1972 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 1972 United States presidential election

1972 United States presidential election in California

←  1968 November 7, 1972 1976  →
Turnout	82.13% (of registered voters) 3.62 pp 64.52% (of eligible voters) 2.18 pp [1]
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

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%. Although California was Richard Nixon's home state, his performance in the state was somewhat underwhelming, as California's result was about 9% more Democratic than the nation as a whole.

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

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		90.14%
	Republican	John M. Ashbrook		9.85%
Total votes				100

Results

1972 United States presidential election in California [2]
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 Milhous Nixon Republican		George Stanley McGovern Democratic		John George Schmitz American Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin
	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Orange	68.27%	448,291	26.93%	176,847	4.36%	28,634	0.44%	2,881	41.34%	271,444
Inyo	68.07%	4,873	28.02%	2,006	3.35%	240	0.56%	40	40.05%	2,867
Mono	66.88%	1,872	29.58%	828	2.79%	78	0.75%	21	37.30%	1,044
Ventura	63.20%	95,310	32.70%	49,307	3.70%	5,586	0.40%	602	30.50%	46,003
Alpine	63.54%	366	33.85%	195	1.22%	7	1.39%	8	29.69%	171
Sutter	62.45%	10,224	33.04%	5,409	3.95%	647	0.56%	92	29.41%	4,815
San Diego	61.82%	371,627	34.34%	206,455	3.36%	20,188	0.48%	2,867	27.48%	165,172
Calaveras	60.76%	4,119	33.46%	2,268	4.48%	304	1.30%	88	27.30%	1,851
Imperial	62.05%	14,178	34.93%	7,982	2.66%	607	0.36%	82	27.12%	6,196
Kern	60.14%	71,686	35.18%	41,937	4.29%	5,112	0.38%	458	24.96%	29,749
Glenn	59.01%	4,569	34.62%	2,681	5.92%	458	0.45%	35	24.39%	1,888
San Bernardino	59.73%	144,689	35.49%	85,986	4.27%	10,342	0.51%	1,239	24.24%	58,703
Tulare	59.93%	36,048	36.20%	21,775	3.45%	2,076	0.42%	251	23.73%	14,273
Modoc	58.49%	2,085	35.65%	1,271	5.27%	188	0.59%	21	22.84%	814
Napa	59.61%	23,403	37.01%	14,529	2.91%	1,141	0.48%	188	22.60%	8,874
Butte	57.61%	28,819	36.78%	18,401	4.93%	2,468	0.68%	340	20.83%	10,418
San Benito	57.56%	3,961	37.52%	2,582	4.48%	308	0.44%	30	20.04%	1,379
Riverside	58.00%	108,120	38.41%	71,591	3.13%	5,843	0.46%	850	19.59%	36,529
Colusa	57.56%	2,715	38.37%	1,810	3.54%	167	0.53%	25	19.19%	905
Yuba	56.95%	6,623	38.13%	4,435	4.45%	518	0.46%	54	18.82%	2,188
Monterey	57.04%	47,004	39.49%	32,545	2.76%	2,274	0.71%	585	17.55%	14,459
Kings	56.52%	10,509	39.12%	7,274	3.99%	742	0.38%	70	17.40%	3,235
Mariposa	56.15%	2,122	39.35%	1,487	3.73%	141	0.77%	29	16.80%	635
Nevada	54.68%	8,004	38.89%	5,693	5.93%	868	0.50%	73	15.79%	2,311
San Joaquin	55.30%	61,646	39.53%	44,062	4.51%	5,027	0.66%	734	15.77%	17,584
San Luis Obispo	55.98%	28,566	40.72%	20,779	2.27%	1,156	1.04%	532	15.26%	7,787
Lake	55.12%	6,477	40.13%	4,715	4.33%	509	0.42%	49	14.99%	1,762
Del Norte	51.82%	2,927	38.17%	2,156	9.12%	515	0.89%	50	13.65%	771
Santa Barbara	55.19%	67,075	41.64%	50,609	2.55%	3,103	0.62%	754	13.55%	16,466
Sonoma	54.72%	57,697	41.49%	43,746	3.03%	3,192	0.76%	799	13.23%	13,951
El Dorado	54.20%	11,330	41.40%	8,654	3.80%	794	0.61%	127	12.80%	2,676
Los Angeles	54.75%	1,549,717	42.04%	1,189,977	2.54%	71,978	0.66%	18,698	12.71%	359,740
Amador	53.40%	3,533	40.89%	2,705	5.14%	340	0.57%	38	12.51%	828
Tuolumne	54.29%	5,894	42.34%	4,596	2.75%	299	0.62%	67	11.95%	1,298
Merced	54.33%	17,737	42.62%	13,914	2.56%	836	0.49%	161	11.71%	3,823
Solano	54.02%	31,314	42.73%	24,766	2.79%	1,616	0.46%	269	11.29%	6,548
Contra Costa	54.13%	139,044	43.49%	111,718	1.83%	4,701	0.55%	1,421	10.64%	27,326
San Mateo	52.82%	135,377	42.82%	109,745	1.59%	4,079	2.77%	7,096	10.00%	25,632
Madera	52.61%	7,835	44.18%	6,580	2.87%	428	0.33%	49	8.43%	1,255
Mendocino	51.01%	11,128	43.25%	9,435	4.81%	1,050	0.92%	201	7.76%	1,693
Siskiyou	51.46%	7,563	43.78%	6,434	4.23%	621	0.53%	78	7.68%	1,129
Tehama	48.73%	6,054	41.65%	5,175	9.34%	1,161	0.27%	34	7.08%	879
Lassen	50.80%	3,618	44.00%	3,134	4.49%	320	0.70%	50	6.80%	484
Trinity	50.75%	1,868	44.04%	1,621	4.59%	169	0.62%	23	6.71%	247
Marin	52.10%	54,123	45.64%	47,414	1.28%	1,326	0.98%	1,020	6.46%	6,709
Santa Clara	51.90%	237,334	45.60%	208,506	1.80%	8,236	0.70%	3,217	6.30%	28,828
Stanislaus	51.41%	39,521	45.54%	35,005	2.53%	1,943	0.52%	398	5.87%	4,516
Placer	50.34%	18,597	45.77%	16,911	3.39%	1,251	0.50%	186	4.57%	1,686
Fresno	50.44%	79,051	46.38%	72,682	2.51%	3,927	0.68%	1,059	4.06%	6,369
Santa Cruz	49.88%	34,799	46.35%	32,336	2.77%	1,931	0.99%	693	3.53%	2,463
Humboldt	48.83%	22,345	46.18%	21,132	4.14%	1,896	0.85%	390	2.65%	1,213
Sacramento	49.00%	141,218	47.63%	137,287	2.72%	7,841	0.65%	1,875	1.37%	3,931
Plumas	46.42%	2,952	48.07%	3,057	5.00%	318	0.52%	33	-1.65%	-105
Shasta	46.68%	16,618	48.35%	17,214	4.48%	1,595	0.49%	176	-1.67%	-596
Sierra	47.51%	629	49.70%	658	2.04%	27	0.76%	10	-2.19%	-29
Alameda	42.84%	201,862	55.02%	259,254	1.47%	6,930	0.67%	3,149	-12.18%	-57,392
Yolo	42.04%	17,969	55.44%	23,694	1.87%	800	0.64%	275	-13.40%	-5,725
San Francisco	41.82%	127,461	56.07%	170,882	1.21%	3,702	0.89%	2,725	-14.25%	-43,421

References

1. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
2. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.