1972 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
← 1968 November 7, 1972 1976 →
 
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
Electoral vote 9 0
Popular vote 837,135 568,334
Percentage 56.92% 38.64%
County Results
President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

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

Washington voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Nixon took 56.92% of the vote to McGovern's 38.64%, a margin of 18.28%, which still made the state 4.87% more Democratic than the nation at-large.

Nixon won every county except heavily unionized Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, in the process being the first Republican to carry Wahkiakum County (another heavily unionized timber county), Kitsap County and Snohomish County since Herbert Hoover in 1928.[1]

Nixon's victory was the first of four consecutive Republican victories in the state, as Washington would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Michael Dukakis in 1988. Since then it has become a safe Democratic state.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Washington[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) 837,135 56.92% 9
Democratic George McGovern 568,334 38.64% 0
American Independent John G. Schmitz 58,906 4.00% 0
Independent Benjamin Spock 2,644 0.18% 0
Libertarian John Hospers 1,537 0.10% 0
Socialist Labor Louis Fisher 1,102 0.07% 0
Socialist Workers Linda Jenness 623 0.04% 0
Communist Gus Hall 566 0.04% 0
Totals 1,470,847 100.00% 9
Voter turnout —

Results by county

County results[4]
County Richard Milhous Nixon
Republican 		George Stanley McGovern
Democratic 		John George Schmitz
American Independent 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 3,083 68.22% 1,110 24.56% 316 6.99% 10 0.22% 1,973 43.66% 4,519
Asotin 2,911 50.36% 2,559 44.27% 301 5.21% 9 0.16% 352 6.09% 5,780
Benton 18,517 61.02% 9,824 32.37% 1,911 6.30% 94 0.31% 8,693 28.65% 30,346
Chelan 10,470 60.13% 5,889 33.82% 971 5.58% 83 0.48% 4,581 26.31% 17,413
Clallam 9,372 58.25% 5,620 34.93% 1,056 6.56% 41 0.25% 3,752 23.32% 16,089
Clark 28,775 49.13% 27,179 46.41% 2,416 4.13% 199 0.34% 1,596 2.72% 58,569
Columbia 1,445 69.47% 533 25.63% 102 4.90% 0 0.00% 912 43.85% 2,080
Cowlitz 14,431 51.21% 12,682 45.00% 959 3.40% 110 0.39% 1,749 6.21% 28,182
Douglas 4,512 60.31% 2,420 32.35% 538 7.19% 11 0.15% 2,092 27.96% 7,481
Ferry 815 53.37% 560 36.67% 145 9.50% 7 0.46% 255 16.70% 1,527
Franklin 5,972 56.75% 3,867 36.75% 655 6.22% 29 0.28% 2,105 20.00% 10,523
Garfield 1,004 65.45% 481 31.36% 46 3.00% 3 0.20% 523 34.09% 1,534
Grant 9,370 59.25% 5,487 34.70% 908 5.74% 49 0.31% 3,883 24.55% 15,814
Grays Harbor 10,839 45.65% 11,786 49.64% 1,000 4.21% 120 0.51% -947 -3.99% 23,745
Island 7,495 68.12% 3,149 28.62% 316 2.87% 43 0.39% 4,346 39.50% 11,003
Jefferson 2,770 53.49% 2,096 40.47% 277 5.35% 36 0.70% 674 13.01% 5,179
King 298,707 56.39% 212,509 40.12% 15,624 2.95% 2,854 0.54% 86,198 16.27% 529,694
Kitsap 25,831 56.84% 17,011 37.43% 2,429 5.34% 175 0.39% 8,820 19.41% 45,446
Kittitas 5,464 53.96% 4,299 42.46% 327 3.23% 36 0.36% 1,165 11.51% 10,126
Klickitat 3,061 54.20% 2,293 40.60% 276 4.89% 18 0.32% 768 13.60% 5,648
Lewis 12,071 58.64% 6,946 33.74% 1,520 7.38% 48 0.23% 5,125 24.90% 20,585
Lincoln 3,647 69.14% 1,453 27.55% 161 3.05% 14 0.27% 2,194 41.59% 5,275
Mason 4,873 53.10% 3,907 42.57% 363 3.96% 34 0.37% 966 10.53% 9,177
Okanogan 5,796 56.09% 3,835 37.11% 655 6.34% 48 0.46% 1,961 18.98% 10,334
Pacific 3,349 46.73% 3,585 50.03% 204 2.85% 28 0.39% -236 -3.29% 7,166
Pend Oreille 1,746 59.57% 1,071 36.54% 104 3.55% 10 0.34% 675 23.03% 2,931
Pierce 84,265 56.91% 56,933 38.45% 6,189 4.18% 678 0.46% 27,332 18.46% 148,065
San Juan 1,786 63.90% 906 32.42% 86 3.08% 17 0.61% 880 31.48% 2,795
Skagit 14,212 58.13% 9,233 37.77% 911 3.73% 92 0.38% 4,979 20.37% 24,448
Skamania 1,288 48.70% 1,153 43.59% 189 7.15% 15 0.57% 135 5.10% 2,645
Snohomish 60,032 57.27% 39,471 37.66% 4,803 4.58% 515 0.49% 20,561 19.62% 104,821
Spokane 74,320 59.37% 44,337 35.42% 6,129 4.90% 399 0.32% 29,983 23.95% 125,185
Stevens 4,839 61.26% 2,390 30.26% 647 8.19% 23 0.29% 2,449 31.00% 7,899
Thurston 22,297 57.48% 14,596 37.63% 1,722 4.44% 177 0.46% 7,701 19.85% 38,792
Wahkiakum 818 47.39% 796 46.12% 108 6.26% 4 0.23% 22 1.27% 1,726
Walla Walla 12,579 67.87% 5,364 28.94% 515 2.78% 75 0.40% 7,215 38.93% 18,533
Whatcom 22,585 58.21% 15,027 38.73% 1,031 2.66% 158 0.41% 7,558 19.48% 38,801
Whitman 9,548 58.70% 6,248 38.41% 398 2.45% 72 0.44% 3,300 20.29% 16,266
Yakima 32,240 58.93% 19,729 36.06% 2,598 4.75% 138 0.25% 12,511 22.87% 54,705
Totals 837,135 56.92% 568,334 38.64% 58,906 4.00% 6,472 0.44% 268,801 18.28% 1,470,847

See also

References

  1. ^ Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 332-333 ISBN 0786422173
  2. ^ "The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2016 (p. 4145)". Simon and Schuster (8 December 2015). Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "1972 Presidential General Election Results – Washington". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  4. ^ "Elections Search Results - November 2004 General". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
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