# 1972 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

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The 1972 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Washington voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Nixon took 56.92% of the vote to McGovern's 38.64%, a margin of 18.28%, which still made the state 4.87% more Democratic than the nation at-large.
Nixon won every county except heavily unionized Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, in the process being the first Republican to carry Wahkiakum County (another heavily unionized timber county), Kitsap County and Snohomish County since Herbert Hoover in 1928.
Nixon's victory was the first of four consecutive Republican victories in the state, as Washington would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Michael Dukakis in 1988. Since then it has become a safe Democratic state.

## Results

1972 United States presidential election in Washington :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes |
| | Republican | Richard Nixon (incumbent) | 837,135 | 56.92% | 9 |
| | Democratic | George McGovern | 568,334 | 38.64% | 0 |
| | American Independent | John G. Schmitz | 58,906 | 4.00% | 0 |
| | Independent | Benjamin Spock | 2,644 | 0.18% | 0 |
| | Libertarian | John Hospers | 1,537 | 0.10% | 0 |
| | Socialist Labor | Louis Fisher | 1,102 | 0.07% | 0 |
| | Socialist Workers | Linda Jenness | 623 | 0.04% | 0 |
| | Communist | Gus Hall | 566 | 0.04% | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 1,470,847 | 100.00% | 9 |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | | — |

### Results by county

| County | Richard Nixon Republican | Richard Nixon Republican | George McGovern Democratic | George McGovern Democratic | John G. Schmitz American Independent | John G. Schmitz American Independent | Various candidates Other parties | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 3,083 | 68.22% | 1,110 | 24.56% | 316 | 6.99% | 10 | 0.22% | 1,973 | 43.66% | 4,519 |
| Asotin | 2,911 | 50.36% | 2,559 | 44.27% | 301 | 5.21% | 9 | 0.16% | 352 | 6.09% | 5,780 |
| Benton | 18,517 | 61.02% | 9,824 | 32.37% | 1,911 | 6.30% | 94 | 0.31% | 8,693 | 28.65% | 30,346 |
| Chelan | 10,470 | 60.13% | 5,889 | 33.82% | 971 | 5.58% | 83 | 0.48% | 4,581 | 26.31% | 17,413 |
| Clallam | 9,372 | 58.25% | 5,620 | 34.93% | 1,056 | 6.56% | 41 | 0.25% | 3,752 | 23.32% | 16,089 |
| Clark | 28,775 | 49.13% | 27,179 | 46.41% | 2,416 | 4.13% | 199 | 0.34% | 1,596 | 2.72% | 58,569 |
| Columbia | 1,445 | 69.47% | 533 | 25.63% | 102 | 4.90% | 0 | 0.00% | 912 | 43.84% | 2,080 |
| Cowlitz | 14,431 | 51.21% | 12,682 | 45.00% | 959 | 3.40% | 110 | 0.39% | 1,749 | 6.21% | 28,182 |
| Douglas | 4,512 | 60.31% | 2,420 | 32.35% | 538 | 7.19% | 11 | 0.15% | 2,092 | 27.96% | 7,481 |
| Ferry | 815 | 53.37% | 560 | 36.67% | 145 | 9.50% | 7 | 0.46% | 255 | 16.70% | 1,527 |
| Franklin | 5,972 | 56.75% | 3,867 | 36.75% | 655 | 6.22% | 29 | 0.28% | 2,105 | 20.00% | 10,523 |
| Garfield | 1,004 | 65.45% | 481 | 31.36% | 46 | 3.00% | 3 | 0.20% | 523 | 34.09% | 1,534 |
| Grant | 9,370 | 59.25% | 5,487 | 34.70% | 908 | 5.74% | 49 | 0.31% | 3,883 | 24.55% | 15,814 |
| Grays Harbor | 10,839 | 45.65% | 11,786 | 49.64% | 1,000 | 4.21% | 120 | 0.51% | -947 | -3.99% | 23,745 |
| Island | 7,495 | 68.12% | 3,149 | 28.62% | 316 | 2.87% | 43 | 0.39% | 4,346 | 39.50% | 11,003 |
| Jefferson | 2,770 | 53.49% | 2,096 | 40.47% | 277 | 5.35% | 36 | 0.70% | 674 | 13.02% | 5,179 |
| King | 298,707 | 56.39% | 212,509 | 40.12% | 15,624 | 2.95% | 2,854 | 0.54% | 86,198 | 16.27% | 529,694 |
| Kitsap | 25,831 | 56.84% | 17,011 | 37.43% | 2,429 | 5.34% | 175 | 0.39% | 8,820 | 19.41% | 45,446 |
| Kittitas | 5,464 | 53.96% | 4,299 | 42.46% | 327 | 3.23% | 36 | 0.36% | 1,165 | 11.50% | 10,126 |
| Klickitat | 3,061 | 54.20% | 2,293 | 40.60% | 276 | 4.89% | 18 | 0.32% | 768 | 13.60% | 5,648 |
| Lewis | 12,071 | 58.64% | 6,946 | 33.74% | 1,520 | 7.38% | 48 | 0.23% | 5,125 | 24.90% | 20,585 |
| Lincoln | 3,647 | 69.14% | 1,453 | 27.55% | 161 | 3.05% | 14 | 0.27% | 2,194 | 41.59% | 5,275 |
| Mason | 4,873 | 53.10% | 3,907 | 42.57% | 363 | 3.96% | 34 | 0.37% | 966 | 10.53% | 9,177 |
| Okanogan | 5,796 | 56.09% | 3,835 | 37.11% | 655 | 6.34% | 48 | 0.46% | 1,961 | 18.98% | 10,334 |
| Pacific | 3,349 | 46.73% | 3,585 | 50.03% | 204 | 2.85% | 28 | 0.39% | -236 | -3.30% | 7,166 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,746 | 59.57% | 1,071 | 36.54% | 104 | 3.55% | 10 | 0.34% | 675 | 23.03% | 2,931 |
| Pierce | 84,265 | 56.91% | 56,933 | 38.45% | 6,189 | 4.18% | 678 | 0.46% | 27,332 | 18.46% | 148,065 |
| San Juan | 1,786 | 63.90% | 906 | 32.42% | 86 | 3.08% | 17 | 0.61% | 880 | 31.48% | 2,795 |
| Skagit | 14,212 | 58.13% | 9,233 | 37.77% | 911 | 3.73% | 92 | 0.38% | 4,979 | 20.36% | 24,448 |
| Skamania | 1,288 | 48.70% | 1,153 | 43.59% | 189 | 7.15% | 15 | 0.57% | 135 | 5.11% | 2,645 |
| Snohomish | 60,032 | 57.27% | 39,471 | 37.66% | 4,803 | 4.58% | 515 | 0.49% | 20,561 | 19.61% | 104,821 |
| Spokane | 74,320 | 59.37% | 44,337 | 35.42% | 6,129 | 4.90% | 399 | 0.32% | 29,983 | 23.95% | 125,185 |
| Stevens | 4,839 | 61.26% | 2,390 | 30.26% | 647 | 8.19% | 23 | 0.29% | 2,449 | 31.00% | 7,899 |
| Thurston | 22,297 | 57.48% | 14,596 | 37.63% | 1,722 | 4.44% | 177 | 0.46% | 7,701 | 19.85% | 38,792 |
| Wahkiakum | 818 | 47.39% | 796 | 46.12% | 108 | 6.26% | 4 | 0.23% | 22 | 1.27% | 1,726 |
| Walla Walla | 12,579 | 67.87% | 5,364 | 28.94% | 515 | 2.78% | 75 | 0.40% | 7,215 | 38.93% | 18,533 |
| Whatcom | 22,585 | 58.21% | 15,027 | 38.73% | 1,031 | 2.66% | 158 | 0.41% | 7,558 | 19.48% | 38,801 |
| Whitman | 9,548 | 58.70% | 6,248 | 38.41% | 398 | 2.45% | 72 | 0.44% | 3,300 | 20.29% | 16,266 |
| Yakima | 32,240 | 58.93% | 19,729 | 36.06% | 2,598 | 4.75% | 138 | 0.25% | 12,511 | 22.87% | 54,705 |
| Totals | 837,135 | 56.92% | 568,334 | 38.64% | 58,906 | 4.00% | 6,472 | 0.44% | 268,801 | 18.28% | 1,470,847 |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Asotin
* Clallam
* Clark
* Cowlitz
* Jefferson
* Kitsap
* King
* Klickitat
* Mason
* Pend Oreille
* Pierce
* Skagit
* Skamania
* Snohomish
* Thurston
* Wahkiakum