1972 United States presidential election in Idaho

1972 United States presidential election in Idaho
County Results Nixon 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
President before election; Richard Nixon; Republican	Elected President ; Richard Nixon; Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Idaho voters chose four^[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Idaho was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon (R–California), with 64.2 percent of the popular vote, against George McGovern (D–South Dakota), with 26.0% of the popular vote.^[3]^[4]

In a state that would reflect McGovern's national results,^[5]^[6] the Democratic nominee did not win a single county in Idaho. In fact, John G. Schmitz, running under the "American Independent" banner as a remnant of George Wallace's 1968 campaign, ran second ahead of McGovern in Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi and Madison Counties.^[7] Although due to the salience of the civil rights issue there had occurred numerous cases of unpledged and "Dixiecrat" candidates receiving almost the entire vote of Deep Southern counties, and a smaller number in other antebellum slave states, Schmitz' performances in Jefferson County was at the time the best by a third-party presidential candidate in any non-Southern county since 1936 when William Lemke reached over twenty-eight percent of the vote in the North Dakota counties of Burke, Sheridan and Hettinger.^[8] With 9.30% of the popular vote, Idaho would be Schmitz's strongest state in the 1972 election.^[9]

Nixon was the first Republican to sweep all Idaho's counties since Warren G. Harding in 1920, the first to carry Clearwater and Lewis Counties since Herbert Hoover in 1928, whilst the previous occasion the Republicans had won adjacent Nez Perce County was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.^[10]

^ "United States Presidential election of 1972 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ "1972 Election for the Forty-Seventh Term (1973-77)". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ "1972 Presidential General Election Results - Idaho". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ "The American Presidency Project - Election of 1972". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ "1972 Presidential Election - 270toWin.com". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ "1972 Election - Voting America". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 100 ISBN 0786422173
^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 339, 343 ISBN 0405077114
^ "1972 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
^ Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 178-179

[1] "United States Presidential election of 1972 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[2] "1972 Election for the Forty-Seventh Term (1973-77)". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[3] "1972 Presidential General Election Results - Idaho". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[4] "The American Presidency Project - Election of 1972". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[5] "1972 Presidential Election - 270toWin.com". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[6] "1972 Election - Voting America". Retrieved January 28, 2017.

[7] Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 100 ISBN 0786422173

[8] Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 339, 343 ISBN 0405077114

[9] "1972 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.

[10] Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 178-179

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