Electoral Odyssey / Interactive election atlas

1972 Presidential Election

See which candidate won each state and how those wins added up to the Electoral College result.

Electoral College · 1789–2024County popular vote · 2000–2024

Election rules

Modern Electoral College

Electoral result

520 EV · Richard M. Nixon

Map dated

1972-11-07

Electoral College result

How the states voted

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This 1972 result uses the 2020 poll-closing chronology as a cinematic reference sequence, not historical 1972 polling or call timing.

Timing source: The Green Papers 2020 poll-closing chronology

Reference poll-close stream

Electoral Token Board

Token width reflects stored electoral votes

1789—2024

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Official result

Election summary

President: Richard M. Nixon [R]
Main opponent: George S. McGovern [D]
Source note: Spiro T. Agnew resigned as Vice President October 10, 1973. He was succeeded by Gerald R. Ford. Richard M. Nixon resigned as President August 9, 1974. He was succeeded by Gerald R. Ford. V.P. Ford was succeeded by Nelson A. Rockefeller.

State-by-state result

Electoral votes by state

A state appears more than once when its electoral votes were split between candidates.

State	Candidate	Electoral votes
ALABAMA AL	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	9
ALASKA AK	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3
ARIZONA AZ	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	6
ARKANSAS AR	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	6
CALIFORNIA CA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	45
COLORADO CO	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	7
CONNECTICUT CT	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	8
DELAWARE DE	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DC	George McGovern, of South Dakota	3
FLORIDA FL	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	17
GEORGIA GA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	12
HAWAII HI	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
IDAHO ID	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
ILLINOIS IL	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	26
INDIANA IN	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	13
IOWA IA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	8
KANSAS KS	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	7
KENTUCKY KY	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	9
LOUISIANA LA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	10
MAINE ME	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
MARYLAND MD	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	10
MASSACHUSETTS MA	George McGovern, of South Dakota	14
MICHIGAN MI	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	21
MINNESOTA MN	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	10
MISSISSIPPI MS	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	7
MISSOURI MO	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	12
MONTANA MT	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
NEBRASKA NE	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	5
NEVADA NV	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3
NEW HAMPSHIRE NH	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
NEW JERSEY NJ	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	17
NEW MEXICO NM	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
NEW YORK NY	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	41
NORTH CAROLINA NC	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	13
NORTH DAKOTA ND	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3
OHIO OH	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	25
OKLAHOMA OK	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	8
OREGON OR	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	6
PENNSYLVANIA PA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	27
RHODE ISLAND RI	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
SOUTH CAROLINA SC	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	8
SOUTH DAKOTA SD	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
TENNESSEE TN	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	10
TEXAS TX	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	26
UTAH UT	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	4
VERMONT VT	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3
VIRGINIA VA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	11
VIRGINIA VA	John Hospers, of California	1
WASHINGTON WA	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	9
WEST VIRGINIA WV	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	6
WISCONSIN WI	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	11
WYOMING WY	Richard M. Nixon, of New York	3

Data X-Ray v1

Trace the scene

The display layer never replaces the observed NARA label or the checksum-pinned geometry identity.

Candidate identities

Richard M. Nixon: Observed: Richard M. Nixon, of New York
George McGovern: Observed: George McGovern, of South Dakota
John Hospers: Observed: John Hospers, of California

Geometry build

Version: labs-election-states:1972:overview
Reference date: 1972-11-07
Artifact SHA-256: 0bd5cb10e729351134128ce4e797dfbde5969ed51f65f8daea121043b21dd49e
Source: newberry-historical-states-2011-gen05

Office and import semantics

separate_president_vice_president · labs-elections:6dbf3e52c41a13254056a211 · 15 validation checks passed · 0 failed

Coverage and interpretation notes

Historical geometry is independently versioned
The map uses a checksum-pinned, election-date geometry build while Electoral College allocations remain traced to the NARA fact tables.
County detail begins in 2000
County-level popular-vote detail is available only for 2000 through 2024. This election has state-level Electoral College coverage.

Traceable facts

Sources and provenance

National Archives Electoral College Results
State and candidate Electoral College allocations · retrieved 2026-07-25
National Archives Electoral College Results
Election summary and source notes · retrieved 2026-07-25

Data version: labs-elections:6dbf3e52c41a13254056a211
Import validation: 15 passed · 10 documented warnings · 0 failures