1978 United States House of Representatives elections
District Incumbent Party First elected Result Candidates
Washington 1 Joel Pritchard Republican 1972 Incumbent re-elected Y Joel Pritchard ( Republican ) 64.0% Janice Niemi ( Democratic ) 33.7% John H. Addison ( Libertarian ) 2.3%
Washington 2 Lloyd Meeds Democratic 1964 Incumbent retired . New member elected . Democratic hold Y Al Swift ( Democratic ) 51.4% John Nance Garner ( Republican ) 48.6%
Washington 3 Don Bonker Democratic 1974 Incumbent re-elected Y Don Bonker ( Democratic ) 58.6% Richard H. Bennett ( Republican ) 41.4%
Washington 4 Mike McCormack Democratic 1970 Incumbent re-elected Y Mike McCormack ( Democratic ) 61.1% Susan Roylance ( Republican ) 38.9%
Washington 5 Tom Foley Democratic 1964 Incumbent re-elected Y Tom Foley ( Democratic ) 48.0% Duane Alton ( Republican ) 42.7% Mel Tonasket ( Indepdendent ) 9.3%
Washington 6 Norm Dicks Democratic 1976 Incumbent re-elected Y Norm Dicks ( Democratic ) 60.9% James Edward Beaver ( Republican ) 37.4% Mary Kathleen Smith ( Socialist Workers ) 1.8%
Washington 7 John E. Cunningham Republican 1977 Incumbent lost re-lection . New member elected . Democratic gain Y Mike Lowry ( Democratic ) 53.3% John E. Cunningham ( Republican ) 46.7%
Washington
See also : List of United States Representatives from Washington
The 1978 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1978 which occurred in the middle of President Jimmy Carter's term, when the country was going through an energy crisis and facing rapid inflation. The President's Democratic Party lost seats to the opposition Republican Party, in this case a net of 15 meaning the loss of their two-thirds majority but the Democrats still retained a rather large majority. This was the last midterm election where the Democrats managed to maintain a majority under a Democratic president.