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1972 United States presidential election in California

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Main article: 1972 United States presidential election
1972 United States presidential election in California
← 1968 November 7, 1972 1976 →
Turnout82.13% (of registered voters) Decrease 3.62 pp
64.52% (of eligible voters) Increase 2.18 pp
 
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
Electoral vote 45 0
Popular vote 4,602,096 3,475,847
Percentage 55.00% 41.54%
County Results

Nixon

  40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

McGovern

  40–50%   50–60%

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

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The 1972 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Nixon took 55.00% of the vote to McGovern's 41.54%, a margin of 13.46%.

Nixon had previously won California against John F. Kennedy in 1960 and then against Hubert Humphrey in 1968. This was the first presidential election in which California had the most electoral college votes as a result of the 1970 census, a status it has maintained ever since.

Primaries

Democratic

1972 California Democratic Party presidential primary
← 1968 June 6, 1972 1976 →
 
Candidate George McGovern Hubert Humphrey George Wallace
Home state South Dakota Minnesota Alabama
Popular vote 1,550,652 1,375,064 268,551
Percentage 43.50% 38.58% 7.53%
County Results

McGovern

  30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

Humphrey

  30-40%   40-50%

George McGovern would defeat previous Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, by just under 200,000 votes.

Democratic Primary – June 6, 1972
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic George McGovern 1,550,652 43.50%
Democratic Hubert Humphrey 1,375,064 38.58%
Democratic George Wallace 268,551 7.53%
Democratic Shirley Chisholm 157,435 4.42%
Democratic Edmund Muskie 72,701 2.04%
Democratic Sam Yorty 50,745 1.42%
Democratic Eugene McCarthy 34,203 0.96%
Democratic Henry M. Jackson 28,901 0.81%
Democratic John Lindsay 26,246 0.74%
Democratic Others 20 0.00%
Total votes 3,564,518 100

Republican

Richard Nixon would easily win the California Republican Primary by a wide margin over his only state challenger.

Republican Primary – June 6, 1972
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) 2,058,825 90.14%
Republican John M. Ashbrook 224,922 9.85%
Republican Others 175 0.01%
Total votes 2,283,922 100

Results

1972 United States presidential election in California
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) 4,602,096 55.00% 45
Democratic George McGovern 3,475,847 41.54% 0
American Independent John G. Schmitz 232,554 2.78% 0
Peace and Freedom Benjamin Spock 55,167 0.66% 0
Libertarian John Hospers (write-in) 980 0.01% 0
Socialist Workers Linda Jenness (write-in) 574 0.01% 0
Communist Gus Hall (write-in) 373 0.00% 0
Socialist Labor Louis Fisher (write-in) 197 0.00% 0
Prohibition Party E. Harold Munn (write-in) 53 0.00% 0
Universal Party Gabriel Green (write-in) 21 0.00% 0
Invalid or blank votes —
Totals 8,367,862 100.00% 45
Voter turnout —

Results by county

County Richard Nixon
Republican 		George McGovern
Democratic 		John G. Schmitz
American Independent 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 201,862 42.84% 259,254 55.02% 6,930 1.47% 3,149 0.67% -57,392 -12.18% 471,195
Alpine 366 63.54% 195 33.85% 7 1.22% 8 1.39% 171 29.69% 576
Amador 3,533 53.40% 2,705 40.89% 340 5.14% 38 0.57% 828 12.51% 6,616
Butte 28,819 57.61% 18,401 36.78% 2,468 4.93% 340 0.68% 10,418 20.83% 50,028
Calaveras 4,119 60.76% 2,268 33.46% 304 4.48% 88 1.30% 1,851 27.30% 6,779
Colusa 2,715 57.56% 1,810 38.37% 167 3.54% 25 0.53% 905 19.19% 4,717
Contra Costa 139,044 54.13% 111,718 43.49% 4,701 1.83% 1,421 0.55% 27,326 10.64% 256,884
Del Norte 2,927 51.82% 2,156 38.17% 515 9.12% 50 0.89% 771 13.65% 5,648
El Dorado 11,330 54.20% 8,654 41.40% 794 3.80% 127 0.61% 2,676 12.80% 20,905
Fresno 79,051 50.44% 72,682 46.38% 3,927 2.51% 1,059 0.68% 6,369 4.06% 156,719
Glenn 4,569 59.01% 2,681 34.62% 458 5.92% 35 0.45% 1,888 24.39% 7,743
Humboldt 22,345 48.83% 21,132 46.18% 1,896 4.14% 390 0.85% 1,213 2.65% 45,763
Imperial 14,178 62.05% 7,982 34.93% 607 2.66% 82 0.36% 6,196 27.12% 22,849
Inyo 4,873 68.07% 2,006 28.02% 240 3.35% 40 0.56% 2,867 40.05% 7,159
Kern 71,686 60.14% 41,937 35.18% 5,112 4.29% 458 0.38% 29,479 24.96% 119,193
Kings 10,509 56.52% 7,274 39.12% 742 3.99% 70 0.38% 3,235 17.40% 18,595
Lake 6,477 55.12% 4,715 40.13% 509 4.33% 49 0.42% 1,762 14.99% 11,750
Lassen 3,618 50.80% 3,134 44.00% 320 4.49% 50 0.70% 484 6.80% 7,122
Los Angeles 1,549,717 54.75% 1,189,977 42.04% 71,978 2.54% 18,698 0.66% 359,740 12.71% 2,830,370
Madera 7,835 52.61% 6,580 44.18% 428 2.87% 49 0.33% 1,255 8.43% 14,892
Marin 54,123 52.10% 47,414 45.64% 1,326 1.28% 1,020 0.98% 6,709 6.46% 103,883
Mariposa 2,122 56.15% 1,487 39.35% 141 3.73% 29 0.77% 635 16.80% 3,779
Mendocino 11,128 51.01% 9,435 43.25% 1,050 4.81% 201 0.92% 1,693 7.76% 21,814
Merced 17,737 54.33% 13,914 42.62% 836 2.56% 161 0.49% 3,823 11.71% 32,648
Modoc 2,085 58.49% 1,271 35.65% 188 5.27% 21 0.59% 814 22.84% 3,565
Mono 1,872 66.88% 828 29.58% 78 2.79% 21 0.75% 1,044 37.30% 2,799
Monterey 47,004 57.04% 32,545 39.49% 2,274 2.76% 585 0.71% 14,459 17.55% 82,408
Napa 23,403 59.61% 14,529 37.01% 1,141 2.91% 188 0.48% 8,874 22.60% 39,261
Nevada 8,004 54.68% 5,693 38.89% 868 5.93% 73 0.50% 2,311 15.79% 14,638
Orange 448,291 68.27% 176,847 26.93% 28,634 4.36% 2,881 0.44% 271,444 41.34% 656,653
Placer 18,597 50.34% 16,911 45.77% 1,251 3.39% 186 0.50% 1,686 4.57% 36,945
Plumas 2,952 46.42% 3,057 48.07% 318 5.00% 33 0.52% -105 -1.65% 6,360
Riverside 108,120 58.00% 71,591 38.41% 5,843 3.13% 850 0.46% 36,529 19.59% 186,404
Sacramento 141,218 49.00% 137,287 47.63% 7,841 2.72% 1,875 0.65% 3,931 1.37% 288,221
San Benito 3,961 57.56% 2,582 37.52% 308 4.48% 30 0.44% 1,379 20.04% 6,881
San Bernardino 144,689 59.73% 85,986 35.49% 10,342 4.27% 1,239 0.51% 58,703 24.24% 242,256
San Diego 371,627 61.82% 206,455 34.34% 20,188 3.36% 2,867 0.48% 165,172 27.48% 601,137
San Francisco 127,461 41.82% 170,882 56.07% 3,702 1.21% 2,725 0.89% -43,421 -14.25% 304,770
San Joaquin 61,646 55.30% 44,062 39.53% 5,027 4.51% 734 0.66% 17,584 15.77% 111,469
San Luis Obispo 28,566 55.98% 20,779 40.72% 1,156 2.27% 532 1.04% 7,787 15.26% 51,033
San Mateo 135,377 52.82% 109,745 42.82% 4,079 1.59% 7,096 2.77% 25,632 10.00% 256,297
Santa Barbara 67,075 55.19% 50,609 41.64% 3,103 2.55% 754 0.62% 16,466 13.55% 121,541
Santa Clara 237,334 51.90% 208,506 45.60% 8,236 1.80% 3,217 0.70% 28,828 6.30% 457,293
Santa Cruz 34,799 49.88% 32,336 46.35% 1,931 2.77% 693 0.99% 2,463 3.53% 69,759
Shasta 16,618 46.68% 17,214 48.35% 1,595 4.48% 176 0.49% -596 -1.67% 35,603
Sierra 629 47.51% 658 49.70% 27 2.04% 10 0.76% -29 -2.19% 1,324
Siskiyou 7,563 51.46% 6,434 43.78% 621 4.23% 78 0.53% 1,129 7.68% 14,696
Solano 31,314 54.02% 24,766 42.73% 1,616 2.79% 269 0.46% 6,548 11.29% 57,965
Sonoma 57,697 54.72% 43,746 41.49% 3,192 3.03% 799 0.76% 13,951 13.23% 105,434
Stanislaus 39,521 51.41% 35,005 45.54% 1,943 2.53% 398 0.52% 4,516 5.87% 76,867
Sutter 10,224 62.45% 5,409 33.04% 647 3.95% 92 0.56% 4,815 29.41% 16,372
Tehama 6,054 48.73% 5,175 41.65% 1,161 9.34% 34 0.27% 879 7.08% 12,424
Trinity 1,868 50.75% 1,621 44.04% 169 4.59% 23 0.62% 247 6.71% 3,681
Tulare 36,048 59.93% 21,775 36.20% 2,076 3.45% 251 0.42% 14,273 23.73% 60,150
Tuolumne 5,894 54.29% 4,596 42.34% 299 2.75% 67 0.62% 1,298 11.95% 10,856
Ventura 95,310 63.20% 49,307 32.70% 5,586 3.70% 602 0.40% 46,003 30.50% 150,805
Yolo 17,969 42.04% 23,694 55.44% 800 1.87% 275 0.64% -5,725 -13.40% 42,738
Yuba 6,623 56.95% 4,435 38.13% 518 4.45% 54 0.46% 2,188 18.82% 11,630
Total 4,602,096 55.00% 3,475,847 41.54% 232,554 2.78% 57,365 0.69% 1,126,249 13.46% 8,367,862

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

  1. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. "Our Campaigns - CA US President - D Primary Race - Jun 06, 1972". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  3. "Our Campaigns - CA US President - R Primary Race - Jun 06, 1972". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  4. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
State and district results of the 1972 United States presidential election
Electoral map, 1972 election
Elections in California
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