1978 United States House of Representatives elections in California

The United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1978 was an election for California's delegation to the United States House of Representatives, which occurred as part of the general election of the House of Representatives on November 7, 1978. Republicans knocked off three Democratic incumbents. 11th district Congressman Leo Ryan was re-elected, but was murdered while investigating the Peoples Temple in Guyana following the election.

1978 United States House of Representatives elections in California

← 1976 November 7, 1978 (1978-11-07) 1980 →
All 43 California seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 29 14 Seats won 26 17 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 3,335,332 3,105,933 Percentage 51.11% 47.60%
Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1978
Party		Votes	%	Before	After	+/–
	Democratic	3,335,332	51.11%	29	26	-3
	Republican	3,105,933	47.60%	14	17	+3
	American Independent	45,359	0.70%	0	0	0
	Peace and Freedom	39,017	0.60%	0	0	0
Totals		6,525,641	100.00%	43	43	—

Results

Final results from the Clerk of the House of Representatives:

District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 District 28 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 39 • District 40 District 41 • District 42 • District 43

District 1

California's 1st congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harold T. Johnson (incumbent)	125,122	59.35
	Republican	James E. Taylor	85,690	40.65
Total votes			210,812	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 2

California's 2nd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don H. Clausen (incumbent)	114,451	51.96
	Democratic	Norma Bork	99,712	45.27
	Peace and Freedom	Irv Sutley	6,097	2.77
Total votes			220,260	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 3

California's 3rd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Matsui	105,537	53.44
	Republican	Sandy Smoley	91,966	46.56
Total votes			197,503	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 4

California's 4th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Vic Fazio	87,764	55.37
	Republican	Rex Hime	70,733	44.63
Total votes			158,497	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 5

California's 5th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John L. Burton (incumbent)	106,046	66.84
	Republican	Dolores Skore	52,603	33.16
Total votes			158,649	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 6

California's 6th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Phillip Burton (incumbent)	81,801	68.30
	Republican	Tom Spinosa	33,515	27.98
	American Independent	Raymond O. Heaps	4,452	3.72
Total votes			119,768	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 7

California's 7th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George Miller (incumbent)	109,676	63.45
	Republican	Paula Gordon	58,332	33.74
	American Independent	Melvin E. Stanley	4,857	2.81
Total votes			172,865	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 8

California's 8th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (incumbent)	94,824	57.36
	Republican	Charles V. Hughes	70,481	42.64
Total votes			165,305	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 9

California's 9th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pete Stark (incumbent)	88,179	65.38
	Republican	Robert S. Allen	41,138	30.50
	Peace and Freedom	Lawrance J. Phillips	5,562	4.12
Total votes			134,879	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 10

California's 10th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Edwards (incumbent)	84,488	67.13
	Republican	Rudy Hansen	41,374	32.87
Total votes			125,862	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 11

California's 11th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leo Ryan (incumbent)	92,882	60.52
	Republican	Dave Welch	54,621	35.59
	American Independent	Nicholas Waeil Kudrovzeff	5,961	3.88
Total votes			153,464	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 12

California's 12th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete McCloskey (incumbent)	116,982	73.07
	Democratic	Kirsten Olsen	34,472	21.53
	American Independent	Harold R. Boylan	5,609	3.50
	Peace and Freedom	Adele Fumino	3,022	1.89
Total votes			160,085	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 13

California's 13th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Norman Mineta (incumbent)	100,809	57.49
	Republican	Dan O'Keefe	69,306	39.52
	Peace and Freedom	Robert Goldsborough III	5,246	2.99
Total votes			175,361	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 14

California's 14th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Norman D. Shumway	95,962	53.39
	Democratic	John J. McFall (incumbent)	76,602	42.62
	American Independent	George Darold Waldron	7,163	3.99
Total votes			179,727	100.00
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 15

California's 15th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony Coelho	75,212	60.11
	Republican	Chris Patterakis	49,914	39.89
Total votes			125,126	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 16

California's 16th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leon Panetta (incumbent)	104,550	61.37
	Republican	Eric Seastrand	65,808	38.63
Total votes			170,358	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 17

California's 17th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles (Chip) Pashayan	81,296	54.49
	Democratic	John Hans Krebs (incumbent)	67,885	45.51
Total votes			149,181	100.00
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 18

California's 18th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Thomas	85,663	59.26
	Democratic	Bob Sogge	58,900	40.74
Total votes			144,563	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 19

California's 19th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert J. Lagomarsino (incumbent)	123,192	71.73
	Democratic	Jerry Zamos	41,672	24.26
	Peace and Freedom	Milton Shiro Takei	6,887	4.01
Total votes			171,751	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 20

California's 20th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barry Goldwater, Jr. (incumbent)	129,714	66.38
	Democratic	Pat Lear	65,695	33.62
Total votes			195,409	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 21

California's 21st congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James C. Corman (incumbent)	73,869	59.51
	Republican	Rod Walsh	44,519	35.86
	Peace and Freedom	Bill Hill	5,750	4.63
Total votes			124,138	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 22

California's 22nd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carlos J. Moorhead (incumbent)	99,502	64.64
	Democratic	Robert S. Henry	54,442	35.36
Total votes			153,944	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 23

California's 23rd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anthony C. Beilenson (incumbent)	117,498	65.64
	Republican	Joseph Barbara	61,496	34.36
Total votes			178,994	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 24

California's 24th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Henry Waxman (incumbent)	85,075	62.66
	Republican	Howard G. Schaefer	44,243	32.59
	Peace and Freedom	Kevin Casey Peters	6,453	4.75
Total votes			135,771	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 25

California's 25th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward R. Roybal (incumbent)	45,881	67.39
	Republican	Robert K. Watson	22,205	32.61
Total votes			68,086	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 26

California's 26th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John H. Rousselot (incumbent)	113,059	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 27

California's 27th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Dornan (incumbent)	89,392	51.00
	Democratic	Carey Peck	85,880	49.00
Total votes			175,272	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 28

California's 28th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julian C. Dixon	97,592	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 29

California's 29th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Augustus F. Hawkins (incumbent)	65,214	85.00
	Republican	Uriah J. Fields	11,512	15.00
Total votes			76,726	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 30

California's 30th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George E. Danielson (incumbent)	66,241	71.42
	Republican	Henry Ares	26,511	28.58
Total votes			92,752	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 31

California's 31st congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles H. Wilson (incumbent)	55,667	67.76
	Republican	Don Grimshaw	26,490	32.24
Total votes			82,157	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 32

California's 32nd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Glenn M. Anderson (incumbent)	74,004	71.43
	Republican	Sonya Mathison	23,242	22.43
	American Independent	Ida Bader	6,363	6.14
Total votes			103,609	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 33

California's 33rd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Grisham	79,533	55.98
	Democratic	Dennis S. Kazarian	62,540	44.02
Total votes			142,073	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 34

California's 34th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Lungren	90,554	53.72
	Democratic	Mark Hannaford (incumbent)	73,608	43.67
	American Independent	Lawrence John Stafford	4,410	2.62
Total votes			168,572	100.00
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 35

California's 35th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Lloyd (incumbent)	80,388	54.01
	Republican	David Dreier	68,442	45.99
Total votes			148,830	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 36

California's 36th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George Brown, Jr. (incumbent)	80,448	62.92
	Republican	Dana Warren Carmody	47,417	37.08
Total votes			127,865	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 37

California's 37th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jerry Lewis	106,581	61.40
	Democratic	Dan Corcoran	60,463	34.83
	American Independent	Bernard Wahl	6,544	3.77
Total votes			173,588	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 38

California's 38th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry M. Patterson (incumbent)	75,471	58.61
	Republican	Dan Goedeke	53,298	41.39
Total votes			128,769	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 39

California's 39th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William E. Dannemeyer	112,160	63.71
	Democratic	William E. Farris	63,891	36.29
Total votes			176,051	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 40

California's 40th congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert Badham (incumbent)	147,882	65.95
	Democratic	Jim McGuy	76,358	34.05
Total votes			224,240	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 41

California's 41st congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Wilson (incumbent)	107,685	58.14
	Democratic	King Golden, Jr.	77,540	41.86
Total votes			185,225	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

District 42

California's 42nd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lionel Van Deerlin (incumbent)	85,126	73.74
	Republican	Lawrence C. Mattera	30,319	26.26
Total votes			115,445	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

District 43

California's 43rd congressional district election, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Clair Burgener (incumbent)	167,150	68.66
	Democratic	Reuben B. Brooks	76,308	31.34
Total votes			243,458	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

See also

• 96th United States Congress
• Political party strength in California
• Political party strength in U.S. states
• 1978 United States House of Representatives elections

References

• California Elections Page
• Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives

External links

• California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present)
• RAND California Election Returns: District Definitions