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| Turnout | 82.13% (of registered voters) 3.62pp64.52% (of eligible voters)  2.18pp[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results
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The1972 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
California voted for theRepublican incumbent,Richard Nixon, over theDemocratic challenger,South DakotaSenatorGeorge McGovern. Nixon took 55.00% of the vote to McGovern's 41.54%, a margin of 13.46%. Though Nixon won a commanding victory in his home state over McGovern, this result nevertheless meant California voted almost ten points to the left of the nation at large and was one of McGovern's strongest states in the 1972 election.
Nixon had previously won California againstJohn F. Kennedy in1960 and then againstHubert Humphrey in1968. This was the first presidential election in which California had the mostelectoral college votes as a result of the1970 census, a status it has maintained ever since.
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← 1968 June 6, 1972 1976 → | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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George McGovern would defeat previous Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, by just under 200,000 votes.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George McGovern | 1,550,652 | 43.50% | |
| Democratic | Hubert Humphrey | 1,375,064 | 38.58% | |
| Democratic | George Wallace | 268,551 | 7.53% | |
| Democratic | Shirley Chisholm | 157,435 | 4.42% | |
| Democratic | Edmund Muskie | 72,701 | 2.04% | |
| Democratic | Sam Yorty | 50,745 | 1.42% | |
| Democratic | Eugene McCarthy | 34,203 | 0.96% | |
| Democratic | Henry M. Jackson | 28,901 | 0.81% | |
| Democratic | John Lindsay | 26,246 | 0.74% | |
| Democratic | Others | 20 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 3,564,518 | 100 | ||
Richard Nixon would easily win the California Republican Primary by a wide margin over his only state challenger.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Nixon (incumbent) | 2,058,825 | 90.14% | |
| Republican | John M. Ashbrook | 224,922 | 9.85% | |
| Republican | Others | 175 | 0.01% | |
| Total votes | 2,283,922 | 100 | ||
| 1972 United States presidential election in California[3] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | ||||
| County | Richard Nixon Republican | George McGovern Democratic | John G. Schmitz American Independent | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 201,862 | 42.84% | 259,254 | 55.02% | 6,930 | 1.47% | 3,149 | 0.67% | -57,392 | -12.18% | 471,195 |
| Alpine | 366 | 63.54% | 195 | 33.85% | 7 | 1.22% | 8 | 1.39% | 171 | 29.69% | 576 |
| Amador | 3,533 | 53.40% | 2,705 | 40.89% | 340 | 5.14% | 38 | 0.57% | 828 | 12.51% | 6,616 |
| Butte | 28,819 | 57.61% | 18,401 | 36.78% | 2,468 | 4.93% | 340 | 0.68% | 10,418 | 20.83% | 50,028 |
| Calaveras | 4,119 | 60.76% | 2,268 | 33.46% | 304 | 4.48% | 88 | 1.30% | 1,851 | 27.30% | 6,779 |
| Colusa | 2,715 | 57.56% | 1,810 | 38.37% | 167 | 3.54% | 25 | 0.53% | 905 | 19.19% | 4,717 |
| Contra Costa | 139,044 | 54.13% | 111,718 | 43.49% | 4,701 | 1.83% | 1,421 | 0.55% | 27,326 | 10.64% | 256,884 |
| Del Norte | 2,927 | 51.82% | 2,156 | 38.17% | 515 | 9.12% | 50 | 0.89% | 771 | 13.65% | 5,648 |
| El Dorado | 11,330 | 54.20% | 8,654 | 41.40% | 794 | 3.80% | 127 | 0.61% | 2,676 | 12.80% | 20,905 |
| Fresno | 79,051 | 50.44% | 72,682 | 46.38% | 3,927 | 2.51% | 1,059 | 0.68% | 6,369 | 4.06% | 156,719 |
| Glenn | 4,569 | 59.01% | 2,681 | 34.62% | 458 | 5.92% | 35 | 0.45% | 1,888 | 24.39% | 7,743 |
| Humboldt | 22,345 | 48.83% | 21,132 | 46.18% | 1,896 | 4.14% | 390 | 0.85% | 1,213 | 2.65% | 45,763 |
| Imperial | 14,178 | 62.05% | 7,982 | 34.93% | 607 | 2.66% | 82 | 0.36% | 6,196 | 27.12% | 22,849 |
| Inyo | 4,873 | 68.07% | 2,006 | 28.02% | 240 | 3.35% | 40 | 0.56% | 2,867 | 40.05% | 7,159 |
| Kern | 71,686 | 60.14% | 41,937 | 35.18% | 5,112 | 4.29% | 458 | 0.38% | 29,479 | 24.96% | 119,193 |
| Kings | 10,509 | 56.52% | 7,274 | 39.12% | 742 | 3.99% | 70 | 0.38% | 3,235 | 17.40% | 18,595 |
| Lake | 6,477 | 55.12% | 4,715 | 40.13% | 509 | 4.33% | 49 | 0.42% | 1,762 | 14.99% | 11,750 |
| Lassen | 3,618 | 50.80% | 3,134 | 44.00% | 320 | 4.49% | 50 | 0.70% | 484 | 6.80% | 7,122 |
| Los Angeles | 1,549,717 | 54.75% | 1,189,977 | 42.04% | 71,978 | 2.54% | 18,698 | 0.66% | 359,740 | 12.71% | 2,830,370 |
| Madera | 7,835 | 52.61% | 6,580 | 44.18% | 428 | 2.87% | 49 | 0.33% | 1,255 | 8.43% | 14,892 |
| Marin | 54,123 | 52.10% | 47,414 | 45.64% | 1,326 | 1.28% | 1,020 | 0.98% | 6,709 | 6.46% | 103,883 |
| Mariposa | 2,122 | 56.15% | 1,487 | 39.35% | 141 | 3.73% | 29 | 0.77% | 635 | 16.80% | 3,779 |
| Mendocino | 11,128 | 51.01% | 9,435 | 43.25% | 1,050 | 4.81% | 201 | 0.92% | 1,693 | 7.76% | 21,814 |
| Merced | 17,737 | 54.33% | 13,914 | 42.62% | 836 | 2.56% | 161 | 0.49% | 3,823 | 11.71% | 32,648 |
| Modoc | 2,085 | 58.49% | 1,271 | 35.65% | 188 | 5.27% | 21 | 0.59% | 814 | 22.84% | 3,565 |
| Mono | 1,872 | 66.88% | 828 | 29.58% | 78 | 2.79% | 21 | 0.75% | 1,044 | 37.30% | 2,799 |
| Monterey | 47,004 | 57.04% | 32,545 | 39.49% | 2,274 | 2.76% | 585 | 0.71% | 14,459 | 17.55% | 82,408 |
| Napa | 23,403 | 59.61% | 14,529 | 37.01% | 1,141 | 2.91% | 188 | 0.48% | 8,874 | 22.60% | 39,261 |
| Nevada | 8,004 | 54.68% | 5,693 | 38.89% | 868 | 5.93% | 73 | 0.50% | 2,311 | 15.79% | 14,638 |
| Orange | 448,291 | 68.27% | 176,847 | 26.93% | 28,634 | 4.36% | 2,881 | 0.44% | 271,444 | 41.34% | 656,653 |
| Placer | 18,597 | 50.34% | 16,911 | 45.77% | 1,251 | 3.39% | 186 | 0.50% | 1,686 | 4.57% | 36,945 |
| Plumas | 2,952 | 46.42% | 3,057 | 48.07% | 318 | 5.00% | 33 | 0.52% | -105 | -1.65% | 6,360 |
| Riverside | 108,120 | 58.00% | 71,591 | 38.41% | 5,843 | 3.13% | 850 | 0.46% | 36,529 | 19.59% | 186,404 |
| Sacramento | 141,218 | 49.00% | 137,287 | 47.63% | 7,841 | 2.72% | 1,875 | 0.65% | 3,931 | 1.37% | 288,221 |
| San Benito | 3,961 | 57.56% | 2,582 | 37.52% | 308 | 4.48% | 30 | 0.44% | 1,379 | 20.04% | 6,881 |
| San Bernardino | 144,689 | 59.73% | 85,986 | 35.49% | 10,342 | 4.27% | 1,239 | 0.51% | 58,703 | 24.24% | 242,256 |
| San Diego | 371,627 | 61.82% | 206,455 | 34.34% | 20,188 | 3.36% | 2,867 | 0.48% | 165,172 | 27.48% | 601,137 |
| San Francisco | 127,461 | 41.82% | 170,882 | 56.07% | 3,702 | 1.21% | 2,725 | 0.89% | -43,421 | -14.25% | 304,770 |
| San Joaquin | 61,646 | 55.30% | 44,062 | 39.53% | 5,027 | 4.51% | 734 | 0.66% | 17,584 | 15.77% | 111,469 |
| San Luis Obispo | 28,566 | 55.98% | 20,779 | 40.72% | 1,156 | 2.27% | 532 | 1.04% | 7,787 | 15.26% | 51,033 |
| San Mateo | 135,377 | 52.82% | 109,745 | 42.82% | 4,079 | 1.59% | 7,096 | 2.77% | 25,632 | 10.00% | 256,297 |
| Santa Barbara | 67,075 | 55.19% | 50,609 | 41.64% | 3,103 | 2.55% | 754 | 0.62% | 16,466 | 13.55% | 121,541 |
| Santa Clara | 237,334 | 51.90% | 208,506 | 45.60% | 8,236 | 1.80% | 3,217 | 0.70% | 28,828 | 6.30% | 457,293 |
| Santa Cruz | 34,799 | 49.88% | 32,336 | 46.35% | 1,931 | 2.77% | 693 | 0.99% | 2,463 | 3.53% | 69,759 |
| Shasta | 16,618 | 46.68% | 17,214 | 48.35% | 1,595 | 4.48% | 176 | 0.49% | -596 | -1.67% | 35,603 |
| Sierra | 629 | 47.51% | 658 | 49.70% | 27 | 2.04% | 10 | 0.76% | -29 | -2.19% | 1,324 |
| Siskiyou | 7,563 | 51.46% | 6,434 | 43.78% | 621 | 4.23% | 78 | 0.53% | 1,129 | 7.68% | 14,696 |
| Solano | 31,314 | 54.02% | 24,766 | 42.73% | 1,616 | 2.79% | 269 | 0.46% | 6,548 | 11.29% | 57,965 |
| Sonoma | 57,697 | 54.72% | 43,746 | 41.49% | 3,192 | 3.03% | 799 | 0.76% | 13,951 | 13.23% | 105,434 |
| Stanislaus | 39,521 | 51.41% | 35,005 | 45.54% | 1,943 | 2.53% | 398 | 0.52% | 4,516 | 5.87% | 76,867 |
| Sutter | 10,224 | 62.45% | 5,409 | 33.04% | 647 | 3.95% | 92 | 0.56% | 4,815 | 29.41% | 16,372 |
| Tehama | 6,054 | 48.73% | 5,175 | 41.65% | 1,161 | 9.34% | 34 | 0.27% | 879 | 7.08% | 12,424 |
| Trinity | 1,868 | 50.75% | 1,621 | 44.04% | 169 | 4.59% | 23 | 0.62% | 247 | 6.71% | 3,681 |
| Tulare | 36,048 | 59.93% | 21,775 | 36.20% | 2,076 | 3.45% | 251 | 0.42% | 14,273 | 23.73% | 60,150 |
| Tuolumne | 5,894 | 54.29% | 4,596 | 42.34% | 299 | 2.75% | 67 | 0.62% | 1,298 | 11.95% | 10,856 |
| Ventura | 95,310 | 63.20% | 49,307 | 32.70% | 5,586 | 3.70% | 602 | 0.40% | 46,003 | 30.50% | 150,805 |
| Yolo | 17,969 | 42.04% | 23,694 | 55.44% | 800 | 1.87% | 275 | 0.64% | -5,725 | -13.40% | 42,738 |
| Yuba | 6,623 | 56.95% | 4,435 | 38.13% | 518 | 4.45% | 54 | 0.46% | 2,188 | 18.82% | 11,630 |
| Total | 4,602,096 | 55.00% | 3,475,847 | 41.54% | 232,554 | 2.78% | 57,365 | 0.69% | 1,126,249 | 13.46% | 8,367,862 |
State and district results of the1972 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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