1978Final results
1978 election for Pennsylvania Governor
Governor · Pennsylvania
Richard Thornburgh (R) won with 53.1% of the vote, defeating Peter Flaherty (D) by 6.2 points.
Richard ThornburghRepublican · winner
53.1%1,966,042
Peter FlahertyDemocrat
46.9%1,737,888
3,703,930 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