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1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey

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Main article: 1972 United States presidential election

The 1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 7, 1972. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose 17 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey
← 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 17 0
Popular vote 1,845,502 1,102,211
Percentage 61.57% 36.77%
County Results
Nixon
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%

President before election

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

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 percent of the vote to McGovern's 36.77 percent, a margin of 24.80 points.[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 forty percent 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,[2] 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 percent 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 a nationwide Republican landslide, New Jersey voted basically how the nation voted, its result being 1.6% more Republican than the national average.

This was the third time in five presidential elections (1956–72) that the winning candidate won each of New Jersey's counties in an election, having also happened in 1956 and 1964. It had only happened once before, when Warren G. Harding achieved it in 1920[3] and as of 2020, this is the last time that any presidential candidate has won all of New Jersey's counties.

Results

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1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon (incumbent) 1,845,502 61.57% 17
Democratic George McGovern 1,102,211 36.77% 0
American 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%

Results by county

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County Richard Nixon
Republican 		George McGovern
Democratic 		John G. Schmitz[4]
American 		Various candidates[4]
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Atlantic 45,667 59.54% 28,203 36.77% 1,373 1.79% 1,457 1.90% 17,464 22.77% 76,700
Bergen 285,458 65.34% 147,155 33.68% 2,985 0.68% 1,296 0.30% 138,303 31.66% 436,894
Burlington 70,805 61.97% 41,520 36.34% 1,485 1.30% 450 0.39% 29,285 25.63% 114,260
Camden 111,935 58.85% 75,202 39.54% 2,313 1.22% 757 0.40% 36,733 19.31% 190,207
Cape May 22,621 70.54% 8,729 27.22% 564 1.76% 155 0.48% 13,892 43.32% 32,069
Cumberland 26,409 58.18% 18,692 41.18% 229 0.50% 62 0.14% 7,717 17.00% 45,392
Essex 170,036 50.17% 161,270 47.59% 6,257 1.85% 1,325 0.39% 8,766 2.58% 338,888
Gloucester 44,806 62.92% 25,509 35.82% 771 1.08% 123 0.17% 19,297 27.10% 71,209
Hudson 136,895 60.15% 87,977 38.65% 1,669 0.73% 1,059 0.47% 48,918 21.50% 227,600
Hunterdon 21,282 68.97% 9,031 29.27% 387 1.25% 156 0.51% 12,251 39.70% 30,856
Mercer 69,303 52.03% 62,180 46.68% 1,211 0.91% 497 0.37% 7,123 5.35% 133,191
Middlesex 149,033 61.41% 88,397 36.42% 4,517 1.86% 747 0.31% 60,636 24.99% 242,694
Monmouth 124,830 65.71% 63,176 33.25% 1,280 0.67% 691 0.36% 61,654 32.46% 189,977
Morris 113,469 68.18% 50,937 30.60% 1,573 0.95% 455 0.27% 62,532 37.58% 166,434
Ocean 77,979 72.43% 27,710 25.74% 1,036 0.96% 942 0.87% 50,269 46.69% 107,667
Passaic 108,511 62.03% 62,302 35.62% 1,401 0.80% 2,709 1.55% 46,209 26.41% 174,923
Salem 16,371 64.84% 8,609 34.10% 216 0.86% 53 0.21% 7,762 30.74% 25,249
Somerset 56,524 66.03% 26,537 31.00% 2,257 2.64% 287 0.34% 29,987 35.03% 85,605
Sussex 25,977 74.44% 8,585 24.60% 299 0.86% 37 0.11% 17,392 49.84% 34,898
Union 148,290 61.03% 90,482 37.24% 2,369 0.98% 1,832 0.75% 57,808 23.79% 242,973
Warren 19,301 65.33% 10,008 33.88% 186 0.63% 48 0.16% 9,293 31.45% 29,543
Totals 1,845,502 61.57% 1,102,211 36.77% 34,378 1.15% 15,138 0.51% 743,291 24.80% 2,997,229

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1972 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ^ Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 439-440 ISBN 0313257957
  4. ^ a b "NJ US President, November 07, 1972". Our Campaigns.
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