Candidate

George McGovern

Democratic

Elections

Won

Electoral votes, all elections

Years

1972

Record

George McGovern: result of each presidential election
Year	Electoral votes	Popular vote	Result
1972	17 of 538	29,084,726 37.5%	Lost

Popular vote is the sum of the sourced state counts, shown only where every state that held a popular vote has one; sums from county returns (1868–1972) can run a few tenths of a point below national totals published elsewhere.

Electoral votesNational Archives, Electoral College results: 1972 (public domain, read 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

SourceStatistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972 (Public domain: a work of the United States government (17 U.S.C. 105), retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

Election by election

1972Democratic · Lost

States carried · 2 of 51

Closest states won

Massachusettsby 220,462 · 9.0 pts
District of Columbiaby 92,401 · 56.5 pts

Closest states lost

MinnesotaNixon by 95,223 · 5.5 pts
Rhode IslandNixon by 25,738 · 6.2 pts
South DakotaNixon by 26,531 · 8.6 pts

Margins computed for 51 of 51 states: those with a sourced popular vote that names McGovern.

From the National Archives

Spiro T. Agnew resigned as Vice President October 10, 1973. He was succeeded by Gerald R. Ford. Richard M. Nixon resigned as President August 9, 1974. He was succeeded by Gerald R. Ford. V.P. Ford was succeeded by Nelson A. Rockefeller.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1972, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.