1978 United States Senate election in Maine

← 1972 November 7, 1978 1984 →

Nominee William Cohen William Hathaway Hayes Gahagan Party Republican Democratic Independent Popular vote 212,294 127,327 27,824 Percentage 56.59% 33.94% 7.42%

County results Municipality results Cohen:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Hathaway:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     >90% Gahagan:     40-50% Tie:     40-50%     50%

U.S. senator before election William Hathaway Democratic Elected U.S. Senator William Cohen Republican

The1978 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 7, 1978. IncumbentDemocraticU.S. SenatorWilliam Hathaway ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated byWilliam Cohen, theRepublicanU.S. Representative fromMaine's 2nd congressional district. As of the2024 election, this is the most recent time a Senator from Maine lost re-election.

No incumbent Senator has lost by such a large margin since Hathaway's 22.65-point loss, thoughJames Abdnor in1980,John Boozman in2010, andTommy Tuberville in2020 all received larger percentages of the vote than Cohen's 56.59% against incumbent Senators.

Elected to the U.S. Senate in1972 against incumbentMargaret Chase Smith, Hathaway had established himself as a very liberal senator, being ranked an average of 92 percent more liberal than the Senate as a whole during his first term.^[1] This put him at risk, considering the conservative nature of Maine before the 1990s.^[2] Meanwhile, young former state senator Hayes Gahagan launched an independent campaign, running well to the right of Cohen.^[3] Other candidates to join the race were independent John J. Jannace andperennial candidate Plato Truman.^[4]

• William Cohen, U.S. Representative fromBangor
• Hayes Gahagan, formerState Senator fromCaribou (Independent)
• William Hathaway, incumbentUnited States Senator (Democratic)
• John J. Jannace (Independent)
• Plato Truman (Independent)

During the campaign, all candidates hit the campaign trail hard, with Hathaway receiving significant support fromJimmy Carter,Edmund Muskie,Ted Kennedy, and other national Democrats.^[7] The biggest surprise, however, came from Hayes Gahagan. Shortly before election day, he held a press conference where he announced that "unknown, subversive agents" had been altering his campaign photos by implanting subliminal images of female genitalia in his hairline.^[8]

• 1978 United States Senate elections

• 1978 Maine elections
• 1978 United States Senate elections
• United States Senate elections in Maine

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