1972 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia

The 1972 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Washington, D.C. voters chose 3 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Spiro Agnew, against Democratic challenger and Senator George McGovern from South Dakota and his running mate, former United States Ambassador to France Sargent Shriver.

1972 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia

November 7, 1972

Nominee George McGovern Richard Nixon Party Democratic Republican Home state South Dakota California Running mate Sargent Shriver Spiro Agnew Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 127,627 35,226 Percentage 78.10% 21.56%

President before election Richard Nixon Republican Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

McGovern won D.C. by an overwhelming margin, receiving 78.10% of the vote.[1] Along with Massachusetts, the District of Columbia was the only place in the country that voted for George McGovern in the general election. This is the only time in history that a Republican presidential nominee has received more than 20% of the vote in D.C. and, in turn, the only time that the Democratic margin of victory was less than 60%. This was also the first two presidential elections when the Democratic candidate did not earn at least 80% of the vote, with Jimmy Carter repeating that feat in 1980.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	George McGovern Sargent Shriver	127,627	70.10%	-3.72%
	Republican	Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew	35,226	21.56%	+3.38%
	Socialist Workers	Linda Jenness Andrew Pulley	316	0.19%	+0.19%
	Communist	Gus Hall Jarvis Tyner	252	0.15%	+0.15%
Total votes			163,421	100.00%	-

See also

• United States presidential elections in Washington, D.C.
• 1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, the only other place that voted Democratic in the 1972 presidential election.

References

1. "1972 Presidential General Election Results - District of Columbia". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 16, 2016.