1978 Alaska gubernatorial election

The 1978 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, for the post of governor of Alaska. Republican incumbent Jay Hammond defeated four opponents: former Governor of Alaska and write-in candidate Walter Hickel, Alaska Senator and Democratic nominee Chancy Croft, former Commissioner of Natural Resources and Independent candidate Tom Kelly and Alaskan Independence Party nominee Don Wright. After losing to Hammond in the Republican primary, Hickel ran as a write-in candidate and was able to outperform Croft.

1978 Alaska gubernatorial election

November 7, 1978

Nominee Jay Hammond Walter Hickel Party Republican Write-in Running mate Terry Miller None Popular vote 49,580 33,555 Percentage 39.1% 26.4%   Nominee Chancy Croft Tom Kelly Party Democratic Independent Running mate Katie Hurley Kathryn Poland Popular vote 25,656 15,656 Percentage 20.2% 12.3%

Governor before election Jay Hammond Republican Elected Governor Jay Hammond Republican

As of 2019, this is the earliest gubernatorial election in Alaska in which at least one candidate is still living.

Results

1978 gubernatorial election, Alaska[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jay Hammond (inc.)	49,580	39.07%
	Write-in	Walter Hickel (write-in)	33,555	26.44%
	Democratic	Chancy Croft	25,656	20.22%
	Independent	Tom Kelly	15,656	12.34%
	Alaskan Independence	Don Wright	2,463	1.94%
Majority			16,025	12.63%
Turnout			126,910
	Republican hold		Swing

References

1. "1978 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Alaska" (PDF). Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2009-08-31.