The 1972 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 7, 1972. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of the United States. This was also the first presidential election after the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which decreased the

voting age A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. The most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist ( ...

from 21 to 18.

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

was won by incumbent United States

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

with a landslide 67.84% of the vote, against South Dakota Senator George McGovern of the Democratic Party. Nixon also won the national election with 60.67% of the vote. In strict accordance with national trends, McGovern carried just one county or independent city in Virginia – however, that county, Charles City County, saw McGovern receive over 67% of the vote, and was his fourth-strongest county in the country.David Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas
1972 Presidential Election Statistics
/ref> , this constitutes the last occasion the Republican Party has carried Brunswick County, Greensville County, Surry County, Sussex County, and the cities of

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Petersburg,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and Richmond.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 However, Nixon did not win all of the electoral votes in Virginia because one of his pledged electors,

Roger MacBride Roger Lea MacBride (August 6, 1929 – March 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, political figure, writer, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election. MacBride became the first president ...

, instead cast his vote for Libertarian candidate

John Hospers John Hospers (June 9, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American philosopher and political activist. Hospers was interested in Objectivism, and was once a friend of the philosopher Ayn Rand, though she later broke with him. In 1972, Hospers becam ...

and his running mate,

Tonie Nathan Theodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan (February 9, 1923 – March 20, 2014) was an American radio producer, television producer, and political activist. She was the first woman to receive an electoral vote in a United States presidential election. Sh ...

. Although Hospers was not on the ballot in Virginia, MacBride's vote was the first electoral vote ever cast for a female candidate (Nathan); MacBride was subsequently nominated as the Libertarian candidate for

in the next election. This was the first ever occasion where Franklin County and Nelson County voted Republican.

Results

Results by county

Notes

References

{{United States elections, 1972

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 ...

1972 Virginia elections