1978 United States Senate election in Maine

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 Cohen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

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

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v t e

The 1978 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator William Hathaway ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by William Cohen, the Republican U.S. Representative from Maine's 2nd congressional district. This is the last 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, though James Abdnor in 1980, John Boozman in 2010, and Tommy Tuberville in 2020 all received larger percentages of the vote than Cohen's 56.59% against incumbent Senators.