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1978 South Carolina Gubernatorial Election

South Carolina · 2 candidates · See every 1978 Governor race

Who won the 1978 South Carolina Gubernatorial Election?

Richard Riley won the 1978 South Carolina Gubernatorial Election. Richard Riley received 384,898 popular votes (61.3%). The main challenger was Edward Lunn Young (37.7%).

See the full head-to-head between Riley and Young

Riley +23.6 pts · won by 147,952 votes
Richard RileyDemocraticWINNER61.3%
384,898 votes
Edward Lunn YoungRepublican37.7%
236,946 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 1.0% of the popular vote; only the leading candidates are individually recorded for this election.
Popular-vote totals for governor elections are compiled from official state results (via Wikipedia); Louisiana shows the decisive round of its jungle primary.

Data last verified July 28, 2026.