1972 United States presidential election in Maryland

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1972 United States presidential election in Maryland
Flag of Maryland.svg
←  1968 November 7, 1972 1976  →
All 10 Maryland electoral votes to the Electoral College
  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 vote100
Popular vote829,305505,781
Percentage61.26%37.36%
Maryland Presidential Election Results 1972.svg
County Results

The 1972 United States presidential election in Maryland was held on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Both the Democratic and Republican (Sargent Shriver and Spiro Agnew, respectively) Vice Presidential nominees were from Maryland.

Contents

Maryland was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon of California and Vice President Spiro Agnew (a Maryland native), winning 61.26% of the vote to George McGovern and Shriver's 37.36%. Nixon won every county in the state, only losing independent Baltimore City. He won over 77% of the vote in Carroll County, and over 70% in another eight counties. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time Prince George's County has voted Republican in a presidential election, the strongest performance by a Republican in Maryland, and the last time the Democratic candidate was held to under 60% of the vote in Baltimore City. [1] [2] This was also the last of only 7 occasions [a] since the emergence of the Republican Party that Maryland has voted more Republican than the nation as a whole. [3]

A voting machine in the town of Saint Michaels malfunctioned on election day, causing only 14 of the 435 ballots cast on it to be properly recorded. [4] Circuit Judge Harry Clark barred the Talbot County Board of Election Supervisors from certifying the county's results until a revote was held at the affected polling location, which occurred on November 15. [5]

Of his three presidential campaigns, this was the only time Nixon carried the home state of his running mate. Nixon had lost Maryland in 1968 and had also failed to win Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.'s home state of Massachusetts in 1960.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Maryland [6]
PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) Spiro Agnew (incumbent)829,30561.26%10
Democratic George McGovern Sargent Shriver 505,78137.36%0
American Independent John G. Schmitz Thomas J. Anderson 18,7261.38%0

Results by county

CountyRichard Nixon
Republican		George McGovern
Democratic		John G. Schmitz
American Independent		MarginTotal votes cast [7]
# %# %# %# %
Allegany 20,68764.55%10,80833.72%5531.73%9,87930.83%32,048
Anne Arundel 71,70772.26%26,08226.28%1,4501.46%45,62545.98%99,239
Baltimore 175,89770.30%70,30928.10%4,0181.61%105,58842.20%250,224
Baltimore City 119,48645.15%141,32353.40%3,8431.45%-21,837-8.25%264,652
Calvert 4,02463.43%2,23235.18%881.39%1,79228.25%6,344
Caroline 4,32572.71%1,56726.34%560.94%2,75846.37%5,948
Carroll 16,84777.25%4,40820.21%5532.54%12,43957.04%21,808
Cecil 10,75970.82%4,11327.08%3192.10%6,64643.74%15,191
Charles 9,66567.34%4,50231.37%1861.30%5,16335.97%14,353
Dorchester 6,85974.97%2,13623.35%1541.68%4,72351.62%9,149
Frederick 19,90769.48%8,23528.74%5091.78%11,67240.74%28,651
Garrett 5,48076.60%1,51021.11%1642.29%3,97055.49%7,154
Harford 25,14173.16%8,73725.42%4881.42%16,40447.74%34,366
Howard 19,26563.55%10,66835.19%3831.26%8,59728.36%30,316
Kent 4,03664.36%2,16834.57%671.07%1,86829.79%6,271
Montgomery 133,09056.50%100,22842.55%2,2390.95%32,86213.95%235,557
Prince George's 116,16658.55%79,91440.28%2,3301.17%36,25218.27%198,410
Queen Anne's 4,38070.45%1,71227.54%1252.01%2,66842.91%6,217
Somerset 4,34267.33%2,03631.57%711.10%2,30635.76%6,449
St. Mary's 7,68967.55%3,57131.37%1221.07%4,11836.18%11,382
Talbot 6,62074.73%2,18124.62%580.65%4,43950.11%8,859
Washington 24,23469.27%10,03928.70%7122.04%14,19540.57%34,985
Wicomico 13,11569.71%5,51029.29%1901.01%7,60540.42%18,815
Worcester 5,58475.22%1,79224.14%480.65%3,79251.08%7,424
Totals829,30561.26%505,78137.36%18,7261.38%323,52423.90%1,353,812

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The other six are 1864, 1896 under William Jennings Bryan's "cross of gold" opposed by Northeastern industrialists, and the four elections from 1944 to 1956

References

  1. ↑ "Maryland - Google Drive". docs.google.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ↑ Counting the Votes; Maryland Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Seeley, John (November 22, 2000). "Early and Often". LA Weekly . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Polls Will Reopen for 435 Whose Votes Didn't Record" . The New York Times . Associated Press. November 11, 1972. p. 21.
  6. ↑ Maryland Manual 1969–1970. The Hall of Records Commission of the State of Maryland. p. 473. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, ‘For President of the United States’ Maryland General Election Returns – November 7, 1972 (Annapolis, 1972)
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