1978 United States Senate election in Mississippi

The 1978 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland decided to retire.

Republican Thad Cochran won the open seat, becoming the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate election in Mississippi since the end of Reconstruction in 1881. It was also the first time since 1877 that a Republican won this Senate seat.

Candidates

 * Maurice Dantin, former District Attorney
 * Cliff Finch, Governor of Mississippi
 * Robert L. Robinson
 * Charles L. Sullivan, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
 * Richard C. Tedford
 * Bill Waller, former Governor of Mississippi
 * Helen M. Williams

Candidates

 * Thad Cochran, U.S. Representative from Jackson
 * Charles W. Pickering, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party

Candidates

 * Thad Cochran, U.S. Representative from Jackson (Republican)
 * Maurice Dantin, former District Attorney (Democratic)
 * Charles Evers, Mayor of Fayette (independent)
 * Henry Jay Kirksey, civil rights activist and candidate for governor in 1975 (independent)

Campaign
Evers was the first African American elected since the Reconstruction era to be mayor in any Mississippi city, in 1969. He ran as an independent, and as a result his campaign divided the Democrats and allowed Cochran to win the Senate seat with a 45 percent plurality. This made Cochran the first Republican in a century to win a statewide election (other than a presidential election) in Mississippi. Eastland resigned on December 27, 1978 to give Cochran a seniority advantage over new incoming senators.