1972 United States presidential election in California Turnout 82.13% (of registered voters) 3.62 pp 64.52% (of eligible voters) 2.18 pp [ 1] County Results
Nixon
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
McGovern
40–50%
50–60%
The 1972 United States presidential election in California took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election . State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president .
California voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon , over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern . Nixon took 55.00% of the vote to McGovern's 41.54%, a margin of 13.46%. Although California was Richard Nixon's home state, his performance in the state was somewhat underwhelming, as California's result was about 9% more Democratic than the nation as a whole.
Nixon had previously won California against John F. Kennedy in 1960 and then against Hubert Humphrey in 1968 . This was the first presidential election in which California had the most electoral college votes as a result of the 1970 census , a status it has maintained ever since.
1972 California Democratic Party presidential primary County Results
McGovern
30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
Humphrey
30-40%
40-50%
George McGovern would defeat previous Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, by just under 200,000 votes.[ 2]
Richard Nixon would easily win the California Republican Primary by a wide margin over his only state challenger.[ 3]
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
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican [ edit ]