The 1978 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1978 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in half of the state senate's districts—the 25 odd-numbered state senate districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle. A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the year 1978 is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.
The primary election on June 6, 1978 determined which candidates appeared on the November 7, 1978 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here. General election results can be obtained here.
Following the previous election in 1976, Democrats had control of the Iowa state Senate with 26 seats to Republicans' 24 seats.
To take control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net 2 Senate seats.
Republicans flipped control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1978 general election, with Republicans claiming 28 seats and Democrats falling to 22 seats after the election (a net gain of 4 seats for the Republicans).
Summary of Results
NOTE: The 25 even-numbered districts did not have elections in 1978 so they are not listed here.
Source:
Detailed Results
Reminder: Only odd-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for election in 1978; therefore, even-numbered seats did not have elections in 1978 & are not shown.
Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).
