Alternate History 🇺🇸 November 2, 1976: President Nelson Rockefeller wins election to full 4-year term and the aftermath

[Sergeant Foley]

MARGARET GARDINER OF SOUTH AFRICA WINS THE 1978 MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT; BECOMES THE COUNTRY'S FIRST MISS UNIVERSE TITLEHOLDER.

*July 24, 1978: Margaret Gardiner was crowned as the 27th Miss Universe by her predecessor, 1977 Miss Universe Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago after Gardiner defeated 74 other beauty pageant contestants. The festivities were held at the Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco in Acapulco, Mexico and it was broadcasted by both CBS and Televisa (Mexico's official broadcaster).

Gardiner would be the only Miss Universe titleholder from South Africa until Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters (2017) and Zozibini Tunzi (2019) won the Miss Universe Crown respectively.

The placements were as follows:
*Miss Universe 1978: Margaret Gardiner of South Africa
*1st Runner-Up: Judi Andersen of the United States
*2nd Runner-Up: Guillerma Ruiz Domenech of Spain
*3rd Runner-Up: Shirley Saenz Starnes of Colombia
*4th Runner-Up: Cecilia Rodhe of Sweden

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING SOON IN THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
October 26, 1979: The assassination of ROK President Park Chung-hee and the ramifications for the Republic of Korea
going forward.

​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: POPE PAUL VI DIES FROM MASSIVE HEART ATTACK. HE WAS 80 YEARS OLD

*August 6, 1978: Sad news out of the Vatican. Pope Paul VI passed away from a massive heart attack at the age of 80 while at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Sacred College of Cardinals had elected him as the successor of then-Pope John XXIII on June 21, 1963.

*August 12, 1978: Papal Funeral is held for Pope Paul VI outdoors in Saint Peters Square in Rome, Italy. Among the list of dignitaries attending the service: Argentine Republic President Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla; Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos; US First Lady Happy Rockefeller including large host of foreign dignitaries as well as members of the Diplomatic Corps. Following the funeral service, Pope Paul VI was entombed inside Saint Peter's Basilica.

*August 16, 1978: Robert Andras, president of Canad's Treasury Board, announced that the Cabinet had approved budget cuts totaling $500 million for fiscal year 1978-79 and additional cuts of $1 billion for 1979-80.

*August 26, 1978: Albino Cardinal Luciani, patriarch of Venice, was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church by the Sacred College of Cardinals. The choice of the 65-year-old Italian prelate surprised most Vatican observers because it occurred on only the second day of the secret conclave and Luciani had not been considered a leading candidate to succeed the late Pope Paul VI. He chose the papal name John Paul I.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

NEWS BULLETIN: PRESIDENT ROCKEFELLER HOSTING US-SPONSORED MIDEAST SUMMIT AT CAMP DAVID

*August 29, 1978: President Nelson Rockefeller confirms plans on the upcoming Mideast Summit between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which is set for September 6th. The venue will be at Camp David.

This is one of the major priorities of the Rockefeller administration: achieving long-lasting peace in the Middle East especially between two rival countries: Egypt and Israel.

US-SPONSORED MIDDLE EAST SUMMIT CONCLUDES

*September 17, 1978: The US-sponsored Middle East Summit hosted by US President Nelson Rockefeller at Camp David concludes after almost two weeks with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agreeing to a framework for peace treaty between their two countries and for settlement of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict regarding the West Bank and CreaStaulz. Two documents governing these accords were signed at subsequent televised White House ceremony by Begin and Sadat. Rockefeller, who had been conducting the summit meeting since September 6th, signed as a witness.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

@The Immortal Watch Dog @bintananth @WolfBear @Buba @Tiamat @49ersfootball

Coming up this weekend: I'll be working on the sinister conspiracy against Pope John Paul I.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING SOON IN CHAPTER 5 OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Sinister plot against His Holiness John Paul I ​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

That Uppity Swiss Banker
12:45 PM, September 17, 1978
Somewhere in the outskirts of Rome, Italy
​

Gustav Densely was one of those Swiss bankers involved in "cooking the financial books" along with a few others conniving to undermine the Vatican. He was known by some who despied him as "That Uppity Swiss Banker".

Gustav was scared of losing his job upon learning of Pope John Paul I's plans of cleaning house at the Vatican and making other changes altogether. Apparently, the Pope's aggressive house-cleaning alarmed Gustav, who contacted flamboyant and controversial Brazilian Ambassador to the Holy See Oliver Mazercawitz, who was allied with the Military Junta government officials as well as close associates of Brazilian President General Ernesto Geisel.

Mazercawitz contacted one of the associates by telephone and said the following: "I have attempted to call him (in reference to the Uppity Swiss Banker, who had to flee the country due to fears of being arrested by law enforcement agencies). I have also tried to reach Brasilia, you need to tell the Junta that this uppity Pope has very different ideas than the last one. We need to do something about that guy before he starts getting notified about this damned human rights garbage by those meddling American members of Congress and especially those nosy foreign journalists."

It wasn't known what Mazercawitz discussed on the phone inside his private office at the Brazilian Embassy, but the fact that this so-called "closed door meeting" lasted more than seven hours, revealed that some kind of a mysterious plot was being played in slow motion and that somebody was going to have to put the new Pontiff in his place by any means necessary.

While the plot to cause chaos against the Vatican was in motion, Gustav fled by plane to Greece and met with some associates at an undisclosed location. What they discussed or did was unknown.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

The Secretive and Mysterious Miranda
8:00 PM, September 20, 1978
Somewhere in an undisclosed location in the outskirts of Rome, Italy
[*******************The following installment will be quite graphic. Viewer discretion advised]
​

Mazercawitz contacted one of the female secret agents, who was considered to be super violently ruthless. Miranda Salmonte of Brasilia, Brazil was in the Brazilian Marine Corps Reserve having graduated from the Brazilian Naval Academy and was quite successful working in the Brazilian Federal Police with an intriguing record of finishing her missions.

Of German and Brazilian descent, her super white fair-skin appearance was also seductive and quite attractive to which some of Miranda's male colleagues tried to talk her into going out on dates. And while she went on a few dates, she decided "her life mission was protecting the Federative Republic by any means necessary."

She was staunchly a hardcore supporter of the controversial military dictatorship that took power in 1964 that resulted in the overthrow of then-Brazilian President Joao Guilart, and unleashed some stability but at the same time, an absolute reign of terror by the military government who cracked down hard on opponents and went so far as to exterminating any opposition in violent, extreme methods.

Having arrived in Rome on the late night hours of September 20th, Miranda used the alias "Frances", she manipulated her way into a secluded house somewhere in the outskirts of Rome by secretly kidnapping Paulina Estrada's cousin, Ileana by grabbing her from behind and using a secret code line calling Paulina threatening to violently harm Ileana if she talked to law enforcement agencies on what happened.

Depending on whom you asked, Miranda reportedly took Ileana to another undisclosed location in a heavily secluded quiet town, basically in the middle of nowhere "You're gonna keep your mouth shut for awhile, but first, I am gonna need to give you a secret sedative making sure you stay quiet" by injecting the "secret sedative" in the left side of Ileana's neck; carrying her toward an underground hidden secret dungeon room: after removing all of Ileana's clothes from head to toe, Miranda poured something watery all over Ileana (who was laying on a stretcher steel-slab), why she did this is unclear.

She then applied latex skin all over Ileana's naked body and carefully adjusted it to make sure it fit properly. Miranda stepped outside and contacted one of her associates "Got here in Italy on a late flight, I've got the details of the mission. It's been awhile since I was in Rome, but good to be back here, going to do some last-minute briefings on the upcoming mission before getting some rest" before hanging up the phone.

Meanwhile, Miranda went to another secretive windowless underground room and checked her latest masterpiece, the naked body of Yasmien Garcia (who died under mysterious circumstances accidentally by Miranda): she carefully removed all of the organs out of Yasmien's body (placing them in silver ice coolers); Miranda carefully removed the entire human skin off of Yasmien and applied a deep-thorough full latex mask body skin-suit all over Yasmien and went to take a shower upstairs before heading to bed (Miranda liked sleeping naked).

Sometime in the aftenoon hours of September 21st, Miranda went downstairs in the secretive windowless underground room: slowly and carefully removed the entire latex skin and put it on, carefully adjusting it while looking at the mirror "Perfect. So easy to get in and getting out without getting suspected of anything" befire taking it off. She then snuck into the large underground room: checked the latex skun applied on Ileana's naked body, calmly telling an unconscious Ileana "This mission is necessary, so your cousin knows what deadly things I can do to her entire family if she even utters a single word to anyone" while carefully removing the latex full body skin-suit off of Ileana and giving her another injection of the "secret sedative" before carrying her to a bedroom and slowly laid her on the white bed, "You've got a beautiful body Ileana" as Miranda was secretly an out lesbian behind closed doors.

Miranda then took a shower, ate a light breakfast, read the newspaper and went into her private bedroom where she put on a latex mask skin-suit disguising herself as "Frances", got dressed before locking the secret dungeon rooms and locking the doors of her heavily secluded hideout and drove on the way towards Rome.

COMING UP THIS WEEK: Part III of the Plot to instigate chaos.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This installment is based off of one of the scenes I was watching in 'The Godfather III' movie earlier this afternoon.

Mysterious Miranda's mission escalates
9:48 PM, September 28, 1978
Somewhere in the Vatican
​

The mysterious Miranda using the alias "Sister Frances" wearing a latex mask skin-suit and nun attire, was in the kitchen making a "special refreshment" for a high-profile figure.

Having been in Rome for the past eight days, Miranda was making some last-minute refreshments inside the Papal Palace in Vatican City. "Just a little special ingrident and almost done" as she poured it into a cup of tea while stirring it very slowly.

The time was 9:48 PM when she heard a knock on the door, Archbishop Donnelly entered "Sister Frances. Is this some tea for last-minute refreshment?" He was about to drink it, she said "It's not for you sir! This tea is for the Pope" as she carefully took it back from him.

After putting more of the "special ingrident" into the cup of tea including stirring it slowly (her back was turned while Donnelly was chatting about helping people, giving life to the Lord. Miranda then handed the hot cup of tea to one of the young servants, who was accompanied by Archbishop Donnelly as they walked all the way toward the private apartment of Pope John Paul I.

Once they left, Miranda checked her watch "Time to get out of here and head back to my hideout" as she cleaned everything up; got rid of the evidence by pouring the rest of that "special ingrident" into the sink, then rinsing it with cold water.

After closing up the kitchen, Miranda politely said goodbye to the unsuspecting maids at the Papal Palace before leaving via vehicle and driving all the way back to her secret hideout.

While Miranda was heading back to her secluded secretive hideout, Donnelly knocked on the door and said "Here's some tea, your Holiness. It'll make you sleep better" as the Pontiff replied "Thank you very much for the cup of tea. I'll drink this before sleeping" as they left and closed the door; Unaware of the deadly ingredient, the Pontiff drunk the hot cup of tea while reading one of his books.....

It would be the last thing John Paul I would be doing before going to sleep......
COMING UP THIS WEEK: Personal PoV's from the night of September 28, 1978 and the explosive breaking news alerts.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Later that night.......
11:37 PM, September 28, 1978
Somewhere in the outskirts of Rome, Italy
******The following installment will be quite erotic. Viewer discretion advised
​

Upon arriving back at her secretive secluded hideout, Miranda locked the door and was relieved at her mission's success "Now that's so easy, time to get rid of these clothes first".

Removing all of her clothes from head to toe, a naked and barefoot Miranda walked into the secret underground dungeon and slowly removed the entire latex mask body skin-suit from head to toe, revealing her true self naked and barefoot "Much better, now time to have some fun" she happily sighed when she walked to the bedroom and carefully removed the entire white plaster off of Ileana's naked body from head to toe.

After placing the white plaster into another secret room, Miranda walked back into the bedroom and thoroughly made love to Ileana, who suddenly woke up when Miranda placed her hand on Ileana's mouth considering it was a sound-proof room. Following this sex escapade, Ileana was given a glass of water, which she drank slowly.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: POPE JOHN PAUL I FOUND DEAD INSIDE PRIVATE APARTMENT AT PAPAL PALACE; DETAILS COMING IN.

*Friday, September 29, 1978: The world woke up to one of the shocking and stunning news developments: Pope John Paul I died after just 33 days in the Papacy.

Reports stated that the Pontiff was found dead inside his private apartment at the Papal Palace, with a night lamp on near his bedside. This comes less than one month following the death of his predecessor, Pope Paul VI on August 6th.

US VICE PRESIDENT LINWOOD HOLTON LEADING US DELEGATION TO PAPAL FUNERAL

*US Vice President Linwood Holton confirmed he'll be leading the American delegation including Second Lady Jinks Holton as well as US First Lady Happy Rockefeller, in attending the Papal funeral festivities expected to take place outdoors at Saint Peter's Square in Rome, Italy.

PAPAL FUNERAL OF POPE JOHN PAUL I

*October 4, 1978: 50,000 people attended the Papal Funeral service of Pope John Paul I outdoors at Saint Peter's Square in Rome, Italy. Many members of the Diplomatic Corps and foreign dignitaries were in attendance at the service.

Pope John Paul I was entombed at Saint Peter's Basilica following the service.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

*October 9, 1978: PW Botha succeeds John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa.

*October 10, 1978: Vorster becomes State President of the Republic of South Africa.
*US President Nelson Rockefeller signs legislation authorizing the mining of the Susan B. Anthony Dollar.

*October 16, 1978: Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope John Paul I as the 264th Pope resulting in the first year of three popes since 1605. He is the first Polish Pope in history and the first non-Italian Pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522-15231).

*October 27, 1978: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin won the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress towards achieving Middle East Accords.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING SOON IN CHAPTER 5 OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Highlights of the 1978 Midterms​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING UP LATER IN THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
The mysterious kidnapping of Queen Elizabeth II and the ugly deterioration of diplomatic relations between the Argentine Republic and United Kingdom. ​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Clements
11:56 AM CST, Thursday, November 2, 1978
San Antonio, Texas

Upon leaving office as US Secretary of Defense on January 20, 1977, William Perry Clements, Jr., had been serving on the Southern Methodist University Board of Governors and other ventures in the private sector. While returning back home to Texas was nice, there were signs of a political backlash brewing across the Lone Star State. In 1976, Alabama Governor George Wallace (D) narrowly won the Lone Star State's 25 electoral votes by less than 31,000 votes: despite the overwhelming landslide victory of President Nelson Rockefeller, who carried 45 out of 50 States that year. Rockefeller's approval ratings remained sky high throughout 1977 with 70+%.

Signs of disunity and chaos inside the Texas Democratic Party was bubbling over the surface due to non-stop infighting: liberals revolting against the staunch conservative Democratic Governor Dolph Briscoe (D) to the point of anti-Briscoe coalition forces uniting behind moderate Texas State Attorney General John Hill (D), who narrowly defeated the unpopular incumbent in the June 4, 1978 Democratic Party gubernatorial runoff election (50% to 49%). While Clements had a cakewalk in the Republican primary on May 6, 1978, he knew in order to win the Governor's Mansion, he needed the support of Independents, disaffected Democrats including majority of conservatives who supported Briscoe. First things first, a look at how Clements got here:

In the Fall of 1977, Clements was moderating a symposium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas on oil and America's energy, which was attended by over 2,000 people including United States Senator Harrison Schmidt (R-NM), who rode on the cottails of President Rockefeller in 1976. Following the symposium, Schmidt spoke with Clements about the possibility of running for the Texas Governor's Mansion. In previous recruit efforts, Clements had turned them down by preferring to run SEDCO. However, this recruiting effort was quite different. Clements' wife, Rita Crocker Bass Clements, had served as a Republican National Committeewoman and was directly staunchly dedicated to the Republican Party cause in Texas; in 1976, she was part of the Women for Rocky coalition working aggressively for President Rockefeller's successful election campaign to full four-year term including using volunteerism efforts in all 254 counties. Rita told her husband "Bill. The previous Republican nominees for Governor didn't have the national organization for victory in 1962, 1968, 1970 or 1972. 1974 was a heavily Democratic landslide year in the aftermath of Watergate; Rita figured correctly that 1978 will be the year the Republican Party will break through that barrier."

There was no convincing William on recruiting. "Let's do it!", he said. On November 16, 1977, Clements announced his campaign for the Texas Governor's Mansion: "I am convinced that I can win, and I can assure you that if I didn't feel that way and have good reasons to believe that, I wouldn't be declaring and wouldn't be in the race."

Fast forward to the aftermath of the May primaries and June runoff, Clements tried exploiting the bitter feelings between the Briscoe and Hill camps. He averred that key Briscoe supporters had flocked to him. Conservative voters supported the staunch conservative Clements, because regardless of party, conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans saw the biggest threat as the liberal Democrats and the agenda they championed. Clements harshly derided Hill's experience as Texas State Attorney General and leadership abilities "He's a liberal lawyer-politician who doesn't understand the management of a big operation," said Clements with his usual verbal swagger. "If he thinks this race is going to be some kind of cakewalk, I can assure you he has a hold of a hot enchilada."

Hill had obvious difficulty reaching out to Briscoe voters and supporters. As David Dean noted, "Almost everything he (Hill) did caused offense to the Briscoe administration and appointees." Aa a result, many Democrats initially supported Hill, but without any enthusiasm. Many wanted to see what Hill would offer or if a candidate for whom they had stronger preference would emerge. "For awhile everyone sat and waited," recalled Dean, "then came along Clements, and the more they saw, the more they liked, Clements was his own man and presented a vision for Texas. He had personal integrity and could win."

Briscoe's son, two daughters and one son-in-law openly backed Clements. Janey Briscoe further added that the Hill campaign hadn't reached out to or seeking the support of the Governor. Cele Briscoe, the Governor's daughter confirmed her mother's claims, declaring that she "cannot support someone like Hill. It's not because he beat my father, but because of his beliefs and philosophy." Dean responded to Cele Briscoe's comments, "I guess you could take that as an endorsement."

Clements aggressively gained in polling surveys in October as the election approached, forcing Hill to realize how much important Democratic turnout had become to his cause. Dean himself leveled a series of blistering attacks on Hill late in the campaign in a bid to drive disaffected conservative Democrats into the Clements camp. Also complicating Hill's campaign was the blatant refusal from several key Texas Democrats to support or campaign for him: United States Senators Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) and Mark W. White, Jr., (D-TX), Texas Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby (D), Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Bob Bullock (D).

​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1978 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

*Tuesday, November 7, 1978: Americans came out to cast their votes in the 1978 Midterm elections in determining who controls both houses of Congress including voting on Governorships.

Here are some of the highlights:

DEMOCRATS RETAIN CONTROL OF THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

*Democrats lost their two-thirds supermajority in the US House of Representatives, but maintained their large 279-seat majority. Republicans gained 15 seats and among those elected: Newt Gingrich (R-GA 6th) and former White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney (R-WY At-Large). Cheney had served as White House Chief of Staff under the late President Gerald Ford from 1974 until September 5, 1975 with his abrupt firing by President Rockefeller.

*US House of Representatives Results
279 Democrats: 30,317,777 (53.7%)✔
157 Republicans: 24,464,665 (44.8%)

COMING UP: PART II OF THE 1978 MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS: We will dive into the results of the United States Senate from Alabama all the way to Puerto Rico.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1978 MIDTERM ELECTIONS (PART II):

DEMOCRATS RETAIN CONTROL OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

*Thirteen seats changed hands between the Republicans and Democrats, which resulted in a net gain of three seats for the Republicans. During the Summer of 1977, it was also a historic special election for the 51st State of the United States: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which held statewide elections for the Commonwealth's newly-created two US Senate seats as a result of the bipartisan passage of the Puerto Rico Statehood Act of 1977, which was signed by President Rockefeller.

*United States Senate Results (November 7, 1978):
61 Democrats
41 Republicans

*Alabama (OPEN): Following the retirement of segregationist United States Senator John Sparkman (D-AL) , the Democrats recruited former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Howell Heflin (D) to run for Sparkman's open US Senate seat. It was no contest as Heflin easily dispatched nominal opposition sweeping all counties in the Land of Dixie.
Howell Heflin (D): 547,054 (94%)✔
Jerome B. Couch (PB): 34,951 (6%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD.

*Alabama (Special): Upon the death of United States Senator James Allen (D-AL), Alabama Governor and 1976 Democratic Party Presidential nominee George C. Wallace (D) appointed Allen's widow to her husband's US Senate seat. She chose not run in the special election.

The winner of the special election was Donald W. Stewart (D) ,who easily defeated former US. Rep. James D. Martin (R-AL) without much difficulty.
Donald W. Stewart (D): 401,852 (55.1%)✔
James D. Martin (R): 316,170 (43.3%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD

*Alaska: Incumbent United States Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) was overwhelmingly reelected to a second full six-year term defeating Donald Hobbs (D).
Ted Stevens (R-incumbent): 92,783 (75.59%)✔
Donald Hobbs (D): 29,574 (24.10%)
REPUBLICAN HOLD

*Arkansas (OPEN): Popular two-term Arkansas Governor David Pryor (D) easily dispatched Thomas Kelly (R).
David Pryor (D): 399,916 (76.58%)✔
Thomas Kelly (R): 84,722 (16.22%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD

*COLORADO: The 1978 Midterms produced the first Republican pick-up of the night. US Rep. William Armstrong (R-CO) defeated incumbent United States Senator Floyd Haskell (D-CO) by a shocking wide margin.
William Armstrong (R): 480,801 (58.69%)✔
Floyd Haskell (D-incumbent): 330,148 (40.30%)
REPUBLICAN GAIN

COMING UP: Part III of the 1978 Midterm election results.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING SOON IN CHAPTER 5 OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
January 23, 1979: President Nelson Rockefeller delivers his fourth State of the Union Address ​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

COMING UP LATER IN CHAPTER IN THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
The tragic storybook ending of Princess Grace of Monaco ​

 

[Sergeant Foley]

1978 MIDTERMS: UNITED STATES SENATE (PART III)
*Delaware: United States Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) has been reelected defeating Republican challenger James Baxter (R) very handily.
Joe Biden (D-incumbent): 93,930 (57.96%) ✔
James Baxter (R): 66,479 (41.02%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD .

*Georgia: Popular incumbent United States Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) has been overwhelmingly reelected sweeping all 159 counties.
Sam Nunn (D-incumbent): 536,320 (83.1%) ✔
JW Stokes (R): 108,808 (16.9%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD.

*Idaho: Incumbent United States Senator James McClure (R-ID) is easily reelected in a massive landslide.
James McClure (R-incumbent): 194,412 (68.44%)✔
Dwight Jensen (D): 89,635 (31.56%)
REPUBLICAN HOLD .

*Illinois: Two-term incumbent United States Senator Charles Percy (R-IL) had been expected to coast easily to reelection, but Democratic challenger Alex Smith (D) aggressively campaigned hard tying Percy to some of the Rockefeller administration's controversial budget cuts on domestic programs, etc.,

Buyoed by the popular Illinois Governor James R. Thompson (R) on the statewide ballot, Percy managed to survive in the end. Exit polls revealed Percy won 50% of African Americans, 54% of 18-34 voters and 58% of Jewish Americans.
Charles Percy (R-incumbent): 1,698,711 (53.34%)✔
Alex Smith (D): 1,448,187 (45.47%)
REPUBLICAN HOLD .

*Iowa: In one of the most aggressive, negative and ugly bitter campaigns in the Hawkeye State, Roger Jensen (R) defeated incumbent United States Senator Richard Clark (D-IA) with allegations of influence peddling by the South African government, who blatantly used covert operations to aiding Jensen's campaign.
Roger Jensen (R): 421,598 (51.12%) ✔
Richard Clark (D-incumbent): 395,066 (47.91%)
REPUBLICAN GAIN.

*Kansas (Open): Nancy Kassenbaum (R) has defeated former US Rep. Bill Roy (D-KS).
Nancy Kassenbaum (R): 403,354 (53.86%)✔
Bill Roy (D): 317,602 (42.41%)
REPUBLICAN HOLD .

*Kentucky: Incumbent United States Senator Walter Huddleston (D-KY) has been easily reelected to a second six-year term defeating Louie Guenther (R).
Walter Huddleston (D-incumbent): 290,730 (60.98%)✔
Louie Guenther (R): 175,766 (36.87%)
DEMOCRATIC HOLD .

COMING UP: Part IV of the 1978 Midterm elections covering the United States Senate.