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1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico

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1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico

← 1968 November 7, 1972 1976 →
 
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 235,606 141,084
Percentage 61.05% 36.56%

County results

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico took place on November 7, 1972. This was the fifteenth Presidential Election which New Mexico participated in. All fifty states plus the District of Columbia, were part of this presidential election. State voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for the President and Vice President. South Dakota Senator George McGovern was nominated to run against Nixon, and was defeated in one of the most lopsided elections in United States history. McGovern lost every state except Massachusetts to Nixon.[1]

New Mexico was won by President Richard Nixon by a 24-point landslide, mirroring the national popular vote margin by a near-perfect amount and making New Mexico 1.3% more Republican than the nation-at-large. McGovern won only two counties: he comfortably won Rio Arriba County by 12.6 percentage points, and also won San Miguel County by 2.5 percentage points.[2] Nixon was the first Republican to carry Grant County since 1928.

The 1972 election remains the last when Santa Fe, Taos or Mora counties provided a Republican majority or plurality,[3] and Nixon won Mora County by a mere thirty votes. At the other extreme, solidly Republican Lea County in the Plains region was won by Nixon by 55.4 percent, and Lincoln County, which had not voted Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 landslide,[3] by 55.9 percent.

Primaries

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Democratic

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1972 New Mexico Democratic Party presidential primary

← 1968 June 6, 1972 1976 →
 
Candidate George McGovern George Wallace Hubert Humphrey
Home state South Dakota Alabama Minnesota
Popular vote 51,011 44,843 39,768
Percentage 33.28% 29.25% 25.94%

County Results

George McGovern would defeat Alabama Governor, George Wallace, and previous Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey.[4]

DemocraticPrimary – June 6, 1972
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic George McGovern 51,011 33.28%
Democratic George Wallace 44,843 29.25%
Democratic Hubert Humphrey 39,768 25.94%
Democratic Edmund Muskie 6,411 4.18%
Democratic Henry M. Jackson 4,236 2.76%
Democratic Uncommitted 3,819 2.49%
Democratic Shirley Chisholm 3,205 2.09%
Total votes 153,293 100

Republican

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Results

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1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican
235,606 61.05% +9.20
Democratic 141,084 36.56% −3.19
American Independent 8,767 2.27% −5.59
Socialist Workers 474 0.12% +0.04
Total votes 385,931 100.00%
Republican win

Results by county

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County[5] Richard Nixon
Republican
George McGovern
Democratic
John G. Schmitz
American Independent
Linda Jenness
Socialist Workers
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Bernalillo 79,993 60.80% 48,753 37.06% 2,651 2.02% 165 0.13% 31,240 23.74% 131,562
Catron 829 73.49% 271 24.02% 26 2.30% 2 0.18% 558 49.47% 1,128
Chaves 11,493 70.87% 4,296 26.49% 415 2.56% 12 0.07% 7,197 44.38% 16,216
Colfax 2,663 57.88% 1,855 40.32% 82 1.78% 1 0.02% 808 17.56% 4,601
Curry 8,392 75.85% 2,416 21.84% 246 2.22% 10 0.09% 5,976 54.01% 11,064
De Baca 752 71.82% 270 25.79% 24 2.29% 1 0.10% 482 46.03% 1,047
Dona Ana 14,562 59.76% 9,416 38.64% 367 1.51% 21 0.09% 5,146 21.12% 24,366
Eddy 9,921 64.65% 5,040 32.84% 368 2.40% 17 0.11% 4,881 31.81% 15,346
Grant 4,431 50.46% 4,081 46.48% 262 2.98% 7 0.08% 350 3.98% 8,781
Guadalupe 1,297 51.37% 1,202 47.60% 23 0.91% 3 0.12% 95 3.77% 2,525
Harding 522 68.68% 220 28.95% 18 2.37% 0 0.00% 302 39.73% 760
Hidalgo 1,051 63.43% 562 33.92% 44 2.65% 0 0.00% 489 29.51% 1,657
Lea 12,478 76.41% 3,429 21.00% 409 2.50% 15 0.09% 9,049 55.41% 16,331
Lincoln 2,528 77.07% 696 21.22% 52 1.59% 4 0.12% 1,832 55.85% 3,280
Los Alamos 5,039 66.09% 2,435 31.94% 138 1.81% 12 0.16% 2,604 34.15% 7,624
Luna 2,958 63.25% 1,560 33.35% 157 3.36% 2 0.04% 1,398 29.90% 4,677
McKinley 5,366 49.74% 5,124 47.49% 273 2.53% 26 0.24% 242 2.25% 10,789
Mora 1,165 50.26% 1,135 48.96% 15 0.65% 3 0.13% 30 1.30% 2,318
Otero 7,033 65.91% 2,981 27.94% 646 6.05% 10 0.09% 4,052 37.97% 10,670
Quay 3,224 71.30% 1,161 25.67% 133 2.94% 4 0.09% 2,063 45.63% 4,522
Rio Arriba 4,351 42.68% 5,642 55.34% 192 1.88% 10 0.10% -1,291 -12.66% 10,195
Roosevelt 4,727 73.03% 1,612 24.90% 132 2.04% 2 0.03% 3,115 48.13% 6,473
San Juan 10,788 67.55% 4,296 26.90% 828 5.18% 58 0.36% 6,492 40.65% 15,970
San Miguel 4,434 47.71% 4,663 50.18% 175 1.88% 21 0.23% -229 -2.47% 9,293
Sandoval 3,507 50.25% 3,293 47.18% 169 2.42% 10 0.14% 214 3.07% 6,979
Santa Fe 12,211 52.53% 10,761 46.29% 255 1.10% 19 0.08% 1,450 6.24% 23,246
Sierra 2,074 67.47% 934 30.38% 62 2.02% 4 0.13% 1,140 37.09% 3,074
Socorro 2,658 56.19% 1,994 42.16% 72 1.52% 6 0.13% 664 14.03% 4,730
Taos 3,617 50.49% 3,472 48.46% 65 0.91% 10 0.14% 145 2.03% 7,164
Torrance 1,758 64.54% 908 33.33% 56 2.06% 2 0.07% 850 31.21% 2,724
Union 1,545 72.50% 496 23.28% 87 4.08% 3 0.14% 1,049 49.22% 2,131
Valencia 8,239 56.09% 6,110 41.60% 325 2.21% 14 0.10% 2,129 14.49% 14,688
Totals 235,606 61.05% 141,084 36.56% 8,767 2.27% 474 0.12% 94,522 24.49% 385,931

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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References

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  1. ^ "1972 Presidential General Election Results – New Mexico". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  2. ^ Dave Leip’s Atlas of US Presidential Elections; 1972 Presidential General Election Data Graphs – New Mexico by County
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - NM US President - D Primary Race - Jun 06, 1972".
  5. ^ Our Campaigns; NM US President 1972