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 County results Baucus: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Williams: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Montana | ||||||||
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The1978 United States Senate election in Montana took place on November 7, 1978. Following the death of United States SenatorLee Metcalf on January 12, 1978,Montana Supreme Court Chief JusticePaul G. Hatfield was appointed to serve for the remainder of Metcalf's term. Hatfield opted to run for a full term, but was overwhelmingly defeated in theDemocratic primary byU.S. RepresentativeMax Baucus of the1st congressional district. Baucus advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by theRepublican nominee, authorLarry R. Williams. Baucus ended up defeating Williams by a solid margin to win his first term in the Senate, and, following Hatfield's resignation on December 12, 1978, he began serving his first term in the Senate.[citation needed]
Despite the death of Metcalf, this was not a special election, as one for the year 1978 was already planned as a normal Senate election.
Additional information needed
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Max Baucus | 87,085 | 65.25% | |
| Democratic | Paul G. Hatfield (incumbent) | 25,789 | 19.32% | |
| Democratic | John Driscoll | 18,184 | 13.62% | |
| Democratic | Steve Shugrue | 2,404 | 1.80% | |
| Total votes | 133,462 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Larry R. Williams | 35,479 | 61.66% | |
| Republican | Bill Osborne | 16,436 | 28.57% | |
| Republican | Clancy Rich | 5,622 | 9.77% | |
| Total votes | 57,537 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Max Baucus | 160,353 | 55.69% | +3.74% | |
| Republican | Larry R. Williams | 127,589 | 44.31% | −3.74% | |
| Majority | 32,764 | 11.38% | +7.48% | ||
| Turnout | 287,942 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
