The 1972 United States presidential election in Illinois was held on November 7, 1972 as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

won the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

with 59.03 percent of the vote, carrying the state's 26 electoral votes. He defeated his main opponent, Democratic candidate George McGovern in Illinois by a large margin of 18.52%, which still left Illinois 4.63% more Democratic than the nation. Nixon won all but one of Illinois’ 102 counties. The solitary exception was Jackson County, home to

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...

, which notably had voted for Nixon in the previous election and was one of only five counties outside McGovern’s home state to switch from Republican to Democratic at this election. This election is the most recent in which

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

voted Republican, the only Republican victory in St. Clair County since Calvin Coolidge in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

,The Political Graveyard
St. Clair County, Illinois
/ref> and the last until

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when Alexander County supported a Republican nominee.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 Nixon's 2,788,179 votes is the most received by a Republican presidential candidate in the state's history. Nixon was the first Republican ever to win a majority of the vote in strongly Democratic Macoupin County, which thus meant that every antebellum free state county had, as of 1972, given a majority to a Republican presidential candidate at least once.

Primaries

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices ( Senate and House) and those for state offices.

Turnout

Turnout in the

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

was 22.54%, with a total of 1,258,713 votes cast. Turnout in the general election was 75.99%, with a total of 4,723,236 votes cast. State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on March 21.

Democratic

The 1972 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 21, 1972 in the U.S. state of

as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1972 presidential election. The popular vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional districts on delegate candidates, who had either pledged to support a candidate or been uncommitted.

Republican

The 1972 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 21, 1972 in the U.S. state of

as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1972 presidential election. In this election, all candidates were write-ins. The popular vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional districts on delegate candidates, who had either pledged to support a candidate or been uncommitted.

General election

Results

Results by county

Notes

References

{{United States elections 1972 Illinois elections

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...