1972 Missouri gubernatorial election

1972 Missouri gubernatorial election

← 1968 November 7, 1972 1976 →
 
Nominee Kit Bond Edward L. Dowd
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,029,451 832,751
Percentage 55.2% 44.6%

County results
Bond:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%
Dowd:      50-60%      60-70%

Governor before election

Warren E. Hearnes
Democratic

Elected Governor

Kit Bond
Republican

The 1972 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972 in the U.S state of Missouri and resulted in a victory for the Republican nominee for the first time since 1940 incumbent State Auditor of Missouri Kit Bond, over the Democratic nominee, Edward L. Dowd, and Nonpartisan Paul J. Leonard. Joseph P. Teasdale was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, before winning the nomination in the 1976 election, as was lieutenant governor William S. Morris, while Gene McNary was a candidate for the Republican nomination.