1978 Illinois U.S. Senate Election

Illinois · 5 candidates · See every 1978 U.S. Senate race

Who won the 1978 Illinois U.S. Senate Election?

Charles H. Perey won the 1978 Illinois U.S. Senate Election. Charles H. Perey received 1,698,711 popular votes (53.34%). The main challenger was Alex Smith (45.47%).

See the full head-to-head between Perey and Smith

Perey +7.9 pts · won by 250,524 votes

Charles H. Perey RepublicanWINNER53.34%

1,698,711 votes

Alex Smith Democratic45.47%

1,448,187 votes

Bruce Lee GreenLibertarian0.51%

16,320 votes

Patricia GroganSocialist Workers0.5%

15,922 votes

Gerald RoseSocialist Labor0.17%

5,465 votes

Popular-vote totals for U.S. Senate elections come from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (1976–2024).

Data last verified July 28, 2026.