Results

References

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

November 1978 events in the United States November 1978 events November 1978 events in North America 1978 elections 1978 elections in North America 1978 elections in the United States 1978 in Alaska {{Alaska-election-stub