The 1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978 between Republican

Dick Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...

and

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Pete Flaherty Peter Francis Flaherty (June 25, 1924 – April 18, 2005) was an American politician and attorney. He served as assistant district attorney of Allegheny County from 1957 to 1964, a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from 1966 to 1970, the 54 ...

Primary elections

Candidates

Democratic

* Bob Casey, Auditor General (from Lackawanna County) *

, US Deputy Attorney General and former Mayor of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

(from Allegheny County) * Ernie Kline, Lt. Governor (from Westmoreland County) *Jennifer Wesner, Mayor of Knox (from Clarion County)

Republican

* Bob Butera, former State House Minority Leader (from Montgomery County) *

Henry Hager Henry G. Hager III (born April 28, 1934) is an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 23rd district from 1973 to 1984 including as President pro tempore from 1981 to 1984 ...

, State Senate Minority Leader (from Lycoming County) *Alvin Jacobson, disabled former soldier (from Adams County) * Dave Marston, former US Attorney (from Montgomery County) * Arlen Specter, former Philadelphia District Attorney *

, former US Attorney (from Allegheny County) *Andrew Watson

Campaign

The race began with a primary that slated an impressive field of candidates. Flaherty, the former Mayor of

who was known for providing a progressive challenge to urban machine politics, bested State Auditor General Bob Casey, who had lost the Democratic nomination for this office twice before. Casey's campaign was greatly hurt by the presence of another Bob Casey who was running on the ballot for Lieutenant Governor; voters apparently believed they were selecting a ticket of Flaherty and the Auditor General when they chose the Pittsburgh teacher as the Democratic running mate. Lieutenant Governor Ernie Kline, who was frequently known as "assistant governor" during his time in office due to his policy skills, was endorsed by outgoing governor

Milton Shapp Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. H ...

, but finished a distant third. Thornburgh's win came over the Republican leaders of both houses of the state legislature (House Minority Leader Bob Butera and Senate Minority Leader

), as well as a former US Attorney, Dave Marston. Former

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

District Attorney and future senator Arlen Specter was considered the front-runner in the months preceding the primary, but the moderate urban Republican's campaign faded as Thornburgh presented himself as a leader that could bridge both wings of the party.

Results

Major party candidates

Democratic

, US Deputy Attorney General and former Mayor of

**running mate: Bob Casey, teacher

Republican

, former US Attorney **running mate: Bill Scranton III, newspaper publisher and son of former governor Bill Scranton

Campaign

Flaherty out-polled Thornburgh by double-digit margins for much of the campaign, but the Republican candidate used highly effective strategies to close the gap in the weeks leading up to election night. Thornburgh was successful in recruiting suburban moderates, as fellow moderate Republican Specter encouraged his metro Philadelphia supporters to rally behind Thornburgh. In contrast, the liberal Flaherty had trouble reaching out to conservative Democrats outside of his Western Pennsylvania base, a problem hindered by Casey's tepid support for the candidate over the lieutenant gubernatorial issue. Thornburgh also aggressively courted traditionally Democratic-leaning groups and gained the endorsements of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and several labor unions. Democratic support slowly waned under this strategy, which allowed Thornburgh to take a close victory.

Results

Notes

References

* {{cite book , editor1-last=Ackley , editor1-first=Gayle , editor2-last=Arcuri , editor2-first=Patricia D , year=1979 , title= The Pennsylvania Manual , volume=104 , location=Harrisburg , publisher= Pennsylvania Department of General Services

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 ...

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

November 1978 events in the United States