1972
The 1972 U.S. presidential election was won by Richard Nixon (Republican) with 520 of 538 electoral votes, defeating George McGovern (Democratic). Electoral-vote margin: 503 (520 to 17). Popular-vote margin: 23.1 percentage points. Turnout was 56.2%. The cycle falls in the Cold War Realignment era of American electoral history.
Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.
Richard Nixon and the 1972 map
Nixon won re-election in a historic landslide, carrying 49 states and losing only Massachusetts and DC. Senator George McGovern ran an anti-war campaign but was damaged by his initially selecting and then dropping Thomas Eagleton (who had received electroshock therapy) as his running mate. The Watergate break-in had occurred in June 1972 but its significance was not yet widely understood. Nixon's opening to China and détente with the Soviet Union were popular. He resigned in August 1974 due to the Watergate scandal.
Vietnam War wind-down; Watergate (emerging); détente with USSR and China
Nixon won 49 states but resigned 2 years later due to Watergate; McGovern carried only Massachusetts and DC
This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.
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.
States · 51 reporting
State results · 1972
- Minnesota Nixon by 95,223 · 5.5 pts
- Rhode Island Nixon by 25,738 · 6.2 pts
- South Dakota Nixon by 26,531 · 8.6 pts
- Massachusetts McGovern by 220,462 · 9.0 pts
- Wisconsin Nixon by 179,256 · 9.7 pts
OhioNixon won it by 21.6 points; its electoral votes took the total to 293, past the 270 needed.
Line up the states the winner carried from widest margin to narrowest and add up their electoral votes: the tipping point is the state that takes the total past a majority.
Scroll the table sideways for every column.
| State | Electoral votes | Richard Nixon Rep | George McGovern Dem | John G. Schmitz AI | Also named | Margin | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama1,2 | 9 EV | 728,7011 72.4% | 219,1081 21.8% | 11,9181 1.2% | None | 509,593 50.7 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Alaska3 | 3 EV | 55,3493 58.1% | 32,9673 34.6% | 6,9033 7.2% | None | 22,382 23.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Arizona4 | 6 EV | 402,8124 61.6% | 198,5404 30.4% | 21,2084 3.2% | None | 204,272 31.3 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Arkansas | 6 EV | 445,751 68.8% | 198,899 30.7% | Not named | None | 246,852 38.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| California | 45 EV | 4,544,134 55.0% | 3,431,824 41.5% | 230,496 2.8% | None | 1,112,310 13.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Colorado | 7 EV | 597,189 62.6% | 329,980 34.6% | 17,269 1.8% | None | 267,209 28.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Connecticut | 8 EV | 810,763 58.6% | 555,498 40.1% | 17,239 1.2% | None | 255,265 18.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Delaware | 3 EV | 140,357 59.6% | 92,283 39.2% | 2,638 1.1% | None | 48,074 20.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| District of Columbia | 3 EV | 35,226 21.6% | 127,627 78.1% | Not named | None | 92,401 56.5 pts | McGovern Dem |
| Florida | 17 EV | 1,857,759 71.9% | 718,117 27.8% | Not named | None | 1,139,642 44.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Georgia | 12 EV | 881,496 75.0% | 289,529 24.6% | Not named | None | 591,967 50.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Hawaii | 4 EV | 168,865 62.5% | 101,409 37.5% | Not named | None | 67,456 25.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Idaho | 4 EV | 199,384 64.2% | 80,826 26.0% | 28,869 9.3% | None | 118,558 38.2 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Illinois | 26 EV | 2,788,179 59.1% | 1,913,472 40.5% | Not named | None | 874,707 18.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Indiana | 13 EV | 1,405,154 66.1% | 708,568 33.3% | Not named | None | 696,586 32.8 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Iowa5 | 8 EV | 706,2075 57.6% | 496,2065 40.5% | 22,0565 1.8% | None | 210,001 17.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Kansas6 | 7 EV | 619,8126 67.7% | 270,2876 29.5% | 21,8086 2.4% | None | 349,525 38.2 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Kentucky7 | 9 EV | 676,4467 63.4% | 371,1597 34.8% | 17,6277 1.7% | None | 305,287 28.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Louisiana | 10 EV | 686,852 65.3% | 298,142 28.4% | 52,099 5.0% | Linda Jenness 14,398 · 1.4% | 388,710 37.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Maine | 4 EV | 256,458 61.5% | 160,584 38.5% | Not named | None | 95,874 23.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Maryland | 10 EV | 829,305 61.3% | 505,781 37.4% | 18,726 1.4% | None | 323,524 23.9 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Massachusetts | 14 EV | 1,112,078 45.2% | 1,332,540 54.2% | Not named | None | 220,462 9.0 pts | McGovern Dem |
| Michigan | 21 EV | 1,961,721 56.2% | 1,459,435 41.8% | 63,321 1.8% | None | 502,286 14.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Minnesota8 | 10 EV | 897,5698 51.6% | 802,3468 46.1% | 31,4078 1.8% | None | 95,223 5.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Mississippi | 7 EV | 505,125 78.2% | 126,782 19.6% | 11,598 1.8% | None | 378,343 58.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Missouri | 12 EV | 1,153,852 62.3% | 697,147 37.7% | Not named | None | 456,705 24.7 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Montana | 4 EV | 183,976 57.9% | 120,197 37.8% | 13,430 4.2% | None | 63,779 20.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Nebraska | 5 EV | 406,298 70.5% | 169,991 29.5% | Not named | None | 236,307 41.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Nevada | 3 EV | 115,750 63.7% | 66,016 36.3% | Not named | None | 49,734 27.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| New Hampshire9 | 4 EV | 213,7249 64.0% | 116,4359 34.9% | 3,3869 1.0% | None | 97,289 29.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| New Jersey10 | 17 EV | 1,845,50210 61.6% | 1,102,21110 36.8% | 34,37810 1.1% | None | 743,291 24.8 pts | Nixon Rep |
| New Mexico | 4 EV | 235,606 61.0% | 141,084 36.6% | 8,767 2.3% | None | 94,522 24.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
| New York11,12,13,14,15 | 41 EV | 4,192,77814 58.5% | 2,951,08413 41.2% | Not named | None | 1,241,694 17.3 pts | Nixon Rep |
| North Carolina | 13 EV | 1,054,889 69.5% | 438,705 28.9% | 25,018 1.6% | None | 616,184 40.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| North Dakota | 3 EV | 174,109 62.1% | 100,384 35.8% | 5,646 2.0% | None | 73,725 26.3 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Ohio | 25 EV | 2,441,827 59.6% | 1,558,889 38.1% | 80,067 2.0% | None | 882,938 21.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Oklahoma | 8 EV | 759,025 73.7% | 247,147 24.0% | 23,728 2.3% | None | 511,878 49.7 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Oregon | 6 EV | 486,686 52.4% | 392,760 42.3% | 46,211 5.0% | None | 93,926 10.1 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Pennsylvania16 | 27 EV | 2,714,52116 59.1% | 1,796,95116 39.1% | Not named | None | 917,570 20.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Rhode Island | 4 EV | 220,383 53.0% | 194,645 46.8% | Not named | None | 25,738 6.2 pts | Nixon Rep |
| South Carolina17 | 8 EV | 477,04417 70.8% | 184,55917 27.4% | 10,07517 1.5% | None | 292,485 43.4 pts | Nixon Rep |
| South Dakota | 4 EV | 166,476 54.2% | 139,945 45.5% | Not named | None | 26,531 8.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Tennessee | 10 EV | 813,147 67.7% | 357,293 29.7% | 30,373 2.5% | None | 455,854 38.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Texas | 26 EV | 2,298,896 66.2% | 1,154,289 33.3% | Not named | None | 1,144,607 33.0 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Utah | 4 EV | 323,643 67.6% | 126,284 26.4% | 28,549 6.0% | None | 197,359 41.2 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Vermont18 | 3 EV | 117,14918 62.9% | 67,61318 36.3% | Not named | None | 49,536 26.6 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Virginia | 12 EV Nixon 11, Hospers 1 (faithless elector) | 988,493 67.8% | 438,887 30.1% | 19,721 1.4% | None | 549,606 37.7 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Washington19 | 9 EV | 837,13519 56.9% | 568,33419 38.6% | 58,90619 4.0% | None | 268,801 18.3 pts | Nixon Rep |
| West Virginia | 6 EV | 484,964 63.6% | 277,435 36.4% | Not named | None | 207,529 27.2 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Wisconsin20 | 11 EV | 989,43020 53.4% | 810,17420 43.7% | 47,52520 2.6% | None | 179,256 9.7 pts | Nixon Rep |
| Wyoming | 3 EV | 100,464 69.0% | 44,358 30.5% | Not named | None | 56,106 38.5 pts | Nixon Rep |
Shares are of each state’s total vote for president. “Not named”: the figures do not give that candidate a line of their own in that state — for example under 1% of the vote, not on the ballot there, or counted on an unnamed line (see the state’s note). Margin is the leader’s lead over the second-placed candidate.
Notes on the figures
- Alabama Schmitz's electors appeared on the Alabama ballot under the Conservative label (ballot fact, not printed in the table).
- Alabama The official table notes: Others 37,815: footnote 1, 'National Democrat Party.' The American Independent figure 6,903 is printed on Alabama's line but is Alaska's: Alaska's line has no figure in that column, Alaska's printed total 95,219 = 32,967 + 55,349 + 6,903, and Alabama's printed total 1,006,093 = 219,108 + 728,701 + 8,551 + 11,918 + 37,815 without it. It is transcribed under Alaska.
- Alaska The official table notes: American Independent 6,903 is printed one line up, on Alabama's line (see AL).
- Arizona Arizona's 30,945 is printed in the Socialist Workers column, but other sources attribute an Arizona vote of this size to Benjamin Spock (People's Party / New Party). Left unattributed here; the column total confirms only that the table counts it under Socialist Workers.
- Iowa The official table notes: Others 199: footnote 2, 'Universal Party.'
- Kansas Schmitz's electors appeared on the Kansas ballot under the Conservative label (ballot fact, not printed in the table).
- Kentucky The official table notes: Others 1,118: footnote 3, 'People's Party.'
- Minnesota The official table notes: Socialist Labor 4,261: footnote 4, 'Industrial Government Party in Minnesota.' Others 2,855: footnote 3, 'People's Party.'
- New Hampshire The official table notes: Scattering 142 is printed slightly above New Hampshire's line; New Hampshire's printed total 334,055 includes it.
- New Jersey The official table notes: Others 7,098: footnote 5, 'Includes 1,743 votes for American First Party and 5,355 votes for People's Party.'
- New York The Conservative Party of New York ran the Nixon electors on its own line (ballot fact, not printed in the table).
- New York New York's Others figure carries footnote 6, 'Liberal Party'; the Liberal Party ran the McGovern electors on its line (ballot fact, not printed in the table).
- New York George McGovern's figure is the sum of the lines the official table prints separately (Democrat 2,767,956; Liberal 183,128).
- New York Richard Nixon's figure is the sum of the lines the official table prints separately (Republican 3,824,642; Conservative 368,136).
- New York The official table notes: Others 183,128: footnote 6, 'Liberal Party.' Conservative 368,136.
- Pennsylvania The official table notes: Others 70,593: footnote 7, 'Constitutional Party.'
- South Carolina The official table notes: Others 2,265: footnote 8, 'United Citizens Party.'
- Vermont The official table notes: Others 1,010: footnote 9, 'Liberty Union Party.'
- Washington The official table notes: Others 2,644: footnote 3, 'People's Party.'
- Wisconsin The official table notes: Others 506: footnote 10, 'Independent Party.'
SourceStatistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972 . How these figures were compiled
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