1978Final results
1978 election for Ohio Governor
Governor · Ohio
James A. Rhodes (R) won with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Richard F. Celeste (D) by 1.7 points.
James A. RhodesRepublican · winner
50.9%1,402,167
Richard F. CelesteDemocrat
49.1%1,354,631
2,756,798 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