1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

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 percent of the vote, carrying the state’s eleven electoral votes,[1] although Wisconsin was the fifth most Democratic state during the election, voting 6.74% 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]

Main article: 1972 United States presidential election

1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

November 7, 1972

Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern Party Republican Democratic Home state California South Dakota Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver Electoral vote 11 0 Popular vote 989,430 810,174 Percentage 53.4% 43.7%

County Results 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

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 predominantly Native American Menominee County where he won 62.3% of the vote. McGovern and Shriver also achieved clear majorities in Milwaukee, Dane, Douglas and Portage Counties, and narrowly won Ashland County by one percent and Rusk County by 1.1%. Nixon won Manitowoc County by one hundred and ten votes, achieved pluralities in Pepin, Chippewa and Forest Counties, and won majorities in the remaining seventy-eight – the largest being in Waupaca County where Nixon won by forty-two percentage points.

Nixon became the first Republican since Warren 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]

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon	989,430	53.40%	11
	Democratic	George McGovern	810,174	43.72%	0
	American Independent	John G. Schmitz	47,525	2.56%	0
	People`s	Benjamin Spock	2,701	0.15%	0
	Socialist Labor	Louis Fisher	998	0.05%	0
	Write-Ins		893	0.05%	0
	Communist Party	Gus Hall	663	0.04%	0
	Socialist Workers	Evelyn Reed	506	0.03%	0
Totals			2,272,838	100.0%	11

References

1. "1972 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
2. Counting the Votes; Wisconsin
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. "1972 Presidential General Election Results in Wisconsin". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved May 19, 2015.