1972 United States presidential election in Illinois

1972 United States presidential election in Illinois

← 1968 November 7, 1972 1976 →
Turnout75.99% Decrease 5.4 pp
 
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
Electoral vote 26 0
Popular vote 2,788,179 1,913,472
Percentage 59.03% 40.51%

County Results

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in Illinois was held on November 7, 1972 as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Richard Nixon won the state of Illinois with 59.03 percent of the vote, carrying the state's 26 electoral votes.[1] He defeated his main opponent, Democratic candidate George McGovern in Illinois by a large margin of 18.52%, which still left Illinois 4.63% more Democratic than the nation.

Nixon won all but one of Illinois’ 102 counties. The solitary exception was Jackson County, home to Southern Illinois University Carbondale, which notably had voted for Nixon in the previous election and was one of six counties outside McGovern’s home state to switch from Republican to Democratic at this election.[a][2] Nixon thus became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying this county since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time in which Cook County and St. Clair County voted Republican, and the last until 2016 when Alexander County supported a Republican nominee.[3]

  1. ^ "1972 Presidential General Election Results – Illinois". Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  2. ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 98 ISBN 0786422173
  3. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016


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