1972 United States presidential election in Nevada

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1972 United States presidential election in Nevada
Flag of Nevada (1929-1991).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 vote30
Popular vote115,75066,016
Percentage63.68%36.32%

Nevada Presidential Election Results 1972.svg
County results
Nixon
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%

The 1972 United States presidential election in Nevada took place on November 7, 1972. All fifty states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Since being won for the third time by William Jennings Bryan whose populism had attracted a state heavily dependent upon silver mining, [1] Nevada had been a consistent bellwether swing state, although it had been trending Republican since World War II as air conditioning led to the development of Las Vegas as a “Sun Belt” city. Richard Nixon had narrowly lost this heavily Catholic state to John F. Kennedy in 1960, but would comfortably defeat both Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace in 1968. However, the Democrats had rebounded in 1970 to regain the governorship, although the party lost the attorney general position for the first time since 1890. [2]

Nevada held no Democratic primary in 1972, and once South Dakota Senator George McGovern secured the nomination, every poll suggested that incumbent President Nixon would win the state very easily, [3] typically by around a two-to-one margin. [4]

Nixon carried Nevada with 63.68% of the vote to McGovern's 36.32%, a victory margin of 27.36%. In a state that would reflect McGovern's national results, the Democratic nominee did not win a single county in Nevada, making Nixon only the second Republican after Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 to sweep all Nevada's counties. [5]

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Nevada [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) 115,750 63.68%
Democratic George McGovern 66,01636.32%
Total votes181,766 100%

Results by county

CountyRichard Nixon
Republican
George McGovern
Democratic
MarginTotal votes cast [6]
#%#%#%
Carson City 5,39671.79%2,12028.21%3,27643.58%7,516
Churchill 2,97074.10%1,03825.90%1,93248.20%4,008
Clark 53,10159.06%36,80740.94%16,29418.12%89,908
Douglas 2,89874.67%98325.33%1,91549.34%3,881
Elko 3,88672.59%1,46727.41%2,41945.18%5,353
Esmeralda 27368.25%12731.75%14636.50%400
Eureka 37172.75%13927.25%23245.50%510
Humboldt 1,65969.94%71330.06%94639.88%2,372
Lander 79863.03%46836.97%33026.06%1,266
Lincoln 84168.77%38231.23%45937.54%1,223
Lyon 2,81374.58%95925.42%1,85449.16%3,772
Mineral 2,11173.32%76826.68%1,34346.64%2,879
Nye 1,28761.61%80238.39%48523.22%2,089
Pershing 85370.03%36529.97%48840.06%1,218
Storey 50869.21%22630.79%28238.42%734
Washoe 33,53966.22%17,10633.78%16,43332.44%50,645
White Pine 2,44661.27%1,54638.73%90022.54%3,992
Totals115,75063.68%66,01636.32%49,73427.36%181,766

See also

References

  1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 458 ISBN   9780691163246
  2. Driggs, Don W.; ‘The 1970 Election in Nevada’; The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2 (June 1971), pp. 308-315
  3. Apple, R.W. junior; ‘50-State Survey Indicates Massive Sweep for Nixon: Reporters, Political Leaders and Polls Agree on Big Lead, But McGovern Gain Is Expected In Final Month’; The New York Times , October 8, 1972, p. 50
  4. ‘State by State: A Nationwide Survey’; The Washington Post , October 8, 1972, p. D4
  5. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 256-257 ISBN   0786422173
  6. 1 2 "1972 Primary and General Election Results". Nevada Secretary of State. Retrieved July 9, 2024.