1972 United States presidential election Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==General election== ===Campaign=== [[File:Richard Nixon greeted by children during campaign 1972.png|left|thumb|Richard Nixon during an August 1972 campaign stop]] [[File:George McGovern UH.jpeg|left|thumb|upright|George McGovern speaking at an October 1972 campaign rally]] McGovern ran on a platform of immediately ending the Vietnam War and instituting a radical [[guaranteed minimum income]]s for the nation's poor. His campaign was harmed by his views during the primaries (which alienated many powerful Democrats), the perception that his foreign policy was too extreme, and the Eagleton debacle. With McGovern's campaign weakened by these factors, with the Republicans portraying McGovern as a radical left-wing extremist, Nixon [[Historical polling for U.S. Presidential elections#1972 United States presidential election|led in the polls]] by large margins throughout the entire campaign. With an enormous fundraising advantage and a comfortable lead in the polls, Nixon concentrated on large rallies and focused speeches to closed, select audiences, leaving much of the retail campaigning to surrogates like Vice President Agnew. Nixon did not, by design, try to extend his coattails to Republican congressional or gubernatorial candidates, preferring to pad his own margin of victory. ===Results=== [[File:1972prescountymap2.PNG|thumb|right|400px|Election results by county.{{legend|#E32636|[[Richard Nixon]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}} {{legend|#1560BD|[[George McGovern]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}]] [[File:1972 Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District.png|thumb|right|400px|Results by congressional district.]] Nixon's percentage of the popular vote was only marginally less than Lyndon Johnson's record in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 election]], and his margin of victory was slightly larger. Nixon won a majority vote in 49 states, including McGovern's home state of [[South Dakota]]. Only [[Massachusetts]] and the [[District of Columbia]] voted for the challenger, resulting in an even more lopsided [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] tally. McGovern garnered only 37.5 percent of the national popular vote, the lowest share received by a Democratic Party nominee since [[John W. Davis]] won only 28.8 percent of the vote in the [[1924 United States presidential election|1924 election]]. The only major party candidate since 1972 to receive less than 40 percent of the vote was Republican incumbent President [[George H. W. Bush]] who won 37.4 percent of the vote in the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], a race that (as in 1924) was complicated by a strong non-major-party vote.<ref>{{cite web| last=Feinman| first=Ronald| title=Donald Trump Could Be On Way To Worst Major Party Candidate Popular Vote Percentage Since William Howard Taft In 1912 And John W. Davis In 1924!| date=September 2, 2016| url=http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=28297| work=The Progressive Professor| access-date=November 7, 2019| archive-date=December 20, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220001137/http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=28297| url-status=live}}</ref> Nixon received the highest share of the popular vote for a Republican in history. Although the McGovern campaign believed that its candidate had a better chance of defeating Nixon because of the new [[Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] that lowered the national voting age to 18 from 21, most of the youth vote went to Nixon.<ref name="walker200807">{{cite news |url=http://reason.com/archives/2008/06/10/the-age-of-nixon |title=The Age of Nixon: Rick Perlstein on the left, the right, the '60s, and the illusion of consensus |work=Reason |date=July 2008 |access-date=July 27, 2013 |author=[[Jesse Walker]] |archive-date=July 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718110125/http://reason.com/archives/2008/06/10/the-age-of-nixon |url-status=live }}</ref> This was the first election in American history in which a [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] candidate carried every single [[American South|Southern state]], continuing the region's transformation from [[Solid South|a Democratic bastion]] into a Republican stronghold as [[United States presidential elections in Arkansas|Arkansas]] was carried by a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in a century. By this time, all the Southern states, except Arkansas and Texas, had been carried by a Republican in either the previous election or the one in 1964 (although Republican candidates carried Texas in 1928, 1952 and 1956). As a result of this election, Massachusetts became the only state that Nixon did not carry in any of the three presidential elections in which he was a candidate. Notably, Nixon became the first Republican to ever win two terms in the White House without carrying Massachusetts at least once, and the same feat would later be duplicated by [[George W. Bush]] who won both the 2000 and 2004 elections without winning Massachusetts either time. This presidential election was the first since [[1808 United States presidential election|1808]] in which [[New York (state)|New York]] did not have the largest number of electors in the Electoral College, having fallen to 41 electors vs. [[California]]'s 45. Additionally, through [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]] it remains the last one in which Minnesota was carried by the Republican candidate.<ref name="how">Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116163625/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century |date=November 16, 2016 }}; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref> McGovern won a mere 130 counties, plus the District of Columbia and four county-equivalents in Alaska,{{efn|These were [[North Slope Borough, Alaska|North Slope Borough]], plus [[Bethel Census Area, Alaska|Bethel]], [[Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska|Kusilvak]] and [[Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska|Hoonah-Angoon Census Areas]]}} easily the fewest counties won by any major-party presidential nominee since the advent of popular presidential elections.<ref>Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868β2004'', p. 98 {{ISBN|0786422173}}</ref> In nineteen states, McGovern failed to carry a single county;{{efn|McGovern failed to carry a single county in Arkansas, [[United States presidential election in Connecticut, 1972|Connecticut]], Delaware, [[United States presidential election in Florida, 1972|Florida]], Georgia, [[United States presidential election in Hawaii, 1972|Hawaii]], Idaho, Indiana, [[United States presidential election in Kansas, 1972|Kansas]], Nebraska, Nevada, [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1972|New Jersey]], [[United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 1972|New Hampshire]], Oklahoma, [[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1972|Rhode Island]], [[United States presidential election in South Carolina, 1972|South Carolina]], [[United States presidential election in Utah, 1972|Utah]], [[United States presidential election in Vermont, 1972|Vermont]] or Wyoming}} he carried a mere one county-equivalent in a further nine states,{{efn|McGovern carried only one county-equivalent in Arizona ([[Greenlee County, Arizona|Greenlee]]), [[United States presidential election in Illinois, 1972|Illinois]] ([[Jackson County, Illinois|Jackson]]), Louisiana ([[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana|West Feliciana Parish]]), [[United States presidential election in Maine, 1972|Maine]] ([[Androscoggin County, Maine|Androscoggin]]), [[United States presidential election in Maryland, 1972|Maryland]] ([[Baltimore]]), North Dakota ([[Rolette County, North Dakota|Rolette]]), [[United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 1972|Pennsylvania]] ([[Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]), [[United States presidential election in Virginia, 1972|Virginia]] ([[Charles City County, Virginia|Charles City]]), and West Virginia ([[Logan County, West Virginia|Logan]])}} and just two counties in a further seven.{{efn|McGovern carried just two counties in [[United States presidential election in Colorado, 1972|Colorado]], Missouri, [[United States presidential election in Montana, 1972|Montana]], [[United States presidential election in New Mexico, 1972|New Mexico]], [[United States presidential election in North Carolina, 1972|North Carolina]], [[United States presidential election in Ohio, 1972|Ohio]] and [[United States presidential election in Washington (state), 1972|Washington State]]}} In contrast to [[Walter Mondale]]'s narrow 1984 win in Minnesota, McGovern comfortably did win Massachusetts, but lost every other state by no less than five percentage points, as well as 45 states by more than ten percentage points β the exceptions being Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and his home state of South Dakota. This election also made Nixon the second former vice president in American history to serve two terms back-to-back, after [[Thomas Jefferson]] in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]] and [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]]. As well as the only two-term Vice President to be elected President twice. Since McGovern carried only one state, bumper stickers reading "Nixon 49 America 1",<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1973-08-27 |title=New York Intelligencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57 |magazine=New York |language=en |publisher=New York Media, LLC |volume=6 |issue=35 |page=57 |access-date=2019-03-16 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418145342/https://books.google.com/books?id=qOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts", and "Massachusetts: The One And Only" were popular for a short time in Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/14/archives/as-massachusetts-went-im-frommassachusetts-dont-blame-me.html |title=As Massachusetts wentβ |last=Lukas |first=J. Anthony |date=1973-01-14 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-03-16 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517204221/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/14/archives/as-massachusetts-went-im-frommassachusetts-dont-blame-me.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nixon managed to win 18% of the African American vote (Gerald Ford would get 16% in 1976).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Exit Polls β Election Results 2008 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html |access-date=2020-05-11 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523220252/https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/results/president/national-exit-polls.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He also remains the only Republican in modern times to threaten the oldest extant Democratic stronghold of [[South Texas]]: this is the last election when the Republicans have won [[Hidalgo County, Texas|Hidalgo]] or [[Dimmit County, Texas|Dimmit]] counties, the only time Republicans have won [[La Salle County, Texas|La Salle County]] between [[William McKinley]] in 1900 and [[Donald Trump]] in 2020, and one of only two occasions since Theodore Roosevelt in 1904{{efn|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1952 also obtained a plurality in Presidio County}} that Republicans have gained a majority in [[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]].<ref name="how"/> More significantly, the 1972 election was the most recent time several highly populous urban counties β including [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook]] in Illinois, [[Orleans Parish, Louisiana|Orleans]] in Louisiana, [[Hennepin County, Minnesota|Hennepin]] in Minnesota, [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Cuyahoga]] in Ohio, [[Durham County, North Carolina|Durham]] in North Carolina, [[Queens County, New York|Queens]] in New York, and [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's]] in Maryland β have voted Republican.<ref name="how"/> The [[George Wallace 1968 presidential campaign|Wallace vote]] had also been crucial to Nixon being able to sweep the states that had narrowly held out against him in 1968 (Texas, Maryland, and West Virginia), as well as the states Wallace won himself (Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia). The pro-Wallace group of voters had only given AIP nominee John Schmitz a depressing 2.4% of its support, while 19.1% backed McGovern, and the majority 78.5% broke for Nixon. Nixon, who became [[term limits in the United States|term-limited]] under the provisions of the [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]] as a result of his victory, became the first (and, as of 2023, only) presidential candidate to win a significant number of electoral votes in three presidential elections since the ratification of that Amendment. As of 2023, Nixon was the seventh of seven presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is the only Republican ever to do so. The 520 electoral votes received by Nixon, added to the 301 electoral votes he received in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]], and the 219 electoral votes he received in [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]], gave him the most total electoral votes received by any candidate who had been previously Vice President to become president (1,040) and the second largest number of electoral votes received by any candidate who was elected to the office of president behind [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s 1,876 total electoral votes. {{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=<!--source for popular votes--><ref>{{Leip PV source 2| year=1972| as of=August 7, 2005}}</ref>| ev_footnote=<!--source for electoral votes--><ref>{{National Archives EV source| year=1972| as of=August 7, 2005}}</ref>}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Richard Nixon]] (incumbent)| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=[[California]]| pv=47,168,710| pv_pct=60.67%| ev=520| vp_name=[[Spiro T. Agnew]] (incumbent)| vp_state=[[Maryland]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[George McGovern]]| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=[[South Dakota]]| pv=29,173,222| pv_pct=37.52%| ev=17| vp_name=[[Sargent Shriver]]| vp_state=[[Maryland]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John G. Schmitz]]| party=[[American Independent Party|American Independent]]| state=[[California]]| pv=1,100,896| pv_pct=1.42%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|Thomas J. Anderson]]| vp_state=[[Tennessee]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Linda Jenness]]| party=[[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers]]| state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]| pv=83,380{{efn|In [[Arizona]], Pima and Yavapai counties had an unusually formatted ballot that led voters to believe they could vote for a major party presidential candidate and simultaneously vote the six individual Socialist Workers Party presidential electors. Technically, these were overvotes, and should not have counted for either the major party candidates or the Socialist Workers Party electors. Within two days of the election, the Attorney General and Pima County Attorney had agreed that all votes should count. The Socialist Workers Party had not qualified as a party, and thus did not have a presidential candidate. In the official state canvass, votes for Nixon, McGovern, or Schmitz, are shown as being for the presidential candidate, the party, and the elector slate of the party; while those for the Socialist Worker Party elector candidates were for those candidates only. In the view of the Secretary of State, the votes were not for Linda Jenness. Some tabulations count the votes for Jenness. Historically, presidential candidate names did not appear on ballots, and voters voted directly for the electors. Nonetheless, votes for the electors are attributed to the presidential candidate. Counting the votes in Arizona for Jenness is consistent with this practice. Because of the confusing ballots, Socialist Workers Party electors received votes on about 21 percent and 8 percent of ballots in Pima and Yavapai, respectively. 30,579 of the party's 30,945 Arizona votes are from those two counties.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Seeley |first=John |date=2000-11-22|title=Early and Often|url=https://www.laweekly.com/early-and-often-3/|access-date=2021-04-10|website=LA Weekly|language=en-US}}</ref> }}| pv_pct=0.11%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Andrew Pulley]]| vp_state=[[Illinois]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Benjamin Spock]]| party=[[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's]]| state=[[California]]| pv=78,759| pv_pct=0.10%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Julius Hobson]]| vp_state=[[District of Columbia]] }} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Louis Fisher]]| party=[[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]]| state=[[Illinois]]| pv=53,814| pv_pct=0.07%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Genevieve Gunderson]]| vp_state=[[Minnesota]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John Hospers|John G. Hospers]]| party=[[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]]| state=[[California]]| pv=3,674| pv_pct=0.00%| ev=1{{efn|A [[Virginia]] [[faithless elector]], [[Roger MacBride]], though pledged to vote for [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Spiro Agnew]], instead voted for Libertarian candidates [[John Hospers]] and [[Theodora "Tonie" Nathan]].}}<ref name="lp"/>| vp_name=[[Theodora Nathan]]| vp_state=[[Oregon]]}} {{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv= 81,575| pv_pct=0.10%}} {{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=77,744,030| ev=538| to_win=270}} [[File:John Hospers Presidential.jpg|thumb|[[John Hospers]] received one faithless electoral vote from Virginia.]] {{bar box |title=Popular vote |titlebar=#ddd |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Nixon'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|60.67}} {{bar percent|McGovern|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|37.52}} {{bar percent|Schmitz|{{party color|American Independent Party}}|1.42}} {{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.39}} }} {{bar box |title=Electoral vote |titlebar=#ddd |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Nixon'''|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|96.65}} {{bar percent|McGovern|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|3.16}} {{bar percent|Hospers|{{party color|Libertarian Party (US)}}|0.19}} }} [[File:1972 Electoral Map.png|650px|thumb|left]] <gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px"> Image:1972 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote </gallery> ===Results by state=== ;Legend {|class="wikitable" |+ Legend |-{{Party shading/Republican}} |colspan=2| States/districts won by [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]/[[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]] |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} |colspan=2| States/districts won by [[George McGovern|McGovern]]/[[Sargent Shriver|Shriver]] |- | β || At-large results (Maine used the Congressional District Method) |} <div style="margin-bottom:30px;overflow:auto;width:100%;height:1200px;border-radius:0.5rem;background-color: transparent;"> {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right" |+Outcomes of the 1972 United States presidential election by state<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1972&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1972 Presidential General Election Data β National|access-date=March 18, 2013|archive-date=February 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201035330/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1972&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|url-status=live}}</ref> |- ! scope="col" colspan=2 | ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Richard Nixon<br />Republican ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| George McGovern<br />Democratic ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| John Schmitz<br />American Independent ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| John Hospers<br />Libertarian ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Margin ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| State Total |- ! scope="col" align=center | State ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br />votes ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| # ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| % ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | # !scope="col" | |-{{Party shading/Republican}} |style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 728,701 | 72.43 | 9 | 256,923 | 25.54 | | 11,918 | 1.18 | | | | | 471,778 | 46.89 | 1,006,093 | style="text-align:center;" | AL |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Alaska|Alaska]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 55,349 | 58.13 | 3 | 32,967 | 34.62 | | 6,903 | 7.25 | | | | | 22,382 | 23.51 | 95,219 | style="text-align:center;" | AK |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Arizona|Arizona]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 402,812 | 61.64 | 6 | 198,540 | 30.38 | | 21,208 | 3.25 | | | | | 204,272 | 31.26 | 653,505 | style="text-align:center;" | AZ |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 445,751 | 68.82 | 6 | 198,899 | 30.71 | | 3,016 | 0.47 | | | | | 246,852 | 38.11 | 647,666 | style="text-align:center;" | AR |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in California|California]] | style="text-align:center;" | 45 | 4,602,096 | 55.00 | 45 | 3,475,847 | 41.54 | | 232,554 | 2.78 | | 980 | 0.01 | | 1,126,249 | 13.46 | 8,367,862 | style="text-align:center;" | CA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]] | style="text-align:center;" | 7 | 597,189 | 62.61 | 7 | 329,980 | 34.59 | | 17,269 | 1.81 | | 1,111 | 0.12 | | 267,209 | 28.01 | 953,884 | style="text-align:center;" | CO |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 810,763 | 58.57 | 8 | 555,498 | 40.13 | | 17,239 | 1.25 | | | | | 255,265 | 18.44 | 1,384,277 | style="text-align:center;" | CT |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 140,357 | 59.60 | 3 | 92,283 | 39.18 | | 2,638 | 1.12 | | | | | 48,074 | 20.41 | 235,516 | style="text-align:center;" | DE |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia|D.C.]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 35,226 | 21.56 | | 127,627 | 78.10 | 3 | | | | | | | β92,401 | β56.54 | 163,421 | style="text-align:center;" | DC |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]] | style="text-align:center;" | 17 | 1,857,759 | 71.91 | 17 | 718,117 | 27.80 | | | | | | | | 1,139,642 | 44.12 | 2,583,283 | style="text-align:center;" | FL |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 881,496 | 75.04 | 12 | 289,529 | 24.65 | | 812 | 0.07 | | | | | 591,967 | 50.39 | 1,174,772 | style="text-align:center;" | GA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Hawaii|Hawaii]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 168,865 | 62.48 | 4 | 101,409 | 37.52 | | | | | | | | 67,456 | 24.96 | 270,274 | style="text-align:center;" | HI |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Idaho|Idaho]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 199,384 | 64.24 | 4 | 80,826 | 26.04 | | 28,869 | 9.30 | | | | | 118,558 | 38.20 | 310,379 | style="text-align:center;" | ID |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]] | style="text-align:center;" | 26 | 2,788,179 | 59.03 | 26 | 1,913,472 | 40.51 | | 2,471 | 0.05 | | | | | 874,707 | 18.52 | 4,723,236 | style="text-align:center;" | IL |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 1,405,154 | 66.11 | 13 | 708,568 | 33.34 | | | | | | | | 696,586 | 32.77 | 2,125,529 | style="text-align:center;" | IN |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 706,207 | 57.61 | 8 | 496,206 | 40.48 | | 22,056 | 1.80 | | | | | 210,001 | 17.13 | 1,225,944 | style="text-align:center;" | IA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 7 | 619,812 | 67.66 | 7 | 270,287 | 29.50 | | 21,808 | 2.38 | | | | | 349,525 | 38.15 | 916,095 | style="text-align:center;" | KS |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 676,446 | 63.37 | 9 | 371,159 | 34.77 | | 17,627 | 1.65 | | | | | 305,287 | 28.60 | 1,067,499 | style="text-align:center;" | KY |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]] | style="text-align:center;" | 10 | 686,852 | 65.32 | 10 | 298,142 | 28.35 | | 52,099 | 4.95 | | | | | 388,710 | 36.97 | 1,051,491 | style="text-align:center;" | LA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine β ]] | style="text-align:center;" | 2 | 256,458 | 61.46 | 2 | 160,584 | 38.48 | | 117 | 0.03 | | 1 | 0.00 | | 95,874 | 22.98 | 417,271 | style="text-align:center;" | ME |- {{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" |[[1972 United States presidential election in Maine|''Maine-1'']] | style="text-align:center;" | ''1'' | 135,388 | 61.42 | 1 | ''85,028'' | ''38.58'' | | ''Unknown'' | ''Unknown'' | | ''Unknown'' | ''Unknown'' | | ''50,360'' | ''22.85'' | ''220,416'' | style="text-align:center;" | ''ME1'' |- {{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" |[[1972 United States presidential election in Maine|''Maine-2'']] | style="text-align:center;" | ''1'' | 121,120 | 61.58 | 1 | ''75,556'' | ''38.42'' | | ''Unknown'' | ''Unknown'' | | ''Unknown'' | ''Unknown'' | | ''45,564'' | ''23.17'' | ''196,676'' | style="text-align:center;" | ''ME2'' |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]] | style="text-align:center;" | 10 | 829,305 | 61.26 | 10 | 505,781 | 37.36 | | 18,726 | 1.38 | | | | | 323,524 | 23.90 | 1,353,812 | style="text-align:center;" | MD |-{{Party shading/Democratic}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] | style="text-align:center;" | 14 | 1,112,078 | 45.23 | | 1,332,540 | 54.20 | 14 | 2,877 | 0.12 | | 43 | 0.00 | | β220,462 | β8.97 | 2,458,756 | style="text-align:center;" | MA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]] | style="text-align:center;" | 21 | 1,961,721 | 56.20 | 21 | 1,459,435 | 41.81 | | 63,321 | 1.81 | | | | | 502,286 | 14.39 | 3,490,325 | style="text-align:center;" | MI |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]] | style="text-align:center;" | 10 | 898,269 | 51.58 | 10 | 802,346 | 46.07 | | 31,407 | 1.80 | | | | | 95,923 | 5.51 | 1,741,652 | style="text-align:center;" | MN |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]] | style="text-align:center;" | 7 | 505,125 | 78.20 | 7 | 126,782 | 19.63 | | 11,598 | 1.80 | | | | | 378,343 | 58.57 | 645,963 | style="text-align:center;" | MS |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 1,154,058 | 62.29 | 12 | 698,531 | 37.71 | | | | | | | | 455,527 | 24.59 | 1,852,589 | style="text-align:center;" | MO |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Montana|Montana]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 183,976 | 57.93 | 4 | 120,197 | 37.85 | | 13,430 | 4.23 | | | | | 63,779 | 20.08 | 317,603 | style="text-align:center;" | MT |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]] | style="text-align:center;" | 5 | 406,298 | 70.50 | 5 | 169,991 | 29.50 | | | | | | | | 236,307 | 41.00 | 576,289 | style="text-align:center;" | NE |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 115,750 | 63.68 | 3 | 66,016 | 36.32 | | | | | | | | 49,734 | 27.36 | 181,766 | style="text-align:center;" | NV |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 213,724 | 63.98 | 4 | 116,435 | 34.86 | | 3,386 | 1.01 | | | | | 97,289 | 29.12 | 334,055 | style="text-align:center;" | NH |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]] | style="text-align:center;" | 17 | 1,845,502 | 61.57 | 17 | 1,102,211 | 36.77 | | 34,378 | 1.15 | | | | | 743,291 | 24.80 | 2,997,229 | style="text-align:center;" | NJ |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico|New Mexico]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 235,606 | 61.05 | 4 | 141,084 | 36.56 | | 8,767 | 2.27 | | | | | 94,522 | 24.49 | 385,931 | style="text-align:center;" | NM |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in New York|New York]] | style="text-align:center;" | 41 | 4,192,778 | 58.54 | 41 | 2,951,084 | 41.21 | | | | | | | | 1,241,694 | 17.34 | 7,161,830 | style="text-align:center;" | NY |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]] | style="text-align:center;" | 13 | 1,054,889 | 69.46 | 13 | 438,705 | 28.89 | | 25,018 | 1.65 | | | | | 616,184 | 40.58 | 1,518,612 | style="text-align:center;" | NC |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in North Dakota|North Dakota]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 174,109 | 62.07 | 3 | 100,384 | 35.79 | | 5,646 | 2.01 | | | | | 73,725 | 26.28 | 280,514 | style="text-align:center;" | ND |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]] | style="text-align:center;" | 25 | 2,441,827 | 59.63 | 25 | 1,558,889 | 38.07 | | 80,067 | 1.96 | | | | | 882,938 | 21.56 | 4,094,787 | style="text-align:center;" | OH |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 759,025 | 73.70 | 8 | 247,147 | 24.00 | | 23,728 | 2.30 | | | | | 511,878 | 49.70 | 1,029,900 | style="text-align:center;" | OK |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 486,686 | 52.45 | 6 | 392,760 | 42.33 | | 46,211 | 4.98 | | | | | 93,926 | 10.12 | 927,946 | style="text-align:center;" | OR |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] | style="text-align:center;" | 27 | 2,714,521 | 59.11 | 27 | 1,796,951 | 39.13 | | 70,593 | 1.54 | | | | | 917,570 | 19.98 | 4,592,105 | style="text-align:center;" | PA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 220,383 | 53.00 | 4 | 194,645 | 46.81 | | 25 | 0.01 | | 2 | 0.00 | | 25,738 | 6.19 | 415,808 | style="text-align:center;" | RI |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]] | style="text-align:center;" | 8 | 478,427 | 70.58 | 8 | 189,270 | 27.92 | | 10,166 | 1.50 | | | | | 289,157 | 42.66 | 677,880 | style="text-align:center;" | SC |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in South Dakota|South Dakota]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 166,476 | 54.15 | 4 | 139,945 | 45.52 | | | | | | | | 26,531 | 8.63 | 307,415 | style="text-align:center;" | SD |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]] | style="text-align:center;" | 10 | 813,147 | 67.70 | 10 | 357,293 | 29.75 | | 30,373 | 2.53 | | | | | 455,854 | 37.95 | 1,201,182 | style="text-align:center;" | TN |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]] | style="text-align:center;" | 26 | 2,298,896 | 66.20 | 26 | 1,154,291 | 33.24 | | 7,098 | 0.20 | | | | | 1,144,605 | 32.96 | 3,472,714 | style="text-align:center;" | TX |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]] | style="text-align:center;" | 4 | 323,643 | 67.64 | 4 | 126,284 | 26.39 | | 28,549 | 5.97 | | | | | 197,359 | 41.25 | 478,476 | style="text-align:center;" | UT |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 117,149 | 62.66 | 3 | 68,174 | 36.47 | | | | | | | | 48,975 | 26.20 | 186,947 | style="text-align:center;" | VT |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 12 | 988,493 | 67.84 | 11 | 438,887 | 30.12 | | 19,721 | 1.35 | | | | '''1''' | 549,606 | 37.72 | 1,457,019 | style="text-align:center;" | VA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Washington (state)|Washington]] | style="text-align:center;" | 9 | 837,135 | 56.92 | 9 | 568,334 | 38.64 | | 58,906 | 4.00 | | 1,537 | 0.10 | | 268,801 | 18.28 | 1,470,847 | style="text-align:center;" | WA |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]] | style="text-align:center;" | 6 | 484,964 | 63.61 | 6 | 277,435 | 36.39 | | | | | | | | 207,529 | 27.22 | 762,399 | style="text-align:center;" | WV |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]] | style="text-align:center;" | 11 | 989,430 | 53.40 | 11 | 810,174 | 43.72 | | 47,525 | 2.56 | | | | | 179,256 | 9.67 | 1,852,890 | style="text-align:center;" | WI |-{{Party shading/Republican}} | style="text-align:center;" | [[1972 United States presidential election in Wyoming|Wyoming]] | style="text-align:center;" | 3 | 100,464 | 69.01 | 3 | 44,358 | 30.47 | | 748 | 0.51 | | | | | 56,106 | 38.54 | 145,570 | style="text-align:center;" | WY |- ! TOTALS: ! 538 ! 47,168,710 ! 60.67 ! 520 ! 29,173,222 ! 37.52 ! 17 ! 1,100,868 ! 1.42 ! 0 ! 3,674 ! 0.00 ! 1 ! 17,995,488 ! 23.15 ! 77,744,027 | style="text-align:center;" | US |} </div> For the first time since 1828, Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. This was the first time the Congressional District Method had been used since Michigan used it in 1892. Nixon won all four votes.<ref name="MaineDistrict">{{cite book |last1=Barone |first1=Michael |last2=Matthews |first2=Douglas|last3=Ujifusa |first3=Grant|title=The Almanac of American Politics, 1974 |date=1973 |publisher=[[Gambit Publications]]}}</ref> ====States that flipped from Democratic to Republican==== *[[Connecticut]] *[[Hawaii]] *[[Maine]] *[[Maryland]] *[[Michigan]] *[[Minnesota]] *[[New York (state)|New York]] *[[Pennsylvania]] *[[Rhode Island]] *[[Texas]] *[[Washington (state)|Washington]] *[[West Virginia]] ====States that flipped from American Independent to Republican==== *[[Georgia (US state)|Georgia]] *[[Louisiana]] *[[Alabama]] *[[Mississippi]] *[[Arkansas]] ===Close states=== States where margin of victory was more than 5 percentage points, but less than 10 percentage points (43 electoral votes): {{col-begin}} {{col-break|width=25%}} #<span style="color:red;">'''Minnesota''', 5.51% (95,923 votes) </span> #<span style="color:red;">'''Rhode Island''', 6.19% (25,738 votes)</span> #<span style="color:red;">'''South Dakota''', 8.63% (26,531 votes)</span> #<span style="color:blue;">'''Massachusetts''', 8.97% (220,462 votes)</span> #<span style="color:red;">'''Wisconsin''', 9.67% (179,256 votes)</span> {{col-end}} Tipping point states: #<span style="color:red;">'''Ohio''', 21.56% (882,938 votes)</span> (tipping point for a Nixon victory) #<span style="color:red;">'''Maine-1''', 22.85% (50,360 votes)</span> (tipping point for a McGovern victory)<ref>Leip, David [https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102042/http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#1972 "How close were U.S. Presidential Elections?"], ''[[Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections]]''. Retrieved: January 24, 2013.</ref> ==== Statistics ==== <ref name="auto"/> Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Republican) # '''<span style="color:red;">[[Dade County, Georgia]] 93.45%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:red;">[[Glascock County, Georgia]] 93.38%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:red;">[[George County, Mississippi]] 92.90%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:red;">[[Holmes County, Florida]] 92.51%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:red;">[[Smith County, Mississippi]] 92.35%</span>''' Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Democratic) # '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Duval County, Texas]] 85.68%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Washington, D.C.|Washington, D. C.]] 78.10%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota|Shannon County, South Dakota]] 77.34%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Greene County, Alabama]] 68.32%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Charles City County, Virginia]] 67.84%</span>''' Counties with highest percentage of the vote (Other) # '''<span style="color:green;">[[Jefferson County, Idaho]] 27.51%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:green;">[[Lemhi County, Idaho]] 19.77%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:green;">[[Fremont County, Idaho]] 19.32%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:green;">[[Bonneville County, Idaho]] 18.97%</span>''' # '''<span style="color:green;">[[Madison County, Idaho]] 17.04%</span>''' Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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