1972 United States presidential election in New York

none June 2025 September 2023 1972 United States presidential election 1972 United States presidential election in New York New York Flag of New York (1909–2020).svg presidential no 1968 United States presidential election in New York 1968 1976 United States presidential election in New York 1976 November 7, 1972 x200px Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) Conservative California Spiro Agnew 41 4,192,778 58.54% George McGovern (D-SD) (3x4-1).jpg George McGovern Democratic Party (United States) Liberal South Dakota Sargent Shriver 0 2,951,084 41.21% 400px County results 400px Congressional district results 1 445px Nixon #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% McGovern #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% #0645B4 80–90% President Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) 340px|thumb|Nixon while campaigning in Pocantico Hills, New York, 1972. The 1972 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 7, 1972. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose 41 electors to the Electoral College, which voted for President and Vice President. New York was won by incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon, who succeeded in securing re-election against Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Nixon ran with Vice President, and former Maryland Governor, Spiro Agnew for vice president, and McGovern ran with United States Ambassador Sargent Shriver for vice president. In the midst of a nationwide Republican landslide, Nixon took 58.54% of the vote in New York State to McGovern's 41.21%, a margin of 17.34%. New York weighed in for this election as more Democratic than the national average by about 6%. Nearly all counties in New York State turned out for Nixon, and only the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx voted for McGovern. McGovern was able to win New York City overall with his victories in these three boroughs, taking two-thirds of the vote in Manhattan and also winning majority votes in Brooklyn and the Bronx. However, Nixon was able to put in a relatively strong performance citywide, winning 56% of the vote in Queens and 74% of the vote in Staten Island. 1972 remains the last election in which a Republican presidential nominee has won any New York City borough other than Staten Island, Queens being a heavily populated county that was historically key to Republican competition in New York. This was also the last election in which a Republican presidential nominee has won the upstate counties of Erie County, where the city of Buffalo is located, and Albany County, where the state capital of Albany is located, as well as in turn, the last Republican to win every county of upstate New York.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016. Both of these counties have become solidly Democratic in the years that have followed. The presidential election of 1972 was an extremely partisan election for New York, with 99.75% of the electorate voting either Republican or Democrat.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1972&fips=36&f=1&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 1972 Presidential General Election Results – New York Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2013-07-09 Having delivered as President a period of relative economic stability and growth, and showing promising movements towards peace in Vietnam, Nixon was able to gain reelection with electors from every State in the U.S., except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. The Vietnam War continued to be a strong issue during this election, with both candidates declaring desire to end the conflict.https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30C11F7345C107B93CBA8178AD85F458785F9 McGovern Enters '72 Race, Pledging Troop Withdrawal R. W. Apple Jr. The New York Times 1971-01-18 1 fee required 2013-07-09 This was the first election since 1808 in which New York did not have the largest number of electors in the Electoral College, having fallen to 41 electors versus California's 45 as a result of the 1970 census. It is also the only presidential election from 1952 onwards in which New York did not vote the same way as Massachusetts. As of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, this is the last time that New York state voted more Republican than Michigan, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, and the last time that Queens voted Republican in a presidential election. Campaign The number of votes cast on the Liberal Party of New York's ballot line declined by almost 60%.Soyer 2021 253–254 1972 Liberal Party state committee presidential voteSoyer 2021 253 Liberal Party of New York George McGovern 215 96.41% Liberal Party of New York Benjamin Spock 8 3.59% 223 100.00% Results 1972 United States presidential election in New YorkPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Richard Nixon 3,824,642 53.40% Conservative Richard Nixon 368,136 5.14% Total Richard Nixon (incumbent) 4,192,778 58.54% 41 Democratic George McGovern 2,767,956 38.65% Liberal George McGovern 183,128 2.56% Total George McGovern 2,951,084 41.21% 0 Socialist Workers Evelyn Reed 7,797 0.11% 0 Communist Gus Hall 5,641 0.08% 0 Socialist Labor Louis Fisher 4,530 0.06% 0 Totals 7,161,830 100.0% 41 New York City results alt=A map showing the results by borough for the 1972 US presidential election in New York City.|thumb|Results by borough for the 1972 US presidential election in New York City. 1972 presidential election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal Democratic-LiberalGeorge McGovern354,326243,345387,768328,31629,2411,342,99651.46%66.25%55.16%50.78%43.42%25.62% Republican-ConservativeRichard Nixon178,515196,754373,903426,01584,6861,259,87348.27%33.38%44.60%48.96%56.34%74.21% CommunistGus Hall938458797628712,8920.11%0.18%0.10%0.10%0.08%0.06% Socialist WorkersEvelyn Reed702355672674842,4870.10%0.13%0.08%0.09%0.09%0.07% Socialist LaborLouis Fisher382262480454411,6190.06%0.07%0.06%0.06%0.06%0.04%TOTAL534,863441,174763,620756,087114,1232,609,867100.00% Results by county County Richard NixonRepublican/Conservative George McGovernDemocratic/Liberal Evelyn ReedOur Campaigns; NY US President 1972Socialist WorkersGus HallCommunistLouis FisherSocialist Labor Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # % # % Albany 81,848 54.76% 67,297 45.02% 158 0.11% 85 0.06% 87 0.06% 14,551 9.74% 149,475 Allegany 13,426 73.43% 4,812 26.32% 28 0.15% 9 0.05% 9 0.05% 8,614 47.11% 18,284 Bronx 196,754 44.60% 243,345 55.16% 355 0.08% 458 0.10% 262 0.06% −46,591 −10.56% 441,174 Broome 55,736 59.84% 37,154 39.89% 132 0.14% 49 0.05% 64 0.07% 18,582 19.95% 93,135 Cattaraugus 21,906 66.53% 10,909 33.13% 66 0.20% 21 0.06% 25 0.08% 10,997 33.40% 32,927 Cayuga 22,774 67.08% 11,097 32.68% 34 0.10% 11 0.03% 36 0.11% 11,677 34.40% 33,952 Chautauqua 37,158 58.44% 26,253 41.29% 77 0.12% 39 0.06% 56 0.09% 10,905 17.15% 63,583 Chemung 26,200 67.28% 12,650 32.48% 50 0.13% 16 0.04% 28 0.07% 13,550 34.80% 38,944 Chenango 13,770 70.58% 5,695 29.19% 28 0.14% 5 0.03% 11 0.06% 8,075 41.39% 19,509 Clinton 17,048 63.60% 9,703 36.20% 31 0.12% 10 0.04% 12 0.04% 7,345 27.40% 26,804 Columbia 17,995 70.27% 7,558 29.51% 26 0.10% 12 0.05% 19 0.07% 10,437 40.76% 25,610 Cortland 12,885 70.97% 5,234 28.83% 20 0.11% 10 0.06% 7 0.04% 7,651 42.14% 18,156 Delaware 15,136 74.10% 5,243 25.67% 27 0.13% 10 0.05% 10 0.05% 9,893 48.43% 20,426 Dutchess 64,864 69.82% 27,872 30.00% 79 0.09% 38 0.04% 50 0.05% 36,992 39.82% 92,903 Erie 256,462 53.88% 218,105 45.82% 568 0.12% 377 0.08% 511 0.11% 38,357 8.06% 476,023 Essex 11,763 70.22% 4,955 29.58% 14 0.08% 13 0.08% 7 0.04% 6,808 40.64% 16,752 Franklin 10,959 67.40% 5,266 32.39% 20 0.12% 3 0.02% 12 0.07% 5,693 35.01% 16,260 Fulton 15,200 67.33% 7,303 32.35% 28 0.12% 16 0.07% 28 0.12% 7,897 34.98% 22,575 Genesee 17,107 66.28% 8,631 33.44% 41 0.16% 11 0.04% 21 0.08% 8,476 32.84% 25,811 Greene 14,313 72.96% 5,260 26.81% 28 0.14% 10 0.05% 7 0.04% 9,053 46.15% 19,618 Hamilton 2,597 77.89% 731 21.93% 1 0.03% 1 0.03% 4 0.12% 1,866 55.96% 3,334 Herkimer 20,194 67.84% 9,487 31.87% 46 0.15% 23 0.08% 17 0.06% 10,707 35.97% 29,767 Jefferson 23,123 66.41% 11,629 33.40% 31 0.09% 15 0.04% 19 0.05% 11,494 33.01% 34,817 Kings 373,903 48.96% 387,768 50.78% 672 0.09% 797 0.10% 480 0.06% −13,865 −1.82% 763,620 Lewis 6,591 68.60% 2,987 31.09% 14 0.15% 6 0.06% 10 0.10% 3,604 37.51% 9,608 Livingston 15,886 69.13% 7,031 30.60% 31 0.13% 15 0.07% 17 0.07% 8,855 38.53% 22,980 Madison 18,392 74.47% 6,241 25.27% 32 0.13% 14 0.06% 18 0.07% 12,151 49.20% 24,697 Monroe 196,579 61.95% 120,031 37.83% 358 0.11% 162 0.05% 175 0.06% 76,548 24.12% 317,305 Montgomery 16,640 63.58% 9,460 36.15% 44 0.17% 11 0.04% 16 0.06% 7,180 27.43% 26,171 Nassau 438,723 63.31% 252,831 36.48% 723 0.10% 418 0.06% 332 0.05% 185,892 26.83% 693,027 New York 178,515 33.38% 354,326 66.25% 702 0.13% 938 0.18% 382 0.07% −175,811 −32.87% 534,863 Niagara 54,777 58.22% 38,991 41.44% 156 0.17% 90 0.10% 77 0.08% 15,786 16.78% 94,091 Oneida 78,549 69.86% 33,642 29.92% 135 0.12% 54 0.05% 64 0.06% 44,907 39.94% 112,444 Onondaga 140,039 69.18% 61,895 30.58% 231 0.11% 105 0.05% 146 0.07% 78,144 38.60% 202,416 Ontario 23,828 68.23% 11,012 31.53% 42 0.12% 22 0.06% 17 0.05% 12,816 36.70% 34,921 Orange 63,556 71.00% 25,778 28.80% 92 0.10% 36 0.04% 53 0.06% 37,778 42.20% 89,515 Orleans 10,938 71.35% 4,371 28.51% 13 0.08% 3 0.02% 4 0.03% 6,567 42.84% 15,329 Oswego 29,109 71.84% 11,317 27.93% 44 0.11% 16 0.04% 32 0.08% 17,792 43.91% 40,518 Otsego 17,364 68.58% 7,898 31.19% 33 0.13% 11 0.04% 15 0.06% 9,466 37.39% 25,321 Putnam 21,673 73.48% 7,747 26.26% 32 0.11% 23 0.08% 22 0.07% 13,926 47.22% 29,497 Queens 426,015 56.34% 328,316 43.42% 674 0.09% 628 0.08% 454 0.06% 97,699 12.92% 756,087 Rensselaer 48,864 66.87% 24,019 32.87% 79 0.11% 54 0.07% 55 0.08% 24,845 34.00% 73,071 Richmond 84,686 74.21% 29,241 25.62% 84 0.07% 71 0.06% 41 0.04% 55,445 48.59% 114,123 Rockland 64,753 64.29% 35,771 35.52% 73 0.07% 54 0.05% 69 0.07% 28,982 28.77% 100,720 St. Lawrence 26,145 63.00% 15,286 36.83% 77 0.13% 35 0.06% 38 0.06% 10,859 26.17% 41,503 Saratoga 40,582 69.22% 17,899 30.53% 98 0.13% 42 0.05% 51 0.07% 22,683 38.69% 58,631 Schenectady 47,529 61.46% 29,619 38.30% 15 0.12% 16 0.13% 1 0.01% 17,910 23.16% 77,339 Schoharie 8,644 69.68% 3,730 30.07% 5 0.07% 1 0.01% 3 0.04% 4,914 39.61% 12,406 Schuyler 4,945 71.76% 1,937 28.11% 18 0.13% 5 0.04% 10 0.07% 3,008 43.65% 6,891 Seneca 9,368 67.68% 4,441 32.08% 44 0.11% 10 0.02% 18 0.04% 4,927 35.60% 13,842 Steuben 28,708 75.05% 9,462 24.74% 39 0.10% 17 0.04% 27 0.07% 19,246 50.31% 38,253 Suffolk 316,452 70.34% 132,441 29.44% 505 0.11% 273 0.06% 227 0.05% 184,011 40.90% 449,898 Sullivan 17,035 63.24% 9,847 36.55% 30 0.11% 15 0.06% 11 0.04% 7,188 26.69% 26,938 Tioga 13,396 70.84% 5,470 28.93% 29 0.15% 5 0.03% 10 0.05% 7,926 41.91% 18,910 Tompkins 17,605 58.66% 12,344 41.13% 32 0.11% 16 0.05% 14 0.05% 5,261 17.53% 30,011 Ulster 46,883 68.51% 21,371 31.23% 81 0.12% 45 0.07% 53 0.08% 25,512 37.28% 68,433 Warren 16,649 74.11% 5,760 25.64% 33 0.15% 6 0.03% 17 0.08% 10,889 48.47% 22,465 Washington 16,136 73.80% 5,677 25.97% 24 0.11% 8 0.04% 19 0.09% 10,459 47.83% 21,864 Wayne 23,379 73.89% 8,203 25.92% 34 0.11% 19 0.06% 7 0.02% 15,176 47.97% 31,642 Westchester 262,901 62.83% 154,412 36.90% 548 0.13% 345 0.08% 229 0.05% 108,489 25.93% 418,435 Wyoming 11,184 71.75% 4,365 28.00% 22 0.14% 9 0.06% 8 0.05% 6,819 43.75% 15,588 Yates 6,639 77.04% 1,958 22.72% 11 0.13% 4 0.05% 6 0.07% 4,681 54.32% 8,618Totals4,192,77858.54%2,951,08441.21%7,7970.11%5,6410.08%4,5300.06%1,241,69417.33%7,161,830 Results by congressional district This table shows the results by congressional district in New York. District2022 1972 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District https://wwu.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/minimalist/index.html?appid=29e29b308b5b40aa8fa2cf696592e97f May 13, 2025 Western Washington UniversityNixonMcGovern1st70.4%29.6%2nd72.5%27.5%3rd66.7%33.3%4th64%36%5th62.5%37.5%6th62.3%37.7%7th41.4%58.6%8th49.7%50.3%9th73.4%26.6%10th63.1%36.9%11th51.8%48.2%12th15.6%84.4%13th48.6%51.4%14th47.8%52.2%15th67.7%32.3%16th46.2%53.8%17th62%38%18th41.9%58.1%19th18.6%81.4%20th34.4%65.6%21st20.5%79.5%22nd39.9%60.1%23rd60.4%39.6%24th60.9%39.1%25th70%30%26th67.8%32.2%27th63.6%36.4%28th57%43%29th69.9%30.1%30th67%33%31st69.7%30.3%32nd69.7%30.3%33rd69.6%30.4%34th62.7%37.3%35th65.7%34.3%36th60.2%39.8%37th43%57%38th60.8%39.2%39th66.2%33.8% See also United States presidential elections in New York George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign Presidency of Richard Nixon Presidency of Gerald Ford Watergate scandal References Works cited Soyer Daniel Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 Cornell University Press 2021 10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 9781501759888 expanded New York 1972 Category:1972 New York (state) elections