1972 United States presidential election in Alaska

Main article: 1972 United States presidential election

1972 United States presidential election in Alaska

November 7, 1972

Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern John G. Schmitz Party Republican Democratic American Independent Home state California South Dakota California Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver Thomas J. Anderson Electoral vote 3 0 0 Popular vote 55,349 32,967 6,903 Percentage 58.10% 34.61% 7.25%

Nixon   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% McGovern   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Richard Nixon Republican Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

The 1972 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Alaska was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon (R-California) with 58.1% of the popular vote against George McGovern (D-South Dakota) with 34.6%. Nixon ultimately won the national vote as well, defeating McGovern and Representative John G. Schmitz (R-California), who ran under the American Independent Party ticket.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Alaska
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon (incumbent)	55,349	58.10%	3
	Democratic	George McGovern	32,967	34.61%	0
	American Independent	John G. Schmitz	6,903	7.25%	0
	Libertarian	John Hospers (write-in)	45	0.05%	0
Totals			95,264	100.00%	3

Boroughs and Census Areas that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Juneau
• Kenai Peninsula Borough
• Nome Census Area
• Petersburg Borough
• Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
• Yakutat

Analysis

Although Alaska has only voted Democratic once, which was for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, during the state's first four presidential elections Alaska was not substantially more Republican than the nation at-large: indeed owing to a fairly strong third-party campaign Nixon won 2.57 percent less of the vote in Alaska than over the entire country, although McGovern received 2.88 percent less than his national share.

While Alaska would prove to be John Schmitz's second strongest state after Idaho, he failed to equal the success of George Wallace’s campaign in the previous election. This is the only time that Alaska voted to the left of Hawaii.

See also

• United States presidential elections in Alaska