1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Nixon 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%	McGovern 40-50% 50-60% 60-70%
President before election; Richard Nixon ; Republican	Elected President; Richard Nixon ; Republican

Last updated September 18, 2024

The 1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1972 as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Richard Nixon won the state of Wisconsin with 53.40 percent of the vote, carrying the state's 11 electoral votes,^[1] although Wisconsin was the fifth most Democratic state during the election, voting 13.48 points more Democratic than the nation as a whole. In no other election since the emergence of the Republican Party has Wisconsin voted so much more Democratic than the country as a whole.^[2]

McGovern won seven counties (out of 131 county-equivalents including three in Alaska that he won nationally)^[3] receiving as usual his highest vote in almost wholly Native American Menominee County where he won 62.3 percent of the vote. McGovern and Shriver also achieved clear majorities in Milwaukee, Dane, Ashland, Douglas and Portage Counties, and Rusk County by 1.1 points. Nixon won Manitowoc County by one hundred and ten votes, achieved pluralities in Pepin, Chippewa and Forest Counties, and won majorities in the remaining sixty-one – the largest being in Waupaca County where Nixon won by forty-two percentage points. Rusk County was one of six nationwide (outside of McGovern's home state of South Dakota) to flip Democratic from the previous election.

Nixon became the first Republican since Warren G. Harding in 1920 to win Iron County, and was the last Republican until Donald Trump in 2016 to win Pepin and Kenosha Counties, and remains the last Republican to claim Bayfield County.^[4]

Primaries

Democratic

George McGovern would defeat Alabama Governer, George Wallace, and previous Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey.^[5]

DemocraticPrimary – May 2, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George McGovern	333,528	29.55%
	Democratic	George Wallace	248,676	22.03%
	Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	233,748	20.71%
	Democratic	Edmund Muskie	115,811	10.26%
	Democratic	Henry M. Jackson	88,068	7.80%
	Democratic	John Lindsay	75,579	6.70%
	Democratic	Eugene McCarthy	15,543	1.38%
	Democratic	Shirley Chisholm	9,198	0.82%
	Democratic	None of These Names Shown	2,450	0.22%
	Democratic	Sam Yorty	2,349	0.21%
	Democratic	Patsy Mink	1,213	0.11%
	Democratic	Wilbur Mills	913	0.08%
	Democratic	Vance Hartke	766	0.07%
	Democratic	Write-In	559	0.05%
Total votes			1,128,401	100

Republican

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon (incumbent)	989,430	53.40%	11
	Democratic	George McGovern	810,174	43.72%	0
	American	John G. Schmitz	47,525	2.56%	0
	Independent	Benjamin Spock	2,701	0.15%	0
	Independent	Louis Fisher	998	0.05%	0
	Write-ins	—	893	0.05%	0
	Independent	Gus Hall	663	0.04%	0
	Independent	Evelyn Reed	506^{[lower-alpha 1]}	0.03%	0
Totals			1,852,890	100.0%	11

Results by county

County	Richard Nixon Republican		George McGovern Democratic		John G. Schmitz American		Benjamin Spock Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast^[6]
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast^[6]
Adams	2,200	53.18%	1,833	44.31%	96	2.32%	3	0.07%	5	0.12%	367	8.87%	4,137
Ashland	3,478	46.93%	3,771	50.88%	135	1.82%	5	0.07%	22	0.30%	-293	-3.95%	7,411
Barron	8,418	59.94%	5,376	38.28%	211	1.50%	21	0.15%	19	0.14%	3,042	21.66%	14,045
Bayfield	3,045	51.92%	2,736	46.65%	74	1.26%	4	0.07%	6	0.10%	309	5.27%	5,865
Brown	37,101	56.49%	26,511	40.37%	1,907	2.90%	94	0.14%	62	0.09%	10,590	16.12%	65,675
Buffalo	3,079	54.40%	2,461	43.48%	110	1.94%	4	0.07%	6	0.11%	618	10.92%	5,660
Burnett	2,972	54.37%	2,389	43.71%	92	1.68%	8	0.15%	5	0.09%	583	10.66%	5,466
Calumet	6,446	55.85%	4,804	41.62%	243	2.11%	31	0.27%	18	0.16%	1,642	14.23%	11,542
Chippewa	8,451	49.35%	8,210	47.95%	416	2.43%	34	0.20%	12	0.07%	241	1.40%	17,123
Clark	7,138	56.47%	4,617	36.52%	859	6.80%	18	0.14%	9	0.07%	2,521	19.95%	12,641
Columbia	10,122	58.02%	7,083	40.60%	216	1.24%	11	0.06%	15	0.09%	3,039	17.42%	17,447
Crawford	3,705	58.67%	2,487	39.38%	115	1.82%	5	0.08%	3	0.05%	1,218	19.29%	6,315
Dane	56,020	40.88%	79,567	58.07%	1,040	0.76%	219	0.16%	180	0.13%	-23,547	-17.19%	137,026
Dodge	17,068	61.54%	9,898	35.69%	715	2.58%	29	0.10%	27	0.10%	7,170	25.85%	27,737
Door	6,503	64.25%	3,430	33.89%	167	1.65%	18	0.18%	3	0.03%	3,073	30.36%	10,121
Douglas	8,419	42.58%	11,054	55.91%	202	1.02%	36	0.18%	60	0.30%	-2,635	-13.33%	19,771
Dunn	6,660	53.04%	5,681	45.25%	185	1.47%	16	0.13%	14	0.11%	979	7.79%	12,556
Eau Claire	15,883	51.33%	14,300	46.21%	671	2.17%	57	0.18%	32	0.10%	1,583	5.12%	30,943
Florence	971	54.06%	757	42.15%	64	3.56%	1	0.06%	3	0.17%	214	11.91%	1,796
Fond du Lac	21,007	60.99%	12,050	34.99%	1,291	3.75%	55	0.16%	40	0.12%	8,957	26.00%	34,443
Forest	1,856	49.77%	1,678	45.00%	190	5.10%	4	0.11%	1	0.03%	178	4.77%	3,729
Grant	11,873	62.29%	6,915	36.28%	240	1.26%	15	0.08%	18	0.09%	4,958	26.01%	19,061
Green	7,422	66.14%	3,634	32.38%	145	1.29%	13	0.12%	8	0.07%	3,788	33.76%	11,222
Green Lake	5,046	67.67%	2,174	29.15%	227	3.04%	6	0.08%	4	0.05%	2,872	38.52%	7,457
Iowa	4,387	57.53%	3,131	41.06%	97	1.27%	7	0.09%	4	0.05%	1,256	16.47%	7,626
Iron	1,723	49.93%	1,648	47.75%	70	2.03%	5	0.14%	5	0.14%	75	2.18%	3,451
Jackson	3,937	60.79%	2,445	37.75%	84	1.30%	9	0.14%	1	0.02%	1,492	23.04%	6,476
Jefferson	14,621	59.47%	9,303	37.84%	611	2.49%	22	0.09%	30	0.12%	5,318	21.63%	24,587
Juneau	4,833	60.19%	2,943	36.65%	237	2.95%	7	0.09%	10	0.12%	1,890	23.54%	8,030
Kenosha	24,041	53.93%	19,441	43.61%	966	2.17%	66	0.15%	62	0.14%	4,600	10.32%	44,576
Kewaunee	4,802	57.15%	3,360	39.99%	229	2.73%	11	0.13%	1	0.01%	1,442	17.16%	8,403
La Crosse	21,992	63.29%	12,152	34.97%	541	1.56%	36	0.10%	25	0.07%	9,840	28.32%	34,746
Lafayette	4,898	62.91%	2,804	36.01%	73	0.94%	6	0.08%	5	0.06%	2,094	26.90%	7,786
Langlade	4,368	57.26%	3,011	39.47%	238	3.12%	6	0.08%	6	0.08%	1,357	17.79%	7,629
Lincoln	6,206	57.25%	4,175	38.51%	437	4.03%	11	0.10%	11	0.10%	2,031	18.74%	10,840
Manitowoc	16,599	48.51%	16,489	48.19%	1,070	3.13%	38	0.11%	24	0.07%	110	0.32%	34,220
Marathon	21,454	51.28%	18,500	44.22%	1,813	4.33%	42	0.10%	30	0.07%	2,954	7.06%	41,839
Marinette	8,740	57.36%	5,900	38.72%	537	3.52%	40	0.26%	21	0.14%	2,840	18.64%	15,238
Marquette	2,682	62.61%	1,537	35.88%	54	1.26%	6	0.14%	5	0.12%	1,145	26.73%	4,284
Menominee	355	36.37%	608	62.30%	11	1.13%	2	0.20%	0	0.00%	-253	-25.93%	976
Milwaukee	191,874	46.05%	210,802	50.59%	12,567	3.02%	724	0.17%	710	0.17%	-18,928	-4.54%	416,677
Monroe	7,625	66.68%	3,640	31.83%	149	1.30%	10	0.09%	12	0.10%	3,985	34.85%	11,436
Oconto	6,511	59.38%	4,041	36.85%	385	3.51%	13	0.12%	15	0.14%	2,470	22.53%	10,965
Oneida	6,811	58.83%	4,262	36.81%	471	4.07%	23	0.20%	10	0.09%	2,549	22.02%	11,577
Outagamie	27,533	59.84%	17,447	37.92%	896	1.95%	101	0.22%	31	0.07%	10,086	21.92%	46,008
Ozaukee	15,759	61.88%	8,503	33.39%	1,149	4.51%	20	0.08%	35	0.14%	7,256	28.49%	25,466
Pepin	1,458	49.26%	1,409	47.60%	86	2.91%	5	0.17%	2	0.07%	49	1.66%	2,960
Pierce	5,899	50.35%	5,611	47.89%	184	1.57%	10	0.09%	12	0.10%	288	2.46%	11,716
Polk	6,567	52.40%	5,738	45.78%	204	1.63%	11	0.09%	13	0.10%	829	6.62%	12,533
Portage	9,346	40.04%	13,564	58.11%	365	1.56%	46	0.20%	20	0.09%	-4,218	-18.07%	23,341
Price	3,694	54.39%	2,831	41.68%	250	3.68%	2	0.03%	15	0.22%	863	12.71%	6,792
Racine	38,490	56.41%	27,778	40.71%	1,785	2.62%	101	0.15%	82	0.12%	10,712	15.70%	68,236
Richland	5,062	66.14%	2,492	32.56%	90	1.18%	3	0.04%	7	0.09%	2,570	33.58%	7,654
Rock	30,361	58.03%	21,033	40.20%	823	1.57%	65	0.12%	37	0.07%	9,328	17.83%	52,319
Rusk	3,007	47.89%	3,075	48.97%	176	2.80%	10	0.16%	11	0.18%	-68	-1.08%	6,279
Sauk	10,285	58.79%	6,980	39.90%	204	1.17%	12	0.07%	12	0.07%	3,305	18.89%	17,493
Sawyer	3,081	62.52%	1,765	35.82%	72	1.46%	7	0.14%	3	0.06%	1,316	26.70%	4,928
Shawano	8,807	67.01%	3,940	29.98%	378	2.88%	7	0.05%	10	0.08%	4,867	37.03%	13,142
Sheboygan	21,500	49.40%	21,114	48.52%	779	1.79%	81	0.19%	45	0.10%	386	0.88%	43,519
St. Croix	8,553	52.50%	7,488	45.96%	213	1.31%	21	0.13%	16	0.10%	1,065	6.54%	16,291
Taylor	4,125	55.87%	2,934	39.74%	313	4.24%	4	0.05%	7	0.09%	1,191	16.13%	7,383
Trempealeau	5,723	56.69%	4,232	41.92%	126	1.25%	4	0.04%	10	0.10%	1,491	14.77%	10,095
Vernon	6,836	65.83%	3,407	32.81%	127	1.22%	10	0.10%	5	0.05%	3,429	33.02%	10,385
Vilas	4,422	65.92%	1,907	28.43%	366	5.46%	4	0.06%	9	0.13%	2,515	37.49%	6,708
Walworth	17,823	66.09%	8,598	31.88%	485	1.80%	38	0.14%	23	0.09%	9,225	34.21%	26,967
Washburn	3,220	56.84%	2,336	41.24%	96	1.69%	6	0.11%	7	0.12%	884	15.60%	5,665
Washington	15,338	56.81%	10,434	38.64%	1,161	4.30%	45	0.17%	23	0.09%	4,904	18.17%	27,001
Waukesha	59,399	60.85%	34,573	35.42%	3,404	3.49%	151	0.15%	95	0.10%	24,826	25.43%	97,622
Waupaca	11,040	70.13%	4,418	28.07%	257	1.63%	20	0.13%	7	0.04%	6,622	42.06%	15,742
Waushara	4,466	66.27%	2,094	31.07%	166	2.46%	8	0.12%	5	0.07%	2,372	35.20%	6,739
Winnebago	29,488	57.28%	20,450	39.72%	1,400	2.72%	93	0.18%	51	0.10%	9,038	17.56%	51,482
Wood	14,806	54.88%	10,415	38.60%	1,719	6.37%	25	0.09%	15	0.06%	4,391	16.28%	26,980
Totals	989,430	53.40%	810,174	43.72%	47,525	2.56%	2,701	0.15%	3,060	0.17%	179,256	9.68%	1,852,890

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Rusk

Notes

↑ The Reed vote was not listed by county but given only as a statewide total. It is included in the total at the bottom of the county table.^[6]

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References

1 2 "1972 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
↑ Counting the Votes; Wisconsin Archived 2017-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
↑ ‘1972 Presidential Election Statistics’
↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
↑ "Our Campaigns - WI US President - D Primary Race - Apr 04, 1972". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
1 2 "WI US President Race, November 07, 1972". Our Campaigns.

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[7] The Reed vote was not listed by county but given only as a statewide total. It is included in the total at the bottom of the county table.^[6]

[Leip-1] 1 2 "1972 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved April 28, 2016.

[2] Counting the Votes; Wisconsin Archived 2017-01-01 at the Wayback Machine

[3] ‘1972 Presidential Election Statistics’

[4] Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

[5] "Our Campaigns - WI US President - D Primary Race - Apr 04, 1972". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024.

[Our-6] 1 2 "WI US President Race, November 07, 1972". Our Campaigns.

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