The 1972 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent President Richard Nixon won Alabama, winning 72.43% of the vote to George McGovern's 25.54%. As of the 2020 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which Dallas County, Hale County, Russell County, and Perry County in the Black Belt voted for the Republican candidate,[2] and stands as the strongest ever performance by a Republican presidential candidate in the state.
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All 9 Alabama electoral votes to the Electoral College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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83% of white voters supported Nixon while 14% supported McGovern.[3][4] Nixon would also be the first presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 to win both Alabama and the election. Alabama and Tennessee were the only states where McGovern won any county that voted for George Wallace in 1968.[5]
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Nixon (inc.) | 728,701 | 72.43% | +58.44% | |
| Democratic | George McGovern | 219,108 | 21.73% | +21.73% | |
| National Democratic (Ala.) | George McGovern | 36,560 | 3.62% | −15.10% | |
| American Independent | John G. Schmitz | 11,355 | 1.13% | −65.87% | |
| Prohibition | E. Harold Munn | 7,872 | 0.79% | +0.43% | |
| Total votes | 1,006,093 | 100% | |||
Results by presidential elector
editResults by county
edit| County | Richard Nixon Republican |
George McGovern Democratic |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Autauga | 5,367 | 75.17% | 1,593 | 22.31% | 180 | 2.52% | 3,774 | 52.86% | 7,140 |
| Baldwin | 15,104 | 82.20% | 2,923 | 15.91% | 348 | 1.89% | 12,181 | 66.29% | 18,375 |
| Barbour | 4,985 | 70.92% | 1,846 | 26.26% | 198 | 2.82% | 3,139 | 44.66% | 7,029 |
| Bibb | 3,332 | 78.44% | 837 | 19.70% | 79 | 1.86% | 2,495 | 58.74% | 4,248 |
| Blount | 6,486 | 79.36% | 1,582 | 19.36% | 105 | 1.28% | 4,904 | 60.00% | 8,173 |
| Bullock | 2,178 | 47.44% | 2,321 | 50.56% | 92 | 2.00% | -143 | -3.12% | 4,591 |
| Butler | 4,685 | 76.45% | 1,401 | 22.86% | 42 | 0.69% | 3,284 | 53.59% | 6,128 |
| Calhoun | 20,364 | 76.93% | 5,832 | 22.03% | 275 | 1.04% | 14,532 | 54.90% | 26,471 |
| Chambers | 8,716 | 79.21% | 2,076 | 18.87% | 211 | 1.92% | 6,640 | 60.34% | 11,003 |
| Cherokee | 3,179 | 71.89% | 1,182 | 26.73% | 61 | 1.38% | 1,997 | 45.16% | 4,422 |
| Chilton | 7,349 | 82.88% | 1,356 | 15.29% | 162 | 1.83% | 5,993 | 67.59% | 8,867 |
| Choctaw | 3,055 | 60.74% | 1,934 | 38.45% | 41 | 0.82% | 1,121 | 22.29% | 5,030 |
| Clarke | 5,256 | 70.89% | 2,031 | 27.39% | 127 | 1.71% | 3,225 | 43.50% | 7,414 |
| Clay | 3,948 | 88.24% | 507 | 11.33% | 19 | 0.42% | 3,441 | 76.91% | 4,474 |
| Cleburne | 3,420 | 85.20% | 581 | 14.47% | 13 | 0.32% | 2,839 | 70.73% | 4,014 |
| Coffee | 9,076 | 80.06% | 2,160 | 19.05% | 100 | 0.88% | 6,916 | 61.01% | 11,336 |
| Colbert | 11,215 | 67.71% | 4,811 | 29.04% | 538 | 3.25% | 6,404 | 38.67% | 16,564 |
| Conecuh | 3,214 | 74.81% | 1,042 | 24.26% | 40 | 0.93% | 2,172 | 50.55% | 4,296 |
| Coosa | 2,672 | 77.20% | 773 | 22.33% | 16 | 0.46% | 1,899 | 54.87% | 3,461 |
| Covington | 9,278 | 85.27% | 1,547 | 14.22% | 56 | 0.51% | 7,731 | 71.05% | 10,881 |
| Crenshaw | 3,129 | 72.87% | 1,085 | 25.27% | 80 | 1.86% | 2,044 | 47.60% | 4,294 |
| Cullman | 14,390 | 79.54% | 3,571 | 19.74% | 130 | 0.72% | 10,819 | 59.80% | 18,091 |
| Dale | 8,346 | 83.14% | 1,594 | 15.88% | 98 | 0.98% | 6,752 | 67.26% | 10,038 |
| Dallas | 8,644 | 60.53% | 5,427 | 38.00% | 209 | 1.46% | 3,217 | 22.53% | 14,280 |
| DeKalb | 9,434 | 71.27% | 3,759 | 28.40% | 44 | 0.33% | 5,675 | 42.87% | 13,237 |
| Elmore | 8,461 | 79.90% | 1,891 | 17.86% | 238 | 2.25% | 6,570 | 62.04% | 10,590 |
| Escambia | 7,883 | 82.19% | 1,598 | 16.66% | 110 | 1.15% | 6,285 | 65.53% | 9,591 |
| Etowah | 20,851 | 72.95% | 7,372 | 25.79% | 358 | 1.25% | 13,479 | 47.16% | 28,581 |
| Fayette | 4,240 | 83.53% | 836 | 16.47% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,404 | 67.06% | 5,076 |
| Franklin | 5,877 | 75.23% | 1,840 | 23.55% | 95 | 1.22% | 4,037 | 51.68% | 7,812 |
| Geneva | 5,851 | 84.33% | 1,049 | 15.12% | 38 | 0.55% | 4,802 | 69.21% | 6,938 |
| Greene | 1,404 | 29.65% | 3,235 | 68.32% | 96 | 2.03% | -1,831 | -38.67% | 4,735 |
| Hale | 2,859 | 59.22% | 1,779 | 36.85% | 190 | 3.94% | 1,080 | 22.37% | 4,828 |
| Henry | 3,414 | 79.56% | 853 | 19.88% | 24 | 0.56% | 2,561 | 59.68% | 4,291 |
| Houston | 12,622 | 83.46% | 2,358 | 15.59% | 144 | 0.95% | 10,264 | 67.87% | 15,124 |
| Jackson | 6,202 | 65.91% | 2,985 | 31.72% | 223 | 2.37% | 3,217 | 34.19% | 9,410 |
| Jefferson | 135,095 | 68.05% | 57,288 | 28.86% | 6,145 | 3.10% | 77,807 | 39.19% | 198,528 |
| Lamar | 3,283 | 80.56% | 766 | 18.80% | 26 | 0.64% | 2,517 | 61.76% | 4,075 |
| Lauderdale | 14,410 | 71.66% | 5,112 | 25.42% | 586 | 2.91% | 9,298 | 46.24% | 20,108 |
| Lawrence | 4,433 | 75.61% | 1,416 | 24.15% | 14 | 0.24% | 3,017 | 51.46% | 5,863 |
| Lee | 11,571 | 74.94% | 3,622 | 23.46% | 248 | 1.61% | 7,949 | 51.48% | 15,441 |
| Limestone | 6,188 | 73.21% | 2,079 | 24.60% | 185 | 2.19% | 4,109 | 48.61% | 8,452 |
| Lowndes | 1,990 | 42.69% | 2,559 | 54.90% | 112 | 2.40% | -569 | -12.21% | 4,661 |
| Macon | 1,931 | 33.04% | 3,636 | 62.21% | 278 | 4.76% | -1,705 | -29.17% | 5,845 |
| Madison | 38,899 | 73.42% | 13,108 | 24.74% | 977 | 1.84% | 25,791 | 48.68% | 52,984 |
| Marengo | 5,156 | 65.05% | 2,645 | 33.37% | 125 | 1.58% | 2,511 | 31.68% | 7,926 |
| Marion | 5,927 | 85.38% | 986 | 14.20% | 29 | 0.42% | 4,941 | 71.18% | 6,942 |
| Marshall | 12,090 | 74.45% | 3,894 | 23.98% | 254 | 1.56% | 8,196 | 50.47% | 16,238 |
| Mobile | 62,639 | 73.15% | 20,694 | 24.17% | 2,301 | 2.69% | 41,945 | 48.98% | 85,634 |
| Monroe | 5,155 | 74.82% | 1,636 | 23.74% | 99 | 1.44% | 3,519 | 51.08% | 6,890 |
| Montgomery | 35,353 | 71.86% | 12,723 | 25.86% | 1,121 | 2.28% | 22,630 | 46.00% | 49,197 |
| Morgan | 18,100 | 76.85% | 5,004 | 21.25% | 449 | 1.91% | 13,096 | 55.60% | 23,553 |
| Perry | 2,800 | 49.13% | 2,718 | 47.69% | 181 | 3.18% | 82 | 1.44% | 5,699 |
| Pickens | 4,071 | 67.33% | 1,933 | 31.97% | 42 | 0.69% | 2,138 | 35.36% | 6,046 |
| Pike | 5,690 | 76.66% | 1,624 | 21.88% | 108 | 1.46% | 4,066 | 54.78% | 7,422 |
| Randolph | 4,427 | 75.14% | 1,330 | 22.57% | 135 | 2.29% | 3,097 | 52.57% | 5,892 |
| Russell | 6,034 | 66.73% | 2,644 | 29.24% | 365 | 4.04% | 3,390 | 37.49% | 9,043 |
| St. Clair | 6,952 | 79.82% | 1,538 | 17.66% | 220 | 2.53% | 5,414 | 62.16% | 8,710 |
| Shelby | 9,390 | 81.24% | 1,859 | 16.08% | 309 | 2.67% | 7,531 | 65.16% | 11,558 |
| Sumter | 2,686 | 49.19% | 2,737 | 50.12% | 38 | 0.70% | -51 | -0.93% | 5,461 |
| Talladega | 12,763 | 73.12% | 4,567 | 26.16% | 125 | 0.72% | 8,196 | 46.96% | 17,455 |
| Tallapoosa | 8,535 | 78.71% | 2,113 | 19.49% | 195 | 1.80% | 6,422 | 59.22% | 10,843 |
| Tuscaloosa | 21,172 | 70.15% | 8,272 | 27.41% | 735 | 2.44% | 12,900 | 42.74% | 30,179 |
| Walker | 14,581 | 78.79% | 3,724 | 20.12% | 202 | 1.09% | 10,857 | 58.67% | 18,507 |
| Washington | 3,282 | 74.73% | 1,096 | 24.95% | 14 | 0.32% | 2,186 | 49.78% | 4,392 |
| Wilcox | 2,641 | 44.42% | 3,254 | 54.74% | 50 | 0.84% | -613 | -10.32% | 5,945 |
| Winston | 4,971 | 86.14% | 779 | 13.50% | 21 | 0.36% | 4,192 | 72.64% | 5,771 |
| Totals | 728,701 | 72.43% | 256,923 | 25.54% | 20,469 | 2.03% | 471,778 | 46.89% | 1,006,093 |
Counties that flipped from American Independent to Republican
edit- Autauga
- Baldwin
- Barbour
- Bibb
- Blount
- Butler
- Calhoun
- Chambers
- Cherokee
- Chilton
- Choctaw
- Clarke
- Clay
- Cleburne
- Coffee
- Colbert
- Conecuh
- Coosa
- Covington
- Crenshaw
- Cullman
- Dale
- Dallas
- DeKalb
- Elmore
- Escambia
- Etowah
- Fayette
- Franklin
- Geneva
- Hale
- Henry
- Houston
- Jefferson
- Lee
- Jackson
- Lauderdale
- Lawrence
- Limestone
- Madison
- Marengo
- Marion
- Marshall
- Monroe
- Morgan
- Mobile
- Montgomery
- Shelby
- Perry
- Pickens
- Pike
- Randolph
- Russell
- St. Clair
- Talladega
- Tallapoosa
- Tuscaloosa
- Walker
- Washington
- Winston
Counties that flipped from American Independent to Democratic
editSee also
editNotes
edit- ^ The McGovern vote was actually a fusion of two distinct electoral tickets with different electors both pledged to vote for him. One was of the regular Democratic Party and the other of the National Democratic Party of Alabama. At least 219,108 votes were cast for the Democratic ticket and at least 37,815 for the National Democratic ticket,[1] though this sum differs from that in Dave Leip's Atlas.
References
edit- ^ Our Campaigns; AL US President 1972
- ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016.
- ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
- ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - AL US President Race - Nov 07, 1972". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1972 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama
- ^ Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1975. Montgomery, Alabama: Skinner Printing Company. pp. 243–257.
- ^ Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1972 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama