Venezuelan presidential election, 1978
Encyclopedia
General elections were held in Venezuela
on 3 December 1978. The presidential elections were won by Luis Herrera Campins
of Copei, who received 46.6% of the vote. Although Copei received more votes, Democratic Action
won the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst the two parties won 21 seats each in the Senate. Voter turnout was 87.6%.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
on 3 December 1978. The presidential elections were won by Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:...
of Copei, who received 46.6% of the vote. Although Copei received more votes, Democratic Action
Democratic Action
Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...
won the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst the two parties won 21 seats each in the Senate. Voter turnout was 87.6%.
President
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Herrera Campins Luis Herrera Campins Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:... |
Copei-URD Democratic Republican Union The Democratic Republican Union is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1945.When the party appeared on course to win the 1952 election for a constitutional assembly, dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez suspended the election... -FDP-OPINA |
2,487,318 | 46.6 |
| Luis Piñerúa Ordaz | Democratic Action Democratic Action Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period... |
2,309,577 | 43.3 |
| José Vicente Rangel José Vicente Rangel José Vicente Rangel Vale is a Venezuelan leftist politician. He ran for President three times in the 1970s and 1980s and later supported Hugo Chávez, successively becoming Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and Vice President in Chávez's government.-Political activism:His political activism began... |
MAS Movement for Socialism (Venezuela) Movement for Socialism is a center-left political party in Venezuela.-History:The Movement for Socialism is a social-democratic political party in Venezuela. MAS was founded in 1971 by a faction of the Communist Party of Venezuela, with a view to emphasising a socialist message... -VUC |
276,083 | 5.2 |
| Diego Arria Diego Arria Diego Arria Salicetti is a Venezuelan politician, diplomat, former Venezuelan Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations and President of the Security Council . He was Governor of the Federal District of Caracas in the mid-1970s... |
CC-MDT | 90,060 | 1.7 |
| Américo Martín | Revolutionary Left Movement Revolutionary Left Movement (Venezuela) The Revolutionary Left Movement , was a left-wing Marxist political party in Venezuela... |
52,287 | 1.0 |
| Héctor Mujica | Communist Party of Venezuela Communist Party of Venezuela The Communist Party of Venezuela is a Marxist-Leninist political party, and the oldest continuously existing party in Venezuela... |
29,305 | 0.5 |
| Leonardo Montiel | National Renewal Movement | 13,918 | 0.3 |
| Alejandro Gómez | Nationalist Unity Front | 8,337 | 0.2 |
| Pablo Salas Castillo | Nationalist Civic Crusade | 6,081 | 0.1 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 116,888 | – | |
| Total | 5,449,801 | 100 | |
| Source: Nohlen | |||
Congress
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | +/- | Senate | +/- | |||
| Copei | 2,103,004 | 39.8 | 84 | 21 | ||
| Democratic Action Democratic Action Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period... |
2,096,512 | 39.7 | 88 | |||
| 21 | ||||||
| Movement for Socialism Movement for Socialism (Venezuela) Movement for Socialism is a center-left political party in Venezuela.-History:The Movement for Socialism is a social-democratic political party in Venezuela. MAS was founded in 1971 by a faction of the Communist Party of Venezuela, with a view to emphasising a socialist message... |
325,328 | 6.2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | |
| Revolutionary Left Movement Revolutionary Left Movement (Venezuela) The Revolutionary Left Movement , was a left-wing Marxist political party in Venezuela... |
123,915 | 2.3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| People's Electoral Movement | 117,455 | 2.2 | 4 | |||
| 0 | ||||||
| Democratic Republican Union Democratic Republican Union The Democratic Republican Union is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1945.When the party appeared on course to win the 1952 election for a constitutional assembly, dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez suspended the election... |
88,807 | 1.7 | 3 | |||
| 0 | ||||||
| National Integration Movement | 83,700 | 1.6 | 1 | New | 0 | New |
| Common Cause | 85,432 | 1.6 | 1 | New | 0 | New |
| Communist Party of Venezuela Communist Party of Venezuela The Communist Party of Venezuela is a Marxist-Leninist political party, and the oldest continuously existing party in Venezuela... |
55,168 | 1.0 | 1 | |||
| 0 | 0 | |||||
| Communist Unitarian Vanguard | 46,547 | 0.9 | 1 | New | 0 | New |
| Socialist League Socialist League (Venezuela) The Socialist League was a Venezuelan political party. It was established in 1973 in a split from the Revolutionary Left Movement, and merged into PSUV in 2007. The League was co-founded by Jorge Antonio Rodriguez; he was its Secretary General when he was murdered on 25 July 1976, having been... |
30,191 | 0.6 | 1 | New | 0 | New |
| National Renewal Movement | 26,235 | 0.5 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| Labour Movement | 22,966 | 0.4 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| Popular Democratic Front | 13,697 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nationalist Unity Front | 12,986 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Radical Cause Radical Cause The Radical Cause is a working class political party in Venezuela, part of the Venezuelan opposition to president Hugo Chavez... |
12,573 | 0.2 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| Nationalist Civic Crusade | 10,906 | 0.2 | 0 | |||
| 0 | ||||||
| Revolutionary Action Group | 9,034 | 0.2 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| National Opinion | 7,961 | 0.2 | 0 | |||
| 0 | 0 | |||||
| Independents for Community Development | 6,719 | 0.1 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| Other parties | 3,753 | 0.1 | 0 | – | 0 | – |
| Invalid/blank votes | 166,901 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 5,449,790 | 100 | 199 | -1 | 44 | -3 |
| Source: Nohlen | ||||||