1978Final results
1978 election for South Carolina Governor
Governor · South Carolina
Richard W. Riley (D) won with 61.9% of the vote, defeating Edward L. Young (R) by 23.8 points.
Richard W. RileyDemocrat · winner
61.9%384,898
Edward L. YoungRepublican
38.1%236,946
621,844 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