United States · Election results history · 1972 president · Washington

Election 1972 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1972 presidential election in Washington

Richard Nixon (Republican) beat George McGovern (Democrat) in Washington in 1972, 56.9% to 38.6%, a margin of 18.3 points and 268,801 votes.

Washington voted 4.9 points more Democratic than the country as a whole, where the margin was R+23.1.

Washington changed party: in 1968 it went Democratic, for Hubert Humphrey.

Republicans led in 37 of the 39 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 2. The largest, King, cast 529,694 votes and went to the Republican by 16.3 points. The closest was Wahkiakum, where 22 votes separated the two parties.

United States

Results

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Or set the national mood Turnout

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.

Result

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Richard Nixon won	Republican	837,135	56.9%
George McGovern	Democratic	568,334	38.6%
All other candidates		65,378	4.4%
Total		1,470,847

Every county

County	Democrat	Republican	Others	Total	Margin
King	212,509 40.1%	298,707 56.4%	18,478	529,694	R+16.3
Pierce	56,933 38.5%	84,265 56.9%	6,867	148,065	R+18.5
Spokane	44,337 35.4%	74,320 59.4%	6,528	125,185	R+24.0
Snohomish	39,471 37.7%	60,032 57.3%	5,318	104,821	R+19.6
Clark	27,179 46.4%	28,775 49.1%	2,615	58,569	R+2.7
Yakima	19,729 36.1%	32,240 58.9%	2,736	54,705	R+22.9
Kitsap	17,011 37.4%	25,831 56.8%	2,604	45,446	R+19.4
Whatcom	15,027 38.7%	22,585 58.2%	1,189	38,801	R+19.5
Thurston	14,596 37.6%	22,297 57.5%	1,899	38,792	R+19.9
Benton	9,824 32.4%	18,517 61.0%	2,005	30,346	R+28.6
Cowlitz	12,682 45.0%	14,431 51.2%	1,069	28,182	R+6.2
Skagit	9,233 37.8%	14,212 58.1%	1,003	24,448	R+20.4
Grays Harbor	11,786 49.6%	10,839 45.6%	1,120	23,745	D+4.0
Lewis	6,946 33.7%	12,071 58.6%	1,568	20,585	R+24.9
Walla Walla	5,364 28.9%	12,579 67.9%	590	18,533	R+38.9
Chelan	5,889 33.8%	10,470 60.1%	1,054	17,413	R+26.3
Whitman	6,248 38.4%	9,548 58.7%	470	16,266	R+20.3
Clallam	5,620 34.9%	9,372 58.3%	1,097	16,089	R+23.3
Grant	5,487 34.7%	9,370 59.3%	957	15,814	R+24.6
Island	3,149 28.6%	7,495 68.1%	359	11,003	R+39.5
Franklin	3,867 36.7%	5,972 56.8%	684	10,523	R+20.0
Okanogan	3,835 37.1%	5,796 56.1%	703	10,334	R+19.0
Kittitas	4,299 42.5%	5,464 54.0%	363	10,126	R+11.5
Mason	3,907 42.6%	4,873 53.1%	397	9,177	R+10.5
Stevens	2,390 30.3%	4,839 61.3%	670	7,899	R+31.0
Douglas	2,420 32.3%	4,512 60.3%	549	7,481	R+28.0
Pacific	3,585 50.0%	3,349 46.7%	232	7,166	D+3.3
Asotin	2,559 44.3%	2,911 50.4%	310	5,780	R+6.1
Klickitat	2,293 40.6%	3,061 54.2%	294	5,648	R+13.6
Lincoln	1,453 27.5%	3,647 69.1%	175	5,275	R+41.6
Jefferson	2,096 40.5%	2,770 53.5%	313	5,179	R+13.0
Adams	1,110 24.6%	3,083 68.2%	326	4,519	R+43.7
Pend Oreille	1,071 36.5%	1,746 59.6%	114	2,931	R+23.0
San Juan	906 32.4%	1,786 63.9%	103	2,795	R+31.5
Skamania	1,153 43.6%	1,288 48.7%	204	2,645	R+5.1
Columbia	533 25.6%	1,445 69.5%	102	2,080	R+43.8
Wahkiakum	796 46.1%	818 47.4%	112	1,726	R+1.3
Garfield	481 31.4%	1,004 65.4%	49	1,534	R+34.1
Ferry	560 36.7%	815 53.4%	152	1,527	R+16.7

Counties as they stood in 1972; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Washington in every presidential election we hold

Year	Winner	Margin
2024	Kamala Harris (D)	D+18.2
2020	Joe Biden (D)	D+19.2
2016	Hillary Clinton (D)	D+15.7
2012	Barack Obama (D)	D+14.9
2008	Barack Obama (D)	D+17.2
2004	John Kerry (D)	D+7.2
2000	Al Gore (D)	D+5.6
1996	Bill Clinton (D)	D+12.5
1992	Bill Clinton (D)	D+11.4
1988	Michael Dukakis (D)	D+1.6
1984	Ronald Reagan (R)	R+13.5
1980	Ronald Reagan (R)	R+12.3
1976	Gerald Ford (R)	R+3.9
1972	Richard Nixon (R)	R+18.3
1968	Hubert Humphrey (D)	D+2.1
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson (D)	D+24.6
1960	Richard Nixon (R)	R+2.4
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)	R+8.5
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)	R+9.6
1948	Harry S. Truman (D)	D+9.8
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+14.6
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+17.6
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+36.5
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+23.5
1928	Herbert Hoover (R)	R+35.7
1924	Calvin Coolidge (R)	R+42.1
1920	Warren G. Harding (R)	R+34.8
1916	Woodrow Wilson (D)	D+4.2
1912	Theodore Roosevelt (other)
1908	William Howard Taft (R)	R+25.8
1904	Theodore Roosevelt (R)	R+50.6
1900	William McKinley (R)	R+11.7
1896	William Jennings Bryan (D)	D+15.1
1892	Benjamin Harrison (R)	R+7.6

1972 presidential election in Washington

Result

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Washington in every presidential election we hold

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