United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1972

United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1972

November 7, 1972

Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern Party Republican Democratic Home state California South Dakota Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver (replacing Thomas Eagleton) Electoral vote 17 0 Popular vote 1,845,502 1,102,211 Percentage 61.57% 36.77%

County Results   Nixon—50-60%   Nixon—60-70%   Nixon—70-80%

President before election Richard Nixon Republican Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 7, 1972. All fifty states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. New Jersey voters chose 17 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the President and Vice President.

New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Richard Nixon of California and his running mate incumbent Vice President Spiro Agnew of Maryland. Nixon and Agnew defeated the Democratic nominees, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and his running mate United States Ambassador Sargent Shriver of Maryland.

Nixon carried New Jersey with 61.57% to McGovern's 36.77%, a margin of 24.80%.^[1]

Nixon swept every county in New Jersey, including even traditional Democratic strongholds like Essex County, Mercer County, and Hudson County. Nixon's unique nationwide appeal to working-class Democrats in 1972 was most evident in his performance in Hudson County; the traditionally heavily Democratic county, which Nixon had lost decisively with less than 40% of the vote in both 1960 and 1968, went to Nixon in 1972 by a 60–39 margin. This remains the last election in which a Republican presidential nominee has won Essex County, although it was still McGovern's strongest, only narrowly going to Nixon by a 50–48 margin. Mercer County was the second closest, with Nixon winning it, 52–47. Nixon's strongest county was rural Sussex County, where he received 74% of the vote.

New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican lean, and this pattern continued with the results of 1972. In the midst of nationwide Republican landslide, New Jersey voted basically how the nation voted, its result being 1% more Republican than the national average.

This was the third time in five presidential elections that the winning candidate swept New Jersey’s counties in an election (Having also happened in 1956 and 1964). However, as of 2012, that has not happened since.

Results

United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon	1,845,502	61.57%	17
	Democratic	George McGovern	1,102,211	36.77%	0
	American Independent	John G. Schmitz	34,378	1.15%	0
	People's	Benjamin Spock	5,355	0.18%	0
	Socialist Labor	Louis Fisher	4,544	0.15%	0
	Socialist Workers	Linda Jenness	2,233	0.07%	0
	America First	John Mahalchik	1,743	0.06%	0
	Communist	Gus Hall	1,263	0.04%	0
Totals			2,997,229	100.0%	17
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					60%/82%

See also

• Presidency of Richard Nixon
• The Watergate Scandal

References

1. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 25 November 2013.