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Deutsch1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey
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 County results Bradley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Bell: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Jersey |
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The 1978 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Senator Clifford P. Case ran for re-election to a fifth term in office, narrowly losing the Republican primary by anti-tax conservative Jeff Bell, who lost the general election to Democrat Bill Bradley. Bell was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for this seat again in 2014.
Primary elections were held on June 6, 1978.[1] Case was defeated by Bell, a political novice forty years his junior, while Bradley easily won the Democratic primary over State Treasurer Richard Leone and state senator Alexander Menza.
This was the first time Democrats won this seat since 1936, and the first time since 1938 that Democrats held both seats in the state.
Background
[edit]In 1972, U.S. Senator Clifford P. Case won re-election to a fourth term in office by a record 780,000 votes.[2] He was the ranking Republican on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.[3] In his political career, which covered over twelve elections in the course of forty years, Case had lost only one race for New Jersey General Assembly in 1941.[4]
Beginning in 1974, Jeff Bell was a top policy advisor to former Governor of California Ronald Reagan and a leading architect of his supply-side economics platform during the 1976 Republican primary campaign against Gerald Ford.[3]
Republican primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Jeff Bell, political aide and speechwriter for Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign
- Clifford P. Case, incumbent U.S. Senator
In 1976, Bell left the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign and relocated to New Jersey with the express intent of challenging Clifford Case, the long-time incumbent Senator and bête noire of conservative Republicans.[2][3]
Campaign
[edit]The core proposal of Bell's campaign was a major federal income tax cut for the purpose of stimulating domestic investment. Under his plan, the top marginal tax rate would be cut from 70 percent to 50 percent and lower rates would be cut by 30 percent across the board. Case countered that the plan was "enormously inflationary."[2]
Bell repeatedly criticized Case as "too liberal" for the Republican Party, citing his vote for the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.[3] Bell also supported selling war planes to Egypt and other Arab states (in addition to existing sales to Israel), a proposal Case had voted against due to his strong support for Israel. Late in the campaign, Case moderated his position to more closely match Bell's, stating that he could support aid to Egypt but wanted moderate Arab leaders to recognize "the right of Israel to exist". He continued to oppose any "even-handed" approach in the Middle East and reinforced his commitment to "a strong Israel".[2]
Bell spent $500,000, with 80 percent of his donors living outside of New Jersey, to attack Case's record.[2]
Results
[edit]
- 50-60%
- 60–70%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
In conceding defeat, Case remarked, "It was an interesting campaign; it fooled everyone. The turnout was very light and perhaps that indicated a deep unhappiness of the voters with the people of authority and power. I shall continue to believe in the Republican Party and to support it."[2] He applauded Bell as a "nice young man" but said he remained convinced that Bell would not have a chance of winning the general election.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jeff Bell | 118,555 | 50.74 | |
| Republican | Clifford P. Case (incumbent) | 115,082 | 49.26 | |
| Total votes | 233,637 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Wesley K. Bell, former Mayor of Stafford Township
- Bill Bradley, former professional basketball player
- Richard Leone, former New Jersey State Treasurer
- Alexander J. Menza, State Senator from Hillside
- Kenneth C. McCarthy
- Ray Rollinson
Results
[edit]
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 40–50%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley | 217,502 | 58.90 | |
| Democratic | Richard Leone | 97,667 | 26.45 | |
| Democratic | Alexander J. Menza | 32,386 | 8.77 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth C. McCarthy | 9,524 | 2.58 | |
| Democratic | Wesley K. Bell | 8,800 | 2.38 | |
| Democratic | Ray Rollinson | 3,374 | 0.91 | |
| Total votes | 369,253 | 100.00 | ||
General election
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Jeff Bell, political aide and speechwriter for Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign (Republican)
- Robert Bowen (Labor)
- Bill Bradley, former professional basketball player (Democratic)
- J.M. Carter (God We Trust)
- Alice Conner (Socialist Workers)
- Bill Gahres (Down With Lawyers)
- Paul Ferguson (Socialist Labor)
- Jasper C. Gould (Independent)
- Jack Moyers (Libertarian)
- Herbert H. Shaw, perennial candidate (Politicians are Crooks)
- William R. Thorn (Independent)
Polling
[edit]| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Bill Bradley (D) | Jeffrey Bell (R) | Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton[5] | May 7–16, 1978 | 793 RV | 36% | 17% | 47% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton[5] | Sept. 19–Oct. 1, 1978 | 883 RV | 49% | 24% | 27% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton[5] | October 23–29, 1978 | 946 RV | 50% | 32% | 18% |
| 510 LV | 51% | 40% | 9% |
- ^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
with Case
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Clifford Case (R) | Bill Bradley (D) | Richard Leone (D) | Alex Menza (D) | Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton[5] | May 7–16, 1978 | 1007 A | ±4.0% | 37% | 27% | – | – | 36% |
| 44% | – | 24% | – | 32% | ||||
| 43% | – | – | 18% | 40% |
with Bell
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Jeffrey Bell (R) | Richard Leone (D) | Alex Menza (D) | Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton[5] | May 7–16, 1978 | 620 LV | ±?% | 18% | 29% | – | 54% |
| 19% | – | 22% | 59% |
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley | 1,082,960 | 55.32% |  20.81 | |
| Republican | Jeff Bell | 844,200 | 43.13% |  19.33 | |
| Independent | Herbert H. Shaw | 4,736 | 0.24% | N/A | |
| Independent | Bill Gahres | 3,817 | 0.20% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Jack Moyers | 3,809 | 0.20% | N/A | |
| U.S. Labor | Robert Bowen | 3,656 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| Independent | J.M. Carter | 3,618 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| Independent | Jasper C. Gould | 2,955 | 0.15% | N/A | |
| Independent | William R. Thorn | 2,776 | 0.14% | N/A | |
| Socialist Labor | Paul Ferguson | 2,604 | 0.13% | 0.23 | |
| Socialist Workers | Alice Conner | 2,384 | 0.12% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,957,515 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "1978 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1978. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f "CASE UPSET BY BELL IN JERSEY PRIMARY; BRADLEY WINS EASILY; SENATOR LOSES 5th-TERM BID His Conservative Republican Foe Shows Surprising Strength-- Worked for Reagan in '76 2d Loss for Moderates Bell Defeats Case in Close Contest As Bradley Wins Easily in Jersey Glee in Bradley Camp". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Bell Campaigned Long and Hard; Bell Campaigned Long and Hard Wrote for National Review Seminar in Conservatism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
- ^ "Case's Only Other Defeat Was in '42 Assembly Race; McCarthy Denounced in 1954". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Rutgers-Eagleton
- ^ "1978 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1978. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2018.