1978 Alabama gubernatorial election

1978 Alabama gubernatorial election

← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →

Nominee Fob James H. Guy Hunt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 551,786 196,963 Percentage 72.6% 25.9%

County results James:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Hunt:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election George Wallace Democratic Elected Governor Fob James Democratic

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Government
v t e

The 1978 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Democratic Governor George Wallace did not run for re-election. Fob James, a businessman who had switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and campaigned as a "born-again Democrat", won the Democratic primary in an upset over Attorney General Bill Baxley. He went on to defeat Guy Hunt in a landslide in the general election. Incumbent Democrat George Wallace was term limited and could not seek a third consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 1982.

Hunt was the first Republican to win Cullman County since Reconstruction. This election was the only Alabama gubernatorial election between 1958 and 1982 that did not feature a member of the Wallace family.