United States · Election results history · 1872

Election 1872 Results

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1872 presidential election results by state and county

Grant won a second term in a landslide over Horace Greeley, who carried six states and then died before the Electoral College met, scattering his electors.

Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) beat Horace Greeley in 1872, winning 286 electoral votes to 0, with 63 going to Brown. Horace Greeley carried 0 states and Ulysses S. Grant 31; Brown carried Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. Across the states, the Democratic and Republican vote came to 2,843,842 and 3,594,324 (R+11.6 of all votes cast).

The closest states were Virginia (R+1.0), Delaware (R+4.2) and Arkansas (R+4.4). 10 states changed party from 1868: Delaware to the Republicans, Georgia to the third party, Kentucky to the third party, Louisiana to the Republicans, Maryland to the third party, Missouri to the third party, New Jersey to the Republicans, New York to the Republicans, Oregon to the Republicans and Tennessee to the third party.

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Results

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Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

About the 1872 presidential election

Grant's first term brought the Fifteenth Amendment and federal action against the Ku Klux Klan, but also charges of corruption. A breakaway Liberal Republican movement nominated Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, and the Democrats, with no better option, endorsed him too. The pairing failed. Grant won 31 states and 286 electoral votes, flipping Democratic-leaning Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Oregon, along with Louisiana. Greeley carried six states: Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. Grant's closest wins came in Virginia, by 0.4 points, Arkansas by 3.8 and Delaware by 4.2. Returns from Arkansas and Louisiana were disputed, and Congress declined to count those states' electoral votes. Greeley died at the end of November 1872, after the popular vote but before the electors met. His electors were left free to vote as they chose, and most of their votes went to Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana and to B. Gratz Brown, Greeley's running mate. That is why the states Greeley won are recorded as going to other candidates. It remains the only time a major-party presidential nominee died between the election and the electoral vote.

Every state

State	Democrat	Votes	Republican	Votes	Others	Margin	EV
Alabama	Horace Greeley	79,444 (46.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	90,272 (53.2%)		R+6.4	10
Arkansas	Horace Greeley	37,927 (47.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	41,373 (52.2%)		R+4.4	0
California	Horace Greeley	39,060 (42.7%)	Ulysses S. Grant	51,181 (56.0%)	1,146	R+13.3	6
Connecticut	Horace Greeley	45,685 (47.6%)	Ulysses S. Grant	50,307 (52.4%)		R+4.8	6
Delaware flip	Horace Greeley	10,205 (46.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	11,129 (51.0%)	488	R+4.2	3
Florida	Horace Greeley	15,427 (46.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	17,762 (53.5%)		R+7.0	4
Georgia flip	Horace Greeley	76,356 (55.0%)	Ulysses S. Grant	62,550 (45.0%)		Third party +-55.0	8
Illinois	Horace Greeley	184,884 (43.0%)	Ulysses S. Grant	241,936 (56.3%)	3,151	R+13.3	21
Indiana	Horace Greeley	163,632 (46.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	186,147 (53.2%)		R+6.4	15
Iowa	Horace Greeley	81,636 (37.7%)	Ulysses S. Grant	131,566 (60.8%)	3,163	R+23.1	11
Kansas	Horace Greeley	32,970 (32.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	66,805 (66.5%)	737	R+33.7	5
Kentucky flip	Horace Greeley	99,995 (52.3%)	Ulysses S. Grant	88,766 (46.4%)	Hendricks 2,374 (1.2%)	Third party +-51.1	12
Louisiana flip	Horace Greeley	57,029 (44.3%)	Ulysses S. Grant	71,663 (55.7%)		R+11.4	0
Maine	Horace Greeley	29,097 (32.1%)	Ulysses S. Grant	61,426 (67.9%)		R+35.7	7
Maryland flip	Horace Greeley	67,687 (50.3%)	Ulysses S. Grant	66,760 (49.7%)		Third party +-50.3	8
Massachusetts	Horace Greeley	59,195 (30.7%)	Ulysses S. Grant	133,455 (69.3%)		R+38.6	13
Michigan	Horace Greeley	78,551 (35.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	138,758 (62.7%)	4,146	R+27.2	11
Minnesota	Horace Greeley	35,299 (38.7%)	Ulysses S. Grant	56,000 (61.3%)		R+22.7	5
Mississippi	Horace Greeley	47,223 (36.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	82,164 (63.5%)		R+27.0	8
Missouri flip	Horace Greeley	151,434 (55.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	119,196 (43.7%)	Brown 2,429 (0.9%)	Third party +-54.6	15
Nebraska	Horace Greeley	7,591 (29.4%)	Ulysses S. Grant	18,255 (70.6%)		R+41.3	3
Nevada	Horace Greeley	6,236 (42.6%)	Ulysses S. Grant	8,413 (57.4%)		R+14.9	3
New Hampshire	Horace Greeley	31,738 (46.1%)	Ulysses S. Grant	37,168 (53.9%)		R+7.9	5
New Jersey flip	Horace Greeley	76,456 (45.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	91,656 (54.5%)		R+9.0	9
New York flip	Horace Greeley	387,282 (46.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	440,738 (53.2%)		R+6.5	35
North Carolina	Horace Greeley	70,387 (42.7%)	Ulysses S. Grant	94,266 (57.2%)	18	R+14.5	10
Ohio	Horace Greeley	244,320 (46.1%)	Ulysses S. Grant	281,852 (53.2%)	3,263	R+7.1	22
Oregon flip	Horace Greeley	7,742 (38.4%)	Ulysses S. Grant	11,818 (58.7%)	587	R+20.2	3
Pennsylvania	Horace Greeley	212,041 (37.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	349,589 (62.2%)		R+24.5	29
Rhode Island	Horace Greeley	5,329 (28.1%)	Ulysses S. Grant	13,665 (71.9%)		R+43.9	4
South Carolina	Horace Greeley	22,699 (23.8%)	Ulysses S. Grant	72,290 (75.7%)	463	R+52.0	7
Tennessee flip	Horace Greeley	93,391 (52.2%)	Ulysses S. Grant	85,655 (47.8%)		Third party +-52.2	12
Texas	Horace Greeley	66,546 (57.1%)	Ulysses S. Grant	47,468 (40.7%)	Hendricks 2,580 (2.2%)	Third party +-54.9	8
Vermont	Horace Greeley	10,926 (20.6%)	Ulysses S. Grant	41,480 (78.3%)	574	R+57.7	5
Virginia	Horace Greeley	91,647 (49.5%)	Ulysses S. Grant	93,463 (50.5%)	85	R+1.0	11
West Virginia	Horace Greeley	29,532 (47.3%)	Ulysses S. Grant	32,320 (51.7%)	615	R+4.5	5
Wisconsin	Horace Greeley	87,243 (45.4%)	Ulysses S. Grant	105,012 (54.6%)		R+9.2	10

Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). Maine and Nebraska are shown whole, without their district votes. By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area, so its county detail is an estimate. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.

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1872 presidential election results by state and county

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