Elections / 1972 · President

Richard Nixon defeated George McGovern.

George McGovern (D) vs Richard Nixon (R). Every state below links to its full contest page with county-level results.

Nominees: George McGovern (D) · Richard Nixon (R)

1972 presidential election

NixonR+23.2

1972presidential margin

D+60

R+60

Fifty states and DC, each filled by its 1972 result. Hover any state for the detail and its electoral votes.

Smaller states, enlarged

VTR+26.23 EV NHR+29.14 EV MAD+9.014 EV RIR+6.24 EV CTR+18.58 EV NJR+24.817 EV DER+20.43 EV MDR+23.910 EV DCD+56.53 EV

Blue and red show the Democratic-vs-Republican margin; gold marks a state an independent or third-party candidate carried.

Electoral college

538 electors · 270 for a majority

Nixon won 520 of 538 electoral votes.

McGovern17Nixon520Others1

One Virginia elector voted Libertarian (John Hospers).

National popular vote

77,747,535 votes counted

McGovern (D)

29,174,918

37.5%

Nixon (R)

47,175,817

60.7%

All others

1,396,802

1.8%

Margin

R+23.2

The county map

3,139 county-level results on record for 1972

Democrats carried 135 counties, Republicans 3,004. 1,178 counties flipped parties from the previous cycle.

Biggest county swings: George County, MS (R+87.6 swing) · Smith County, MS (R+83.8 swing) · Holmes County, FL (R+83.8 swing) · Newton County, MS (R+82.4 swing) · Coryell County, TX (R+82.4 swing) · Neshoba County, MS (R+82.0 swing)

Results by state

Every row links to the state's contest page with its county map.

State	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
Alaska	R	−23.5%	32,966	55,351	95,218
Alabama	R	−46.9%	256,923	728,701	1,006,093
Arkansas	R	−38.1%	198,899	445,751	647,666
Arizona	R	−31.3%	198,540	402,812	653,505
California	R	−13.5%	3,475,847	4,602,096	8,367,862
Colorado	R	−28.0%	329,980	597,189	953,885
Connecticut	R	−18.5%	555,486	810,740	1,383,464
District of Columbia	D	+56.5%	127,627	35,226	163,421
Delaware	R	−20.4%	92,283	140,357	235,516
Florida	R	−44.1%	718,117	1,857,759	2,583,283
Georgia	R	−50.6%	289,529	881,496	1,171,025
Hawaii	R	−25.0%	101,409	168,865	270,274
Iowa	R	−17.1%	496,206	706,207	1,225,944
Idaho	R	−38.2%	80,826	199,384	310,379
Illinois	R	−18.5%	1,913,472	2,788,179	4,723,236
Indiana	R	−32.8%	708,568	1,405,154	2,125,529
Kansas	R	−38.2%	270,287	619,812	916,095
Kentucky	R	−28.6%	371,159	676,446	1,067,499
Louisiana	R	−37.0%	298,142	686,852	1,051,491
Massachusetts	D	+9.0%	1,332,540	1,112,078	2,458,756
Maryland	R	−23.9%	505,781	829,305	1,353,812
Maine	R	−23.0%	160,584	256,458	417,271
Michigan	R	−14.4%	1,459,435	1,961,721	3,490,325
Minnesota	R	−5.5%	802,346	898,269	1,741,652
Missouri	R	−24.7%	697,147	1,153,852	1,850,999
Mississippi	R	−58.6%	126,782	505,125	645,963
Montana	R	−20.1%	120,197	183,976	317,603
North Carolina	R	−40.6%	438,705	1,054,889	1,518,612
North Dakota	R	−26.3%	100,384	174,109	280,514
Nebraska	R	−41.0%	169,991	406,298	576,289
New Hampshire	R	−29.1%	116,435	213,724	334,059
New Jersey	R	−24.8%	1,102,211	1,845,502	2,997,229
New Mexico	R	−24.5%	141,084	235,606	385,931
Nevada	R	−27.4%	66,016	115,750	181,766
New York	R	−17.3%	2,951,084	4,192,778	7,161,830
Ohio	R	−21.6%	1,558,889	2,441,827	4,094,787
Oklahoma	R	−49.7%	247,147	759,025	1,029,900
Oregon	R	−10.1%	392,760	486,686	927,946
Pennsylvania	R	−20.0%	1,796,951	2,714,521	4,592,106
Rhode Island	R	−6.2%	194,645	220,383	415,808
South Carolina	R	−42.7%	189,270	478,427	677,863
South Dakota	R	−8.6%	139,945	166,476	307,415
Tennessee	R	−38.0%	357,293	813,147	1,201,182
Texas	R	−33.0%	1,154,291	2,298,896	3,472,714
Utah	R	−41.2%	126,284	323,643	478,476
Virginia	R	−37.7%	441,980	995,827	1,467,583
Vermont	R	−26.2%	68,174	117,149	186,946
Washington	R	−18.3%	568,334	837,135	1,470,847
Wisconsin	R	−9.7%	810,174	989,430	1,851,997
West Virginia	R	−27.2%	277,435	484,964	762,399
Wyoming	R	−38.5%	44,358	100,464	145,570