The 1978 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Wendell Anderson was defeated by Republican challenger Rudy Boschwitz. Boschwitz's landslide victory over Anderson was part of a Republican sweep of the top of the ticket in the state's elections for both U.S. Senate seats and the race for Governor which has been dubbed the "Minnesota Massacre".
In 1976, U.S. Senator Walter Mondale was elected Vice President of the United States as the running mate of Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and resigned from his current term, which was set to expire in 1979. To fill the vacancy created by Mondale's resignation, Governor Wendell Anderson resigned from office himself and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich, who appointed Anderson to complete the remainder of Mondale's term in office.
In January 1978, Minnesota's other Senator, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, died in office. Rudy Perpich appointed his widow, Muriel Humphrey, to complete his turn in office. Thus, the incumbent Governor and both Senators were all members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and none had been elected to their current office. (Republicans took advantage of this, putting up billboards that read, "The DFL is going to face something scary — an election".)
The results in Minnesota marked the first time the Republicans had held all three offices since Joseph H. Ball left the Senate in January 1949 after being defeated for re-election. Additionally, this election and the special election both marked the first time since1958 that both Senate seats in a state flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle.
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