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The1972 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the1972 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states andD.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
New Hampshire was won by theRepublican nominees, incumbentPresidentRichard Nixon ofCalifornia and his running mate incumbentVice PresidentSpiro Agnew ofMaryland. Nixon and Agnew defeated theDemocratic nominees,SenatorGeorge McGovern ofSouth Dakota and his running mate United States AmbassadorSargent Shriver of Maryland.
Nixon took 63.98% of the vote to McGovern's 34.85%, a margin of 29.12%. New Hampshire in this era normally leaned Republican, having not gone Democratic since the nationwide Democratic landslide of1964. As Nixon won re-election nationally in a 49-state landslide, New Hampshire easily remained in the Republican column, with McGovern's only victories coming from neighboringMassachusetts and theDistrict of Columbia.
On the county map, Nixon swept all 10 of the state's counties, breaking 60% in 7 of them. As in previous elections,Carroll County andBelknap County were the most Republican counties in the state, both voting over 70% for Nixon. McGovern's strongest county wasStrafford County, where he managed 41.3% of the vote to Nixon's 57.8%.
Amidst Nixon's landslide nationwide win, New Hampshire would weigh in as almost 6% more Republican than the national average, and would be the most Republican state in theNortheast. Nixon had previously won New Hampshire in both1960 and1968.
| 1972 United States presidential election in New Hampshire[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Richard Nixon (inc.) | 213,724 | 63.98% | 4 | |
| Democratic | George McGovern | 116,435 | 34.85% | 0 | |
| American Independent | John G. Schmitz | 3,386 | 1.01% | 0 | |
| Socialist Workers | Linda Jenness | 368 | 0.11% | 0 | |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 146 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Totals | 334,059 | 100.00% | 4 | ||
| Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 64%/74% | ||||
| County | Richard Nixon Republican | George McGovern Democratic | John G. Schmitz[2] American Independent | Various candidates[2] Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Belknap | 11,536 | 70.72% | 4,610 | 28.26% | 143 | 0.88% | 23 | 0.14% | 6,926 | 42.46% | 16,312 |
| Carroll | 8,525 | 77.01% | 2,395 | 21.64% | 128 | 1.16% | 22 | 0.20% | 6,130 | 55.37% | 11,070 |
| Cheshire | 13,390 | 58.98% | 9,157 | 40.33% | 132 | 0.58% | 24 | 0.11% | 4,233 | 18.65% | 22,703 |
| Coös | 9,468 | 60.84% | 5,829 | 37.45% | 204 | 1.31% | 62 | 0.40% | 3,639 | 23.39% | 15,563 |
| Grafton | 16,605 | 65.58% | 8,388 | 33.13% | 288 | 1.14% | 38 | 0.15% | 8,217 | 32.45% | 25,319 |
| Hillsborough | 65,274 | 64.39% | 34,739 | 34.27% | 1,258 | 1.24% | 106 | 0.10% | 30,535 | 30.12% | 101,377 |
| Merrimack | 25,354 | 67.70% | 11,737 | 31.34% | 308 | 0.82% | 50 | 0.13% | 13,617 | 36.36% | 37,453 |
| Rockingham | 38,825 | 63.09% | 21,998 | 35.75% | 615 | 1.00% | 103 | 0.17% | 16,827 | 27.34% | 61,541 |
| Strafford | 16,846 | 57.83% | 12,028 | 41.29% | 188 | 0.65% | 67 | 0.23% | 4,818 | 16.54% | 29,129 |
| Sullivan | 7,901 | 58.13% | 5,554 | 40.86% | 122 | 0.90% | 15 | 0.11% | 2,347 | 17.27% | 13,592 |
| Totals | 213,724 | 63.98% | 116,435 | 34.85% | 3,386 | 1.01% | 514 | 0.15% | 97,289 | 29.13% | 334,059 |