California — 1972 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1972 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentNixonR+13.5
How it voted
Share of the 1972 vote
| Richard Nixon ✓Republican | 55.0% | 4,602,096 |
|---|---|---|
| George McGovernDemocratic | 41.5% | 3,475,847 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 3.5% | 289,919 |
1972presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1972 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 45 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+12.2 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+29.7 |
| Amador County, CA | Republican | R+12.5 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+20.8 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+27.3 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+19.2 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Republican | R+10.6 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+13.7 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Republican | R+12.8 |
| Fresno County, CA | Republican | R+4.1 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+24.4 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Republican | R+2.7 |
| Imperial County, CA | Republican | R+27.1 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+40.0 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+25.0 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+17.4 |
| Lake County, CA | Republican | R+15.0 |
| Lassen County, CA | Republican | R+6.8 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Republican | R+12.7 |
| Madera County, CA | Republican | R+8.4 |
| Marin County, CA | Republican | R+6.5 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+16.8 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Republican | R+7.8 |
| Merced County, CA | Republican | R+11.7 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+22.8 |
| Mono County, CA | Republican | R+37.3 |
| Monterey County, CA | Republican | R+17.5 |
| Napa County, CA | Republican | R+22.6 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+15.8 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+41.3 |
| Placer County, CA | Republican | R+4.6 |
| Plumas County, CA | Democratic | D+1.7 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+19.6 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Republican | R+1.4 |
| San Benito County, CA | Republican | R+20.0 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Republican | R+24.2 |
| San Diego County, CA | Republican | R+27.5 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+14.2 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Republican | R+15.8 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Republican | R+15.3 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Republican | R+10.0 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Republican | R+13.5 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Republican | R+6.3 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Republican | R+3.5 |
| Shasta County, CA | Democratic | D+1.7 |
| Sierra County, CA | Democratic | D+2.2 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+7.7 |
| Solano County, CA | Republican | R+11.3 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Republican | R+13.2 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Republican | R+5.9 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+29.4 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+7.1 |
| Trinity County, CA | Republican | R+6.7 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+23.7 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+12.0 |
| Ventura County, CA | Republican | R+30.5 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+13.4 |
| Yuba County, CA | Republican | R+18.8 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | George McGovern+57,392 | 201,86242.8% | 259,25455.0% | 10,0792.1% | 471,195 |
| Alpine County | Richard Nixon+171 | 36663.5% | 19533.9% | 152.6% | 576 |
| Amador County | Richard Nixon+828 | 3,53353.4% | 2,70540.9% | 3785.7% | 6,616 |
| Butte County | Richard Nixon+10,418 | 28,81957.6% | 18,40136.8% | 2,8085.6% | 50,028 |
| Calaveras County | Richard Nixon+1,851 | 4,11960.8% | 2,26833.5% | 3925.8% | 6,779 |
| Colusa County | Richard Nixon+905 | 2,71557.6% | 1,81038.4% | 1924.1% | 4,717 |
| Contra Costa County | Richard Nixon+27,326 | 139,04454.1% | 111,71843.5% | 6,1222.4% | 256,884 |
| Del Norte County | Richard Nixon+771 | 2,92751.8% | 2,15638.2% | 56510.0% | 5,648 |
| El Dorado County | Richard Nixon+2,676 | 11,33054.2% | 8,65441.4% | 9214.4% | 20,905 |
| Fresno County | Richard Nixon+6,369 | 79,05150.4% | 72,68246.4% | 4,9863.2% | 156,719 |
| Glenn County | Richard Nixon+1,888 | 4,56959.0% | 2,68134.6% | 4936.4% | 7,743 |
| Humboldt County | Richard Nixon+1,213 | 22,34548.8% | 21,13246.2% | 2,2865.0% | 45,763 |
| Imperial County | Richard Nixon+6,196 | 14,17862.1% | 7,98234.9% | 6893.0% | 22,849 |
| Inyo County | Richard Nixon+2,867 | 4,87368.1% | 2,00628.0% | 2803.9% | 7,159 |
| Kern County | Richard Nixon+29,749 | 71,68660.1% | 41,93735.2% | 5,5704.7% | 119,193 |
| Kings County | Richard Nixon+3,235 | 10,50956.5% | 7,27439.1% | 8124.4% | 18,595 |
| Lake County | Richard Nixon+1,762 | 6,47755.1% | 4,71540.1% | 5584.7% | 11,750 |
| Lassen County | Richard Nixon+484 | 3,61850.8% | 3,13444.0% | 3705.2% | 7,122 |
| Los Angeles County | Richard Nixon+359,740 | 1,549,71754.8% | 1,189,97742.0% | 90,6763.2% | 2,830,370 |
| Madera County | Richard Nixon+1,255 | 7,83552.6% | 6,58044.2% | 4773.2% | 14,892 |
| Marin County | Richard Nixon+6,709 | 54,12352.1% | 47,41445.6% | 2,3462.3% | 103,883 |
| Mariposa County | Richard Nixon+635 | 2,12256.2% | 1,48739.3% | 1704.5% | 3,779 |
| Mendocino County | Richard Nixon+1,693 | 11,12851.0% | 9,43543.3% | 1,2515.7% | 21,814 |
| Merced County | Richard Nixon+3,823 | 17,73754.3% | 13,91442.6% | 9973.1% | 32,648 |
| Modoc County | Richard Nixon+814 | 2,08558.5% | 1,27135.7% | 2095.9% | 3,565 |
| Mono County | Richard Nixon+1,044 | 1,87266.9% | 82829.6% | 993.5% | 2,799 |
| Monterey County | Richard Nixon+14,459 | 47,00457.0% | 32,54539.5% | 2,8593.5% | 82,408 |
| Napa County | Richard Nixon+8,874 | 23,40359.6% | 14,52937.0% | 1,3293.4% | 39,261 |
| Nevada County | Richard Nixon+2,311 | 8,00454.7% | 5,69338.9% | 9416.4% | 14,638 |
| Orange County | Richard Nixon+271,444 | 448,29168.3% | 176,84726.9% | 31,5154.8% | 656,653 |
| Placer County | Richard Nixon+1,686 | 18,59750.3% | 16,91145.8% | 1,4373.9% | 36,945 |
| Plumas County | George McGovern+105 | 2,95246.4% | 3,05748.1% | 3515.5% | 6,360 |
| Riverside County | Richard Nixon+36,529 | 108,12058.0% | 71,59138.4% | 6,6933.6% | 186,404 |
| Sacramento County | Richard Nixon+3,931 | 141,21849.0% | 137,28747.6% | 9,7163.4% | 288,221 |
| San Benito County | Richard Nixon+1,379 | 3,96157.6% | 2,58237.5% | 3384.9% | 6,881 |
| San Bernardino County | Richard Nixon+58,703 | 144,68959.7% | 85,98635.5% | 11,5814.8% | 242,256 |
| San Diego County | Richard Nixon+165,172 | 371,62761.8% | 206,45534.3% | 23,0553.8% | 601,137 |
| San Francisco County | George McGovern+43,421 | 127,46141.8% | 170,88256.1% | 6,4272.1% | 304,770 |
| San Joaquin County | Richard Nixon+17,584 | 61,64655.3% | 44,06239.5% | 5,7615.2% | 111,469 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Richard Nixon+7,787 | 28,56656.0% | 20,77940.7% | 1,6883.3% | 51,033 |
| San Mateo County | Richard Nixon+25,632 | 135,37752.8% | 109,74542.8% | 11,1754.4% | 256,297 |
| Santa Barbara County | Richard Nixon+16,466 | 67,07555.2% | 50,60941.6% | 3,8573.2% | 121,541 |
| Santa Clara County | Richard Nixon+28,828 | 237,33451.9% | 208,50645.6% | 11,4532.5% | 457,293 |
| Santa Cruz County | Richard Nixon+2,463 | 34,79949.9% | 32,33646.4% | 2,6243.8% | 69,759 |
| Shasta County | George McGovern+596 | 16,61846.7% | 17,21448.3% | 1,7715.0% | 35,603 |
| Sierra County | George McGovern+29 | 62947.5% | 65849.7% | 372.8% | 1,324 |
| Siskiyou County | Richard Nixon+1,129 | 7,56351.5% | 6,43443.8% | 6994.8% | 14,696 |
| Solano County | Richard Nixon+6,548 | 31,31454.0% | 24,76642.7% | 1,8853.3% | 57,965 |
| Sonoma County | Richard Nixon+13,951 | 57,69754.7% | 43,74641.5% | 3,9913.8% | 105,434 |
| Stanislaus County | Richard Nixon+4,516 | 39,52151.4% | 35,00545.5% | 2,3413.0% | 76,867 |
| Sutter County | Richard Nixon+4,815 | 10,22462.4% | 5,40933.0% | 7394.5% | 16,372 |
| Tehama County | Richard Nixon+879 | 6,05448.7% | 5,17541.7% | 1,1959.6% | 12,424 |
| Trinity County | Richard Nixon+247 | 1,86850.7% | 1,62144.0% | 1925.2% | 3,681 |
| Tulare County | Richard Nixon+14,273 | 36,04859.9% | 21,77536.2% | 2,3273.9% | 60,150 |
| Tuolumne County | Richard Nixon+1,298 | 5,89454.3% | 4,59642.3% | 3663.4% | 10,856 |
| Ventura County | Richard Nixon+46,003 | 95,31063.2% | 49,30732.7% | 6,1884.1% | 150,805 |
| Yolo County | George McGovern+5,725 | 17,96942.0% | 23,69455.4% | 1,0752.5% | 42,738 |
| Yuba County | Richard Nixon+2,188 | 6,62356.9% | 4,43538.1% | 5724.9% | 11,630 |
Nominees: George McGovern (D) · Richard Nixon (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1972 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Source. Compiled historical county records — 1972 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.