1972 Presidential Election
November 7, 1972 · The Long Realignment · 538 electoral votes, 270 to win
Nixon's 49-state landslide over McGovern was built on the Southern strategy and Democratic disarray; the break-in at the Watergate five months before the election went almost unnoticed by the voters it would ultimately consume.
Elected
Richard Nixon
Republican
Electoral vote
520 of 538
Popular vote
60.7%
47,168,710 votes
Turnout
56.2%
VAP 57.0%
The result
| EV share | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Nixon | Republican | Spiro Agnew | 520 | 47,168,710 | 60.70% | 49 | |
| George McGovern | Democratic | Sargent Shriver | 17 | 29,173,222 | 37.50% | 2 | |
| John Hospers | Libertarian | Tonie Nathan | 1 | 3,674 | 0.00% | — | |
| John G. Schmitz | American Independent | Thomas J. Anderson | — | 1,100,896 | 1.42% | — | |
| Linda Jenness | Socialist Workers | Andrew Pulley | — | 83,380 | 0.11% | — | |
| Benjamin Spock | People's Party (United States, 1971) | Julius Hobson | — | 78,759 | 0.10% | — | |
| Louis Fisher | Socialist Labor | Genevieve Gunderson | — | 53,814 | 0.07% | — |
77,662,455 votes recorded for the candidates listed.
Results by state
| Alabama | Richard Nixon | 71.8% | 9 | George McGovern · 25.3% |
| Alaska | Richard Nixon | 58.1% | 3 | George McGovern · 34.6% |
| Arizona | Richard Nixon | 61.6% | 6 | George McGovern · 30.4% |
| Arkansas | Richard Nixon | 68.9% | 6 | George McGovern · 30.7% |
| California | Richard Nixon | 55.0% | 45 | George McGovern · 41.5% |
| Colorado | Richard Nixon | 62.6% | 7 | George McGovern · 34.6% |
| Connecticut | Richard Nixon | 58.6% | 8 | George McGovern · 40.1% |
| Delaware | Richard Nixon | 59.6% | 3 | George McGovern · 39.2% |
| District of Columbia | George McGovern | 78.1% | 3 | Richard Nixon · 21.6% |
| Florida | Richard Nixon | 71.9% | 17 | George McGovern · 27.8% |
| Georgia | Richard Nixon | 75.3% | 12 | George McGovern · 24.7% |
| Hawaii | Richard Nixon | 62.5% | 4 | George McGovern · 37.5% |
| Idaho | Richard Nixon | 64.2% | 4 | George McGovern · 26.0% |
| Illinois | Richard Nixon | 59.0% | 26 | George McGovern · 40.5% |
| Indiana | Richard Nixon | 66.1% | 13 | George McGovern · 33.3% |
| Iowa | Richard Nixon | 57.6% | 8 | George McGovern · 40.5% |
| Kansas | Richard Nixon | 67.7% | 7 | George McGovern · 29.5% |
| Kentucky | Richard Nixon | 63.4% | 9 | George McGovern · 34.8% |
| Louisiana | Richard Nixon | 66.0% | 10 | George McGovern · 28.6% |
| Maine | Richard Nixon | 61.5% | 4 | George McGovern · 38.5% |
| Maryland | Richard Nixon | 61.3% | 10 | George McGovern · 37.4% |
| Massachusetts | George McGovern | 54.2% | 14 | Richard Nixon · 45.2% |
| Michigan | Richard Nixon | 56.2% | 21 | George McGovern · 41.8% |
| Minnesota | Richard Nixon | 51.6% | 10 | George McGovern · 46.1% |
| Mississippi | Richard Nixon | 78.2% | 7 | George McGovern · 19.6% |
| Missouri | Richard Nixon | 62.3% | 12 | George McGovern · 37.7% |
| Montana | Richard Nixon | 57.9% | 4 | George McGovern · 37.9% |
| Nebraska | Richard Nixon | 70.5% | 5 | George McGovern · 29.5% |
| Nevada | Richard Nixon | 63.7% | 3 | George McGovern · 36.3% |
| New Hampshire | Richard Nixon | 64.0% | 4 | George McGovern · 34.9% |
| New Jersey | Richard Nixon | 61.6% | 17 | George McGovern · 36.8% |
| New Mexico | Richard Nixon | 61.1% | 4 | George McGovern · 36.6% |
| New York | Richard Nixon | 57.3% | 41 | George McGovern · 40.3% |
| North Carolina | Richard Nixon | 69.5% | 13 | George McGovern · 28.9% |
| North Dakota | Richard Nixon | 62.1% | 3 | George McGovern · 35.8% |
| Ohio | Richard Nixon | 59.6% | 25 | George McGovern · 38.1% |
| Oklahoma | Richard Nixon | 73.7% | 8 | George McGovern · 24.0% |
| Oregon | Richard Nixon | 52.5% | 6 | George McGovern · 42.3% |
| Pennsylvania | Richard Nixon | 59.1% | 27 | George McGovern · 39.1% |
| Rhode Island | Richard Nixon | 53.0% | 4 | George McGovern · 46.8% |
| South Carolina | Richard Nixon | 70.8% | 8 | George McGovern · 27.7% |
| South Dakota | Richard Nixon | 54.2% | 4 | George McGovern · 45.5% |
| Tennessee | Richard Nixon | 67.7% | 10 | George McGovern · 29.8% |
| Texas | Richard Nixon | 66.2% | 26 | George McGovern · 33.3% |
| Utah | Richard Nixon | 67.6% | 4 | George McGovern · 26.4% |
| Vermont | Richard Nixon | 62.9% | 3 | George McGovern · 36.6% |
| Virginia | Richard Nixon | 67.8% | 11 | George McGovern · 30.1% |
| Washington | Richard Nixon | 56.9% | 9 | George McGovern · 38.6% |
| West Virginia | Richard Nixon | 63.6% | 6 | George McGovern · 36.4% |
| Wisconsin | Richard Nixon | 53.4% | 11 | George McGovern · 43.7% |
| Wyoming | Richard Nixon | 69.0% | 3 | George McGovern · 30.5% |
The Congress it seated
93th Congress
1973–1975
Divided government
Senate
56–42
Democratic vs Republican · 2 others
House
243–192
Democratic vs Republican