The 1972 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Tennessee voters chose 10 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Tennessee was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon (R–California), with 67.70% of the popular vote, against George McGovern (D–South Dakota), with 29.75% of the popular vote. John G. Schmitz was the only other candidate on the ballot, and, as the candidate for the American Party, he received over 30,000 votes. As of 2024, this was last election in which majority-Black Haywood County voted for a Republican presidential candidate. Alabama and Tennessee were the only states where McGovern won any county that voted for George Wallace in 1968.
75% of white voters supported Nixon while 22% supported McGovern.
Background
Historically Tennessee was the southern state with the strongest amount of Republican support. From 1874 to 1952, the state's two Republican members of the United States House of Representatives were the only Republicans out of the 105 members from the South. From 1966 to 1970, the Republicans won both of Tennessee's seats in the United States Senate, the governorship, and increased its membership in the U.S. House to four of the state's nine seats.
Results
Results by county
By congressional district
Nixon won all 8 congressional districts, including three held by Democrats.
See also
- 1972 United States Senate election in Tennessee
References
Works cited
- Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674941306.
- Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0275931455.
