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 County results Holshouser: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Bowles: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in North Carolina |
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The 1972 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Republican nominee James Holshouser defeated Democratic nominee Skipper Bowles with 51% of the vote. Holshouser thus became the first Republican elected governor of the state since 1896.
This election was also the first time in a century (since the 1872 election) that a Republican candidate won an outright majority of the vote.