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| Elections in Arkansas |
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The 1972 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose six [2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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Arkansas was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon (R–California), with 68.82% of the popular vote, against George McGovern (D–South Dakota), with 30.71% of the popular vote. [3] [4] John G. Schmitz was the only other candidate on the ballot, and, as the candidate for the American Independent Party, he received just over three thousand votes.
In a state that would reflect McGovern's national results, [5] [6] the Democratic nominee did not win a single county in Arkansas. This marked the first time that Arkansas had voted Republican in a presidential election since Ulysses S. Grant carried the state in 1872, and made Nixon only the second Republican (after Grant) to ever carry the state. As of 2024 [update] , this remains the strongest-ever Republican presidential performance in Arkansas, the only time that a Republican has swept every county in the state, and, along with 1932, the second of two times any candidate has done so.
As of the 2024, this is the last presidential election in which the Republican carried Phillips County, Jefferson County, Lee County, and Chicot County in a presidential election. Jackson, Lincoln, and Clark counties would not vote Republican again until 2008, Woodruff County until 2016, and Desha County until 2024. [7] 80% of white voters supported Nixon while 19% supported McGovern. [8] [9]
