The 1978 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 7, and incumbent Democrat John Evans defeated Republican nominee Allan Larsen with 58.75% of the vote. It was the third consecutive win for the Democrats (1970, 1974, 1978), but the only significant victory for the party in Idaho in 1978.
Primary elections were held on Tuesday, August 8, 1978.
Evans ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Elected lieutenant governor in 1974, he succeeded Cecil Andrus in January 1977, who left to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the new Carter Administration.
Entering the primary, Vern Ravenscroft and Butch Otter were the apparent front runners, but were upset by Larsen.
The election was notable as it was the first time Idaho elected a governor from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both major candidates were members, and through 2023, Evans remains the only Mormon to be elected governor in the state.
Major party candidates
Other candidates