Tennessee — 1972 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1972 presidential electionTennessee · PresidentNixonR+38.0
How it voted
Share of the 1972 vote
| Richard Nixon ✓Republican | 67.7% | 813,147 |
|---|---|---|
| George McGovernDemocratic | 29.7% | 357,293 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 2.6% | 30,742 |
1972presidential margin
D+60R+60
95 counties, each filled by 1972 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
Tennessee cast 10 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (95 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson County, TN | Republican | R+34.1 |
| Bedford County, TN | Republican | R+23.8 |
| Benton County, TN | Republican | R+26.8 |
| Bledsoe County, TN | Republican | R+35.6 |
| Blount County, TN | Republican | R+49.5 |
| Bradley County, TN | Republican | R+56.5 |
| Campbell County, TN | Republican | R+49.1 |
| Cannon County, TN | Republican | R+27.2 |
| Carroll County, TN | Republican | R+41.8 |
| Carter County, TN | Republican | R+65.9 |
| Cheatham County, TN | Republican | R+24.6 |
| Chester County, TN | Republican | R+47.0 |
| Claiborne County, TN | Republican | R+48.9 |
| Clay County, TN | Republican | R+20.1 |
| Cocke County, TN | Republican | R+72.5 |
| Coffee County, TN | Republican | R+35.5 |
| Crockett County, TN | Republican | R+54.4 |
| Cumberland County, TN | Republican | R+50.0 |
| Davidson County, TN | Republican | R+25.1 |
| Decatur County, TN | Republican | R+32.3 |
| DeKalb County, TN | Republican | R+23.2 |
| Dickson County, TN | Republican | R+15.9 |
| Dyer County, TN | Republican | R+55.9 |
| Fayette County, TN | Republican | R+21.9 |
| Fentress County, TN | Republican | R+52.2 |
| Franklin County, TN | Republican | R+17.2 |
| Gibson County, TN | Republican | R+45.0 |
| Giles County, TN | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Grainger County, TN | Republican | R+54.2 |
| Greene County, TN | Republican | R+55.1 |
| Grundy County, TN | Republican | R+14.3 |
| Hamblen County, TN | Republican | R+54.3 |
| Hamilton County, TN | Republican | R+45.7 |
| Hancock County, TN | Republican | R+63.9 |
| Hardeman County, TN | Republican | R+36.7 |
| Hardin County, TN | Republican | R+55.5 |
| Hawkins County, TN | Republican | R+48.1 |
| Haywood County, TN | Republican | R+22.0 |
| Henderson County, TN | Republican | R+57.7 |
| Henry County, TN | Republican | R+25.2 |
| Hickman County, TN | Republican | R+15.9 |
| Houston County, TN | Democratic | D+4.1 |
| Humphreys County, TN | Republican | R+6.7 |
| Jackson County, TN | Democratic | D+6.2 |
| Jefferson County, TN | Republican | R+61.9 |
| Johnson County, TN | Republican | R+75.4 |
| Knox County, TN | Republican | R+44.9 |
| Lake County, TN | Republican | R+35.0 |
| Lauderdale County, TN | Republican | R+32.7 |
| Lawrence County, TN | Republican | R+38.1 |
| Lewis County, TN | Democratic | D+3.6 |
| Lincoln County, TN | Republican | R+26.5 |
| Loudon County, TN | Republican | R+52.6 |
| Macon County, TN | Republican | R+54.1 |
| Madison County, TN | Republican | R+48.0 |
| Marion County, TN | Republican | R+30.5 |
| Marshall County, TN | Republican | R+24.4 |
| Maury County, TN | Republican | R+36.9 |
| McMinn County, TN | Republican | R+43.6 |
| McNairy County, TN | Republican | R+48.5 |
| Meigs County, TN | Republican | R+31.4 |
| Monroe County, TN | Republican | R+32.3 |
| Montgomery County, TN | Republican | R+15.5 |
| Moore County, TN | Republican | R+25.3 |
| Morgan County, TN | Republican | R+39.1 |
| Obion County, TN | Republican | R+43.2 |
| Overton County, TN | Republican | R+10.4 |
| Perry County, TN | Democratic | D+2.0 |
| Pickett County, TN | Republican | R+45.3 |
| Polk County, TN | Republican | R+22.6 |
| Putnam County, TN | Republican | R+23.0 |
| Rhea County, TN | Republican | R+47.7 |
| Roane County, TN | Republican | R+42.6 |
| Robertson County, TN | Republican | R+16.1 |
| Rutherford County, TN | Republican | R+31.0 |
| Scott County, TN | Republican | R+59.9 |
| Sequatchie County, TN | Republican | R+33.3 |
| Sevier County, TN | Republican | R+74.6 |
| Shelby County, TN | Republican | R+32.6 |
| Smith County, TN | Republican | R+17.3 |
| Stewart County, TN | Democratic | D+15.9 |
| Sullivan County, TN | Republican | R+45.7 |
| Sumner County, TN | Republican | R+35.8 |
| Tipton County, TN | Republican | R+47.6 |
| Trousdale County, TN | Republican | R+10.1 |
| Unicoi County, TN | Republican | R+64.1 |
| Union County, TN | Republican | R+53.7 |
| Van Buren County, TN | Republican | R+26.0 |
| Warren County, TN | Republican | R+24.6 |
| Washington County, TN | Republican | R+52.0 |
| Wayne County, TN | Republican | R+61.3 |
| Weakley County, TN | Republican | R+46.7 |
| White County, TN | Republican | R+23.1 |
| Williamson County, TN | Republican | R+46.8 |
| Wilson County, TN | Republican | R+34.4 |
Tennessee results by county
95 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson County | Richard Nixon+7,152 | 13,86566.0% | 6,71332.0% | 4212.0% | 20,999 |
| Bedford County | Richard Nixon+1,697 | 4,26259.7% | 2,56535.9% | 3084.3% | 7,135 |
| Benton County | Richard Nixon+1,135 | 2,61461.8% | 1,47935.0% | 1353.2% | 4,228 |
| Bledsoe County | Richard Nixon+1,053 | 1,95265.9% | 89930.4% | 1113.7% | 2,962 |
| Blount County | Richard Nixon+10,775 | 16,07873.9% | 5,30324.4% | 3901.8% | 21,771 |
| Bradley County | Richard Nixon+7,636 | 10,44077.3% | 2,80420.8% | 2692.0% | 13,513 |
| Campbell County | Richard Nixon+3,280 | 4,90973.4% | 1,62924.4% | 1492.2% | 6,687 |
| Cannon County | Richard Nixon+704 | 1,61562.4% | 91135.2% | 632.4% | 2,589 |
| Carroll County | Richard Nixon+3,494 | 5,78469.3% | 2,29027.4% | 2753.3% | 8,349 |
| Carter County | Richard Nixon+8,911 | 11,10282.2% | 2,19116.2% | 2211.6% | 13,514 |
| Cheatham County | Richard Nixon+914 | 2,23560.1% | 1,32135.5% | 1634.4% | 3,719 |
| Chester County | Richard Nixon+1,826 | 2,78771.7% | 96124.7% | 1393.6% | 3,887 |
| Claiborne County | Richard Nixon+2,402 | 3,63273.9% | 1,23025.0% | 501.0% | 4,912 |
| Clay County | Richard Nixon+334 | 98259.0% | 64838.9% | 342.0% | 1,664 |
| Cocke County | Richard Nixon+4,463 | 5,26885.6% | 80513.1% | 801.3% | 6,153 |
| Coffee County | Richard Nixon+3,443 | 6,41666.2% | 2,97330.7% | 3063.2% | 9,695 |
| Crockett County | Richard Nixon+1,907 | 2,64275.4% | 73521.0% | 1273.6% | 3,504 |
| Cumberland County | Richard Nixon+3,111 | 4,59373.8% | 1,48223.8% | 1502.4% | 6,225 |
| Davidson County | Richard Nixon+33,767 | 82,63661.3% | 48,86936.3% | 3,2922.4% | 134,797 |
| Decatur County | Richard Nixon+1,181 | 2,36864.8% | 1,18732.5% | 1002.7% | 3,655 |
| DeKalb County | Richard Nixon+771 | 2,01460.7% | 1,24337.4% | 631.9% | 3,320 |
| Dickson County | Richard Nixon+1,026 | 3,64556.5% | 2,61940.6% | 1822.8% | 6,446 |
| Dyer County | Richard Nixon+4,466 | 6,06675.9% | 1,60020.0% | 3224.0% | 7,988 |
| Fayette County | Richard Nixon+1,197 | 3,26459.7% | 2,06737.8% | 1322.4% | 5,463 |
| Fentress County | Richard Nixon+1,489 | 2,15475.5% | 66523.3% | 341.2% | 2,853 |
| Franklin County | Richard Nixon+1,240 | 4,13657.5% | 2,89640.3% | 1602.2% | 7,192 |
| Gibson County | Richard Nixon+6,275 | 9,90071.0% | 3,62526.0% | 4092.9% | 13,934 |
| Giles County | Richard Nixon+1,039 | 2,91457.7% | 1,87537.1% | 2625.2% | 5,051 |
| Grainger County | Richard Nixon+2,014 | 2,84276.5% | 82822.3% | 431.2% | 3,713 |
| Greene County | Richard Nixon+7,008 | 9,77276.9% | 2,76421.7% | 1731.4% | 12,709 |
| Grundy County | Richard Nixon+359 | 1,36454.5% | 1,00540.2% | 1345.4% | 2,503 |
| Hamblen County | Richard Nixon+6,316 | 8,87976.4% | 2,56322.0% | 1821.6% | 11,624 |
| Hamilton County | Richard Nixon+37,812 | 58,46970.6% | 20,65724.9% | 3,6684.4% | 82,794 |
| Hancock County | Richard Nixon+1,420 | 1,81381.6% | 39317.7% | 160.7% | 2,222 |
| Hardeman County | Richard Nixon+1,944 | 3,49466.0% | 1,55029.3% | 2504.7% | 5,294 |
| Hardin County | Richard Nixon+3,199 | 4,40176.3% | 1,20220.8% | 1662.9% | 5,769 |
| Hawkins County | Richard Nixon+5,183 | 7,79172.3% | 2,60824.2% | 3763.5% | 10,775 |
| Haywood County | Richard Nixon+1,157 | 3,12359.5% | 1,96637.4% | 1643.1% | 5,253 |
| Henderson County | Richard Nixon+3,809 | 5,12277.6% | 1,31319.9% | 1622.5% | 6,597 |
| Henry County | Richard Nixon+1,919 | 4,61360.6% | 2,69435.4% | 3044.0% | 7,611 |
| Hickman County | Richard Nixon+550 | 1,94356.1% | 1,39340.2% | 1303.8% | 3,466 |
| Houston County | George McGovern+70 | 80046.4% | 87050.4% | 553.2% | 1,725 |
| Humphreys County | Richard Nixon+290 | 2,26352.2% | 1,97345.5% | 1022.4% | 4,338 |
| Jackson County | George McGovern+129 | 95646.0% | 1,08552.2% | 381.8% | 2,079 |
| Jefferson County | Richard Nixon+4,568 | 5,92580.3% | 1,35718.4% | 1001.4% | 7,382 |
| Johnson County | Richard Nixon+2,912 | 3,36287.1% | 45011.7% | 491.3% | 3,861 |
| Knox County | Richard Nixon+40,671 | 64,74771.6% | 24,07626.6% | 1,6611.8% | 90,484 |
| Lake County | Richard Nixon+611 | 1,14765.7% | 53630.7% | 633.6% | 1,746 |
| Lauderdale County | Richard Nixon+1,826 | 3,59764.4% | 1,77131.7% | 2173.9% | 5,585 |
| Lawrence County | Richard Nixon+3,614 | 6,43867.9% | 2,82429.8% | 2202.3% | 9,482 |
| Lewis County | George McGovern+82 | 1,05647.0% | 1,13850.6% | 542.4% | 2,248 |
| Lincoln County | Richard Nixon+1,399 | 3,26661.8% | 1,86735.4% | 1482.8% | 5,281 |
| Loudon County | Richard Nixon+3,753 | 5,35775.1% | 1,60422.5% | 1702.4% | 7,131 |
| Macon County | Richard Nixon+1,642 | 2,29575.7% | 65321.5% | 852.8% | 3,033 |
| Madison County | Richard Nixon+10,278 | 15,48172.3% | 5,20324.3% | 7253.4% | 21,409 |
| Marion County | Richard Nixon+1,782 | 3,71163.6% | 1,92933.0% | 1993.4% | 5,839 |
| Marshall County | Richard Nixon+1,067 | 2,59359.2% | 1,52634.9% | 2595.9% | 4,378 |
| Maury County | Richard Nixon+4,109 | 7,37166.3% | 3,26229.3% | 4884.4% | 11,121 |
| McMinn County | Richard Nixon+4,585 | 7,42370.6% | 2,83827.0% | 2592.5% | 10,520 |
| McNairy County | Richard Nixon+3,164 | 4,77473.2% | 1,61024.7% | 1352.1% | 6,519 |
| Meigs County | Richard Nixon+513 | 1,05264.3% | 53933.0% | 442.7% | 1,635 |
| Monroe County | Richard Nixon+2,787 | 5,65765.5% | 2,87033.2% | 1071.2% | 8,634 |
| Montgomery County | Richard Nixon+2,148 | 7,83956.4% | 5,69140.9% | 3692.7% | 13,899 |
| Moore County | Richard Nixon+252 | 60861.0% | 35635.7% | 323.2% | 996 |
| Morgan County | Richard Nixon+1,447 | 2,53168.3% | 1,08429.3% | 882.4% | 3,703 |
| Obion County | Richard Nixon+3,557 | 5,80070.4% | 2,24327.2% | 2002.4% | 8,243 |
| Overton County | Richard Nixon+374 | 1,94754.2% | 1,57343.8% | 742.1% | 3,594 |
| Perry County | George McGovern+37 | 90048.1% | 93750.1% | 341.8% | 1,871 |
| Pickett County | Richard Nixon+600 | 95772.2% | 35726.9% | 110.8% | 1,325 |
| Polk County | Richard Nixon+854 | 2,28560.6% | 1,43137.9% | 561.5% | 3,772 |
| Putnam County | Richard Nixon+2,300 | 6,03860.4% | 3,73837.4% | 2232.2% | 9,999 |
| Rhea County | Richard Nixon+2,530 | 3,84272.5% | 1,31224.8% | 1452.7% | 5,299 |
| Roane County | Richard Nixon+5,309 | 8,74270.1% | 3,43327.5% | 2952.4% | 12,470 |
| Robertson County | Richard Nixon+1,190 | 4,17556.4% | 2,98540.3% | 2393.2% | 7,399 |
| Rutherford County | Richard Nixon+5,445 | 11,25664.1% | 5,81133.1% | 4872.8% | 17,554 |
| Scott County | Richard Nixon+2,096 | 2,77579.2% | 67919.4% | 481.4% | 3,502 |
| Sequatchie County | Richard Nixon+669 | 1,29864.6% | 62931.3% | 834.1% | 2,010 |
| Sevier County | Richard Nixon+7,145 | 8,27386.4% | 1,12811.8% | 1771.8% | 9,578 |
| Shelby County | Richard Nixon+80,833 | 161,92265.3% | 81,08932.7% | 4,8712.0% | 247,882 |
| Smith County | Richard Nixon+552 | 1,81256.8% | 1,26039.5% | 1163.6% | 3,188 |
| Stewart County | George McGovern+308 | 79040.8% | 1,09856.7% | 472.4% | 1,935 |
| Sullivan County | Richard Nixon+17,586 | 27,59371.6% | 10,00726.0% | 9172.4% | 38,517 |
| Sumner County | Richard Nixon+5,424 | 10,02066.1% | 4,59630.3% | 5413.6% | 15,157 |
| Tipton County | Richard Nixon+3,689 | 5,54271.5% | 1,85323.9% | 3544.6% | 7,749 |
| Trousdale County | Richard Nixon+124 | 66353.9% | 53943.8% | 282.3% | 1,230 |
| Unicoi County | Richard Nixon+3,055 | 3,87781.3% | 82217.2% | 671.4% | 4,766 |
| Union County | Richard Nixon+1,357 | 1,92776.3% | 57022.6% | 301.2% | 2,527 |
| Van Buren County | Richard Nixon+265 | 62961.6% | 36435.7% | 282.7% | 1,021 |
| Warren County | Richard Nixon+1,447 | 3,56560.5% | 2,11835.9% | 2113.6% | 5,894 |
| Washington County | Richard Nixon+12,059 | 17,34374.8% | 5,28422.8% | 5612.4% | 23,188 |
| Wayne County | Richard Nixon+2,225 | 2,89879.8% | 67318.5% | 611.7% | 3,632 |
| Weakley County | Richard Nixon+3,809 | 5,83671.5% | 2,02724.8% | 3023.7% | 8,165 |
| White County | Richard Nixon+860 | 2,25260.4% | 1,39237.3% | 832.2% | 3,727 |
| Williamson County | Richard Nixon+4,940 | 7,55671.5% | 2,61624.8% | 3923.7% | 10,564 |
| Wilson County | Richard Nixon+3,390 | 6,48665.8% | 3,09631.4% | 2792.8% | 9,861 |
Nominees: George McGovern (D) · Richard Nixon (R)
Tennessee's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1972 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +13.5% |
| 1896 | +6.0% |
| 1900 | +8.1% |
| 1904 | +10.8% |
| 1908 | +6.9% |
| 1912 | +28.9% |
| 1916 | +13.6% |
| 1920 | −2.8% |
| 1924 | +9.3% |
| 1928 | −11.1% |
| 1932 | +34.0% |
| 1936 | +37.9% |
| 1940 | +34.9% |
| 1944 | +21.2% |
| 1948 | +12.3% |
| 1952 | −0.3% |
| 1956 | −0.6% |
| 1960 | −7.1% |
| 1964 | +11.0% |
| 1968 | −9.7% |
| 1972 | −38.0% |
| 1976 | +13.0% |
| 1980 | −0.3% |
| 1984 | −16.3% |
| 1988 | −16.3% |
| 1992 | +4.7% |
| 1996 | +2.4% |
| 2000 | −3.9% |
| 2004 | −14.3% |
| 2008 | −15.0% |
| 2012 | −20.4% |
| 2016 | −26.0% |
| 2020 | −23.2% |
| 2024 | −29.7% |
Source. Compiled historical county records — 1972 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.