1972 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary

1972 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary

← 1968 March 7, 1972 (1972-03-07) 1976 →
 
Candidate Richard Nixon Pete McCloskey John M. Ashbrook
Home state California California Ohio
Popular vote 79,239 23,180 11,362
Percentage 67.6% 19.8% 9.7%

Margin by county
Winner by municipality

The 1972 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary was held on March 7, 1972, in New Hampshire as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Richard Nixon faced his first major test in New Hampshire against two minor challengers: liberal anti-Vietnam war candidate Pete McCloskey of California and conservative John Ashbrook of Ohio, who opposed Nixon's détente policies towards China and the Soviet Union. Nixon won the Granite State in a landslide, resulting in the withdrawal of McCloskey from the primaries (he promised to do so if he failed to reach >20% of the vote) and a clear path for the incumbent president to receive the Republican nomination.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ "NH Elections Database » 1972 President Republican Primary". NH Elections Database. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  2. ^ New Hampshire. Dept. of State (1973). Manual for the General Court. University of New Hampshire Library. Concord, N.H. : Dept. of State. pp. 295, 306.
  3. ^ Times, Wallace Turner Special to The New York (March 11, 1972). "McCloskey Drops Challenge to Nixon". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2024.