1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

The 1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 7, 1972 as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

November 7, 1972

Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern Party Republican Democratic Home state California South Dakota Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 220,383 194,645 Percentage 53.0% 46.8%

County Results Nixon   40-50%   50-60%

President before election Richard Nixon Republican Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

Rhode Island voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern.  Nixon took 53.00% of the vote to McGovern's 46.81%, a margin of 6.19%. This was the first election in 116 years in which Rhode Island did not vote for the same candidate as neighbouring Massachusetts.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Providence County voted for the Republican candidate, and Nixon won the county by only 186 votes. This was also the last presidential election where a Republican presidential candidate was able to win every county in the state of Rhode Island.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island[1][2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon (incumbent)	220,383	53.00%	4
	Democratic	George McGovern	194,645	46.81%	0
	Socialist Workers	Linda Jenness	729	0.18%	0
	American Independent	John G. Schmitz (write-in)	25	0.01%	0
	People's	Benjamin Spock (write-in)	5	0.00%	0
	Libertarian	John Hospers (write-in)	2	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Scattered (write-ins)	19	0.00%	0
Totals			415,808	100.00%	4
Voter turnout					—

By county

County	Nixon%	Nixon#	McGovern%	McGovern#	Others%	Others#
Newport	59.8%	19,142	40.1%	12,844	0.2%	49
Washington	58.5%	19,280	41.4%	13,637	0.2%	62
Kent	58.2%	40,534	41.6%	29,004	0.2%	115
Bristol	54.6%	12,009	45.2%	9,928	0.2%	48
Providence	49.9%	129,418	49.9%	129,232	0.2%	506

See also

• United States presidential elections in Rhode Island

References

1. "Guide to U.S. Elections (p. 848)". CQ Press (12 January 2016). Retrieved 2016-02-09.
2. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - Rhode Island". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2016-02-09.