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| Turnout | 75.99% 5.4pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results
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The1972 United States presidential election in Illinois was held on November 7, 1972 as part of the1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent PresidentRichard Nixon won the state ofIllinois with 59.03 percent of the vote, carrying the state's 26 electoral votes.[1] He defeated his main opponent,Democratic candidateGeorge McGovern in Illinois by a large margin of 18.52%, which still left Illinois 4.63% more Democratic than the nation.
Nixon won all but one of Illinois’ 102 counties. The solitary exception wasJackson County, home toSouthern Illinois University Carbondale, which notably had voted for Nixon in the previous election and was one of six counties outside McGovern’s home state to switch from Republican to Democratic at this election.[a][2] Nixon thus became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying this county sinceBenjamin Harrison in1888.
As of the2024 presidential election, this is the last time in whichCook County andSt. Clair County voted Republican, and the last until2016 whenAlexander County supported a Republican nominee.[3]
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices (Senate andHouse) andthose for state offices.[4]
Turnout in theprimaries was 22.54%, with a total of 1,258,713 votes cast.[4]
Turnout in the general election was 75.99%, with a total of 4,723,236 votes cast.[4] State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on March 21.[4]
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153Democratic National Convention delegates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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The1972 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 21, 1972 in the U.S. state ofIllinois as one of theDemocratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1972 presidential election.
The popular vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional districts on delegate candidates, who had either pledged to support a candidate or been uncommitted.[4]
| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates[citation needed] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund S. Muskie | 766,914 | 62.60 | 59 |
| Eugene J. McCarthy | 444,260 | 36.26 | 0 |
| George Wallace(write-in) | 7,017 | 0.57 | 0 |
| George S. McGovern(write-in) | 3,687 | 0.30 | 3 |
| Hubert H. Humphrey(write-in) | 1,476 | 0.12 | 0 |
| Shirley Chisholm(write-in) | 777 | 0.06 | 0 |
| Henry Jackson(write-in) | 442 | 0.04 | 0 |
| Edward M. Kennedy(write-in) | 242 | 0.02 | 0 |
| John V. Lindsay(write-in) | 118 | 0.01 | 0 |
| Other write-ins | 211 | 0.02 | 0 |
| Uncommitted | — | — | 88 |
| Totals | 1,225,144 | 100 | 153 |
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The1972 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 21, 1972 in the U.S. state ofIllinois as one of theRepublican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1972 presidential election.
In this election, all candidates were write-ins.[4]
The popular vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional district on delegate candidates, who had either pledged their support to a candidate or indicated their intent to enter the convention uncommitted to any candidate.[4]
| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Nixon(incumbent)(write-in) | 32,550 | 96.97 | |
| George Wallace(write-in) | 516 | 1.54 | |
| John Ashbrook(write-in) | 170 | 0.51 | |
| Pete McCloskey(write-in) | 47 | 0.14 | |
| Spiro Agnew(write-in) | 35 | 0.10 | |
| Other write-ins | 251 | 0.75 | |
| Totals | 33,569 | 100 |
| 1972 United States presidential election in Illinois | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Votes[4] | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Richard M. Nixon(incumbent)/Spiro T. Agnew(incumbent) | 2,788,179 | 59.03% | 26 | |
| Democratic | George McGovern/R. Sargent Shriver | 1,913,472 | 40.51% | 0 | |
| Socialist Labor | Louis Fisher/Genevieve Gunderson | 12,344 | 0.26% | 0 | |
| Communist | Gus Hall/Jarvis Tyner | 4,541 | 0.10% | 0 | |
| Write-in | John Schmitz | 2,471 | 0.05% | 0 | |
| Other write-ins | — | 2,229 | 0.05% | 0 | |
| Totals | 4,723,236 | 100.0% | 26 | ||
| County | Richard Nixon Republican | George McGovern Democratic | Louis Fisher Socialist Labor | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast[7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 20,731 | 69.46% | 9,055 | 30.34% | 57 | 0.19% | 3 | 0.01% | 11,676 | 39.12% | 29,846 |
| Alexander | 3,669 | 59.09% | 2,482 | 39.97% | 49 | 0.79% | 9 | 0.14% | 1,187 | 19.12% | 6,209 |
| Bond | 4,475 | 62.30% | 2,704 | 37.64% | 4 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,771 | 24.66% | 7,183 |
| Boone | 7,003 | 68.89% | 3,131 | 30.80% | 29 | 0.29% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,872 | 38.09% | 10,165 |
| Brown | 1,780 | 58.90% | 1,203 | 39.81% | 36 | 1.19% | 3 | 0.10% | 577 | 19.09% | 3,022 |
| Bureau | 12,786 | 67.47% | 6,133 | 32.36% | 22 | 0.12% | 11 | 0.06% | 6,653 | 35.11% | 18,952 |
| Calhoun | 1,705 | 56.51% | 1,299 | 43.06% | 13 | 0.43% | 0 | 0.00% | 406 | 13.45% | 3,017 |
| Carroll | 6,041 | 69.99% | 2,571 | 29.79% | 18 | 0.21% | 1 | 0.01% | 3,470 | 40.20% | 8,631 |
| Cass | 4,414 | 61.14% | 2,803 | 38.83% | 1 | 0.01% | 1 | 0.01% | 1,611 | 22.31% | 7,219 |
| Champaign | 33,700 | 57.43% | 24,743 | 42.17% | 97 | 0.17% | 139 | 0.24% | 8,957 | 15.26% | 58,679 |
| Christian | 10,072 | 56.98% | 7,556 | 42.75% | 44 | 0.25% | 3 | 0.02% | 2,516 | 14.23% | 17,675 |
| Clark | 5,706 | 65.74% | 2,965 | 34.16% | 8 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,741 | 31.58% | 8,680 |
| Clay | 5,283 | 64.92% | 2,844 | 34.95% | 8 | 0.10% | 3 | 0.04% | 2,439 | 29.97% | 8,138 |
| Clinton | 7,931 | 62.39% | 4,756 | 37.41% | 15 | 0.12% | 10 | 0.08% | 3,175 | 24.98% | 12,712 |
| Coles | 13,681 | 62.90% | 7,988 | 36.72% | 15 | 0.07% | 67 | 0.31% | 5,693 | 26.18% | 21,751 |
| Cook | 1,234,307 | 53.41% | 1,063,268 | 46.01% | 7,328 | 0.32% | 6,134 | 0.27% | 171,039 | 7.40% | 2,311,037 |
| Crawford | 6,568 | 65.32% | 3,477 | 34.58% | 9 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.01% | 3,091 | 30.74% | 10,055 |
| Cumberland | 3,257 | 60.79% | 2,083 | 38.88% | 9 | 0.17% | 9 | 0.17% | 1,174 | 21.91% | 5,358 |
| DeKalb | 18,910 | 60.25% | 12,375 | 39.43% | 41 | 0.13% | 58 | 0.18% | 6,535 | 20.82% | 31,384 |
| DeWitt | 5,025 | 65.22% | 2,672 | 34.68% | 7 | 0.09% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,353 | 30.54% | 7,705 |
| Douglas | 5,840 | 68.66% | 2,656 | 31.23% | 8 | 0.09% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,184 | 37.43% | 8,506 |
| DuPage | 172,341 | 75.02% | 57,043 | 24.83% | 297 | 0.13% | 58 | 0.03% | 115,298 | 50.19% | 229,739 |
| Edgar | 7,195 | 64.73% | 3,889 | 34.99% | 29 | 0.26% | 3 | 0.03% | 3,306 | 29.74% | 11,116 |
| Edwards | 3,017 | 73.93% | 1,055 | 25.85% | 9 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,962 | 48.08% | 4,081 |
| Effingham | 8,752 | 66.34% | 4,431 | 33.59% | 7 | 0.05% | 3 | 0.02% | 4,321 | 32.75% | 13,193 |
| Fayette | 6,574 | 61.05% | 4,192 | 38.93% | 1 | 0.01% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,382 | 22.12% | 10,768 |
| Ford | 5,656 | 74.51% | 1,934 | 25.48% | 1 | 0.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,722 | 49.03% | 7,591 |
| Franklin | 10,121 | 54.04% | 8,545 | 45.62% | 32 | 0.17% | 31 | 0.17% | 1,576 | 8.42% | 18,729 |
| Fulton | 12,328 | 61.80% | 7,529 | 37.74% | 77 | 0.39% | 15 | 0.08% | 4,799 | 24.06% | 19,949 |
| Gallatin | 2,148 | 53.69% | 1,844 | 46.09% | 6 | 0.15% | 3 | 0.07% | 304 | 7.60% | 4,001 |
| Greene | 4,673 | 62.13% | 2,824 | 37.55% | 23 | 0.31% | 1 | 0.01% | 1,849 | 24.58% | 7,521 |
| Grundy | 8,725 | 70.70% | 3,584 | 29.04% | 20 | 0.16% | 12 | 0.10% | 5,141 | 41.66% | 12,341 |
| Hamilton | 3,282 | 61.94% | 2,006 | 37.86% | 9 | 0.17% | 2 | 0.04% | 1,276 | 24.08% | 5,299 |
| Hancock | 7,519 | 67.56% | 3,592 | 32.28% | 16 | 0.14% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,927 | 35.28% | 11,129 |
| Hardin | 1,915 | 62.54% | 1,140 | 37.23% | 6 | 0.20% | 1 | 0.03% | 775 | 25.31% | 3,062 |
| Henderson | 2,689 | 60.62% | 1,744 | 39.31% | 2 | 0.05% | 1 | 0.02% | 945 | 21.31% | 4,436 |
| Henry | 14,796 | 63.82% | 8,368 | 36.09% | 17 | 0.07% | 4 | 0.02% | 6,428 | 27.73% | 23,185 |
| Iroquois | 11,995 | 76.00% | 3,723 | 23.59% | 12 | 0.08% | 52 | 0.33% | 8,272 | 52.41% | 15,782 |
| Jackson | 12,393 | 48.42% | 13,146 | 51.37% | 48 | 0.19% | 6 | 0.02% | -753 | -2.95% | 25,593 |
| Jasper | 3,461 | 61.18% | 2,114 | 37.37% | 8 | 0.14% | 74 | 1.31% | 1,347 | 23.81% | 5,657 |
| Jefferson | 9,448 | 59.40% | 6,396 | 40.21% | 50 | 0.31% | 11 | 0.07% | 3,052 | 19.19% | 15,905 |
| Jersey | 5,164 | 60.70% | 3,317 | 38.99% | 8 | 0.09% | 18 | 0.21% | 1,847 | 21.71% | 8,507 |
| Jo Daviess | 5,763 | 63.34% | 3,318 | 36.47% | 13 | 0.14% | 5 | 0.05% | 2,445 | 26.87% | 9,099 |
| Johnson | 2,826 | 68.54% | 1,293 | 31.36% | 4 | 0.10% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,533 | 37.18% | 4,123 |
| Kane | 64,546 | 69.87% | 27,525 | 29.80% | 163 | 0.18% | 143 | 0.15% | 37,021 | 40.07% | 92,377 |
| Kankakee | 26,866 | 66.54% | 13,434 | 33.27% | 54 | 0.13% | 19 | 0.05% | 13,432 | 33.27% | 40,373 |
| Kendall | 9,373 | 78.65% | 2,525 | 21.19% | 19 | 0.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 6,848 | 57.46% | 11,917 |
| Knox | 17,315 | 64.69% | 9,333 | 34.87% | 60 | 0.22% | 58 | 0.22% | 7,982 | 29.82% | 26,766 |
| Lake | 92,052 | 65.84% | 47,416 | 33.91% | 278 | 0.20% | 66 | 0.05% | 44,636 | 31.93% | 139,812 |
| LaSalle | 31,190 | 59.20% | 21,405 | 40.63% | 82 | 0.16% | 10 | 0.02% | 9,785 | 18.57% | 52,687 |
| Lawrence | 5,347 | 65.36% | 2,818 | 34.45% | 15 | 0.18% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,529 | 30.91% | 8,181 |
| Lee | 10,636 | 68.67% | 4,788 | 30.91% | 12 | 0.08% | 53 | 0.34% | 5,848 | 37.76% | 15,489 |
| Livingston | 13,217 | 72.07% | 5,110 | 27.86% | 9 | 0.05% | 3 | 0.02% | 8,107 | 44.21% | 18,339 |
| Logan | 10,277 | 69.95% | 4,395 | 29.91% | 18 | 0.12% | 2 | 0.01% | 5,882 | 40.04% | 14,692 |
| Macon | 29,596 | 59.16% | 20,296 | 40.57% | 114 | 0.23% | 23 | 0.05% | 9,300 | 18.59% | 50,029 |
| Macoupin | 13,583 | 58.03% | 9,662 | 41.28% | 147 | 0.63% | 15 | 0.06% | 3,921 | 16.75% | 23,407 |
| Madison | 55,385 | 55.88% | 43,289 | 43.68% | 137 | 0.14% | 305 | 0.31% | 12,096 | 12.20% | 99,116 |
| Marion | 10,755 | 60.58% | 6,968 | 39.25% | 21 | 0.12% | 10 | 0.06% | 3,787 | 21.33% | 17,754 |
| Marshall | 4,452 | 67.43% | 2,141 | 32.43% | 8 | 0.12% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,311 | 35.00% | 6,602 |
| Mason | 4,897 | 62.70% | 2,901 | 37.14% | 8 | 0.10% | 4 | 0.05% | 1,996 | 25.56% | 7,810 |
| Massac | 4,313 | 69.99% | 1,831 | 29.71% | 14 | 0.23% | 4 | 0.06% | 2,482 | 40.28% | 6,162 |
| McDonough | 10,573 | 67.18% | 5,143 | 32.68% | 17 | 0.11% | 5 | 0.03% | 5,430 | 34.50% | 15,738 |
| McHenry | 36,114 | 74.75% | 12,090 | 25.02% | 88 | 0.18% | 20 | 0.04% | 24,024 | 49.73% | 48,312 |
| McLean | 31,060 | 67.59% | 14,824 | 32.26% | 57 | 0.12% | 14 | 0.03% | 16,236 | 35.33% | 45,955 |
| Menard | 3,657 | 69.49% | 1,587 | 30.15% | 8 | 0.15% | 11 | 0.21% | 2,070 | 39.34% | 5,263 |
| Mercer | 5,452 | 60.98% | 3,477 | 38.89% | 8 | 0.09% | 3 | 0.03% | 1,975 | 22.09% | 8,940 |
| Monroe | 6,479 | 68.44% | 2,958 | 31.25% | 24 | 0.25% | 5 | 0.05% | 3,521 | 37.19% | 9,466 |
| Montgomery | 9,025 | 56.71% | 6,858 | 43.10% | 27 | 0.17% | 3 | 0.02% | 2,167 | 13.61% | 15,913 |
| Morgan | 11,103 | 66.13% | 5,674 | 33.80% | 11 | 0.07% | 1 | 0.01% | 5,429 | 32.33% | 16,789 |
| Moultrie | 3,143 | 57.07% | 2,350 | 42.67% | 9 | 0.16% | 5 | 0.09% | 793 | 14.40% | 5,507 |
| Ogle | 13,512 | 73.88% | 4,743 | 25.93% | 32 | 0.17% | 3 | 0.02% | 8,769 | 47.95% | 18,290 |
| Peoria | 50,324 | 64.49% | 27,264 | 34.94% | 112 | 0.14% | 337 | 0.43% | 23,060 | 29.55% | 78,037 |
| Perry | 6,968 | 62.98% | 4,084 | 36.91% | 9 | 0.08% | 3 | 0.03% | 2,884 | 26.07% | 11,064 |
| Piatt | 5,057 | 67.72% | 2,394 | 32.06% | 16 | 0.21% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,663 | 35.66% | 7,468 |
| Pike | 5,940 | 60.23% | 3,883 | 39.37% | 38 | 0.39% | 2 | 0.02% | 2,057 | 20.86% | 9,863 |
| Pope | 1,440 | 64.92% | 773 | 34.85% | 4 | 0.18% | 1 | 0.05% | 667 | 30.07% | 2,218 |
| Pulaski | 2,485 | 59.27% | 1,683 | 40.14% | 21 | 0.50% | 4 | 0.10% | 802 | 19.13% | 4,193 |
| Putnam | 1,665 | 59.74% | 1,112 | 39.90% | 4 | 0.14% | 6 | 0.22% | 553 | 19.84% | 2,787 |
| Randolph | 9,761 | 60.20% | 6,440 | 39.72% | 14 | 0.09% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,321 | 20.48% | 16,215 |
| Richland | 5,558 | 68.41% | 2,553 | 31.42% | 12 | 0.15% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,005 | 36.99% | 8,125 |
| Rock Island | 37,548 | 53.39% | 32,529 | 46.25% | 227 | 0.32% | 26 | 0.04% | 5,019 | 7.14% | 70,330 |
| Saline | 7,660 | 59.30% | 5,226 | 40.46% | 26 | 0.20% | 6 | 0.05% | 2,434 | 18.84% | 12,918 |
| Sangamon | 50,458 | 65.46% | 25,720 | 33.37% | 284 | 0.37% | 617 | 0.80% | 24,738 | 32.09% | 77,079 |
| Schuyler | 2,994 | 66.03% | 1,534 | 33.83% | 2 | 0.04% | 4 | 0.09% | 1,460 | 32.20% | 4,534 |
| Scott | 2,228 | 66.00% | 1,145 | 33.92% | 2 | 0.06% | 1 | 0.03% | 1,083 | 32.08% | 3,376 |
| Shelby | 7,217 | 62.08% | 4,389 | 37.75% | 17 | 0.15% | 3 | 0.03% | 2,828 | 24.33% | 11,626 |
| St. Clair | 50,519 | 51.50% | 46,636 | 47.54% | 876 | 0.89% | 66 | 0.07% | 3,883 | 3.96% | 98,097 |
| Stark | 2,529 | 71.44% | 993 | 28.05% | 8 | 0.23% | 10 | 0.28% | 1,536 | 43.39% | 3,540 |
| Stephenson | 13,584 | 67.86% | 6,404 | 31.99% | 24 | 0.12% | 7 | 0.03% | 7,180 | 35.87% | 20,019 |
| Tazewell | 31,937 | 67.08% | 15,576 | 32.71% | 83 | 0.17% | 17 | 0.04% | 16,361 | 34.37% | 47,613 |
| Union | 5,034 | 59.36% | 3,428 | 40.42% | 16 | 0.19% | 2 | 0.02% | 1,606 | 18.94% | 8,480 |
| Vermilion | 24,863 | 63.06% | 14,413 | 36.56% | 70 | 0.18% | 79 | 0.20% | 10,450 | 26.50% | 39,425 |
| Wabash | 4,310 | 68.35% | 1,985 | 31.48% | 5 | 0.08% | 6 | 0.10% | 2,325 | 36.87% | 6,306 |
| Warren | 7,021 | 70.15% | 2,969 | 29.67% | 15 | 0.15% | 3 | 0.03% | 4,052 | 40.48% | 10,008 |
| Washington | 5,179 | 68.85% | 2,327 | 30.94% | 12 | 0.16% | 4 | 0.05% | 2,852 | 37.91% | 7,522 |
| Wayne | 6,400 | 69.75% | 2,763 | 30.11% | 10 | 0.11% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,637 | 39.64% | 9,175 |
| White | 6,052 | 62.10% | 3,678 | 37.74% | 11 | 0.11% | 5 | 0.05% | 2,374 | 24.36% | 9,746 |
| Whiteside | 17,305 | 68.40% | 7,909 | 31.26% | 80 | 0.32% | 7 | 0.03% | 9,396 | 37.14% | 25,301 |
| Will | 65,155 | 65.67% | 33,633 | 33.90% | 185 | 0.19% | 245 | 0.25% | 31,522 | 31.77% | 99,218 |
| Williamson | 14,101 | 60.02% | 9,202 | 39.17% | 12 | 0.05% | 177 | 0.75% | 4,899 | 20.85% | 23,492 |
| Winnebago | 57,682 | 61.46% | 35,937 | 38.29% | 179 | 0.19% | 52 | 0.06% | 21,745 | 23.17% | 93,850 |
| Woodford | 9,622 | 72.85% | 3,558 | 26.94% | 18 | 0.14% | 10 | 0.08% | 6,064 | 45.91% | 13,208 |
| Totals | 2,788,179 | 59.03% | 1,913,472 | 40.51% | 12,344 | 0.26% | 9,241 | 0.20% | 874,707 | 18.52% | 4,723,236 |
Nixon's 2,788,179 votes were the most received by a Republican presidential candidate in the state's history.[citation needed]
This was the closest anyone has come to sweeping every Illinois county, making the state along with Kentucky and North Carolina, the only states where no one candidate has ever swept every county in the state's history.[citation needed]
State and district results of the1972 United States presidential election | ||
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