1972 United States presidential election in Maine

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1972 United States presidential election in Maine
Flag of Maine.svg
  1968 November 7, 1972 1976  
  Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
Electoral vote40
Popular vote256,458160,584
Percentage61.46%38.48%

Maine Presidential Election Results 1972.svg
Maine Presidential Election Results CD 1972.svg

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election which was held throughout all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Maine was won by the incumbent Republican president Richard Nixon by a landslide 23 point margin over his Democratic challenger, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Nixon took 61.46% of the vote, totaling up to 256,458 votes, to McGovern’s 38.48%, and 160,584 votes. In the midst of Nixon’s massive 49-state landslide victory, Maine voted almost exactly as the country did, only voting about 0.7% more Republican than the nation as a whole.

Richard Nixon swept every county in the state except for Androscoggin, where McGovern won by a mere 103 votes. [1] Androscoggin was the solitary county McGovern won in the Northeast outside of Massachusetts or in the city limits of Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.

Nixon's victory was the first of five consecutive Republican victories in the state, as Maine would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Bill Clinton in 1992; it has since become a Democratic-leaning state.

Since 1972 no presidential candidate of either party has surpassed Nixon’s 61.46% of the vote in Maine (the closest being Ronald Reagan’s 60.83% in 1984).

This was the first presidential election in which Maine allocated its electoral votes proportionally, giving 2 electoral votes to the overall winner of the state and 1 electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Maine [2]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent)256,45861.46%4
Democratic George McGovern 160,58438.48%0
American Independent John G. Schmitz (write-in)1170.03%0
Peace and Freedom Benjamin Spock (write-in)30.00%0
Socialist Workers Linda Jenness (write-in)20.00%0
Communist Gus Hall (write-in)20.00%0
Libertarian John Hospers (write-in)10.00%0
Write-insScattered (Other write-ins)1040.02%0
Totals417,271100.00%4
Voter turnout60%/68%

Results by county

CountyRichard Milhous Nixon
Republican
George Stanley McGovern
Democratic
Various candidates
Write-ins
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Androscoggin 19,40649.86%19,50950.12%90.02%-103-0.26%38,924
Aroostook 19,05162.37%11,47437.56%220.07%7,57724.81%30,547
Cumberland 51,26860.59%33,32639.38%230.03%17,94221.21%84,617
Franklin 5,95866.50%2,98833.35%140.16%2,97033.15%8,960
Hancock 11,88973.90%4,19126.05%70.04%7,69847.85%16,087
Kennebec 24,61759.99%16,37939.91%390.10%8,23820.08%41,035
Knox 8,47870.19%3,60129.81%4,87740.38%12,079
Lincoln 7,58072.28%2,90327.68%40.04%4,67744.60%10,487
Oxford 12,11464.36%6,66135.39%480.26%5,45328.97%18,823
Penobscot 30,18661.92%18,55238.06%110.02%11,63423.86%48,749
Piscataquis 4,61764.70%2,51835.29%10.01%2,09929.41%7,136
Sagadahoc 6,46365.35%3,41434.52%130.13%3,04930.83%9,890
Somerset 10,07962.97%5,92136.99%50.03%4,15825.98%16,005
Waldo 6,48068.78%2,94131.21%10.01%3,53937.57%9,422
Washington 7,82067.57%3,74232.33%120.10%4,07835.24%11,574
York 30,45257.53%22,46442.44%200.04%7,98815.09%52,936
Totals256,45861.46%160,58438.48%2290.05%95,87422.98%417,271

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References

  1. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - Maine". Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  2. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - Maine". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2008.