1978Final results
1978 election for Kansas Governor
Governor · Kansas
John Carlin (D) won with 51.1% of the vote, defeating Robert F. Bennett (R) by 2.2 points.
John CarlinDemocrat · winner
51.1%363,835
Robert F. BennettRepublican
48.9%348,015
711,850 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET