1972 United States presidential election in Maryland
November 7, 1972
All 10 Maryland electoral votes to the Electoral College
 
Nominee Richard Nixon George McGovern
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California South Dakota
Running mate Spiro Agnew Sargent Shriver
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 829,305 505,781
Percentage 61.26% 37.36%
County Results

The 1972 United States presidential election in Maryland was held on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Both the Democratic and Republican (Sargent Shriver and Spiro Agnew, respectively) Vice Presidential nominees were from Maryland.

Maryland was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon of California and Vice President Spiro Agnew (a Maryland native), winning 61.26% of the vote to George McGovern and Shriver's 37.36%. Nixon won every county in the state, only losing independent Baltimore City. He won over 77% of the vote in Carroll County, and over 70% in another eight counties. This is the last time Prince George's County has voted Republican in a presidential election,[1] and the last of only 7 occasions[lower-alpha 1] since the emergence of the Republican Party that Maryland has voted more Republican than the nation as a whole.[2] As of 2020, this remains the strongest performance by a Republican in Maryland, and the last time the Democratic candidate was held to under 60% of the vote in Baltimore City.[3]

A voting machine in the town of Saint Michaels malfunctioned on election day, causing only 14 of the 435 ballots cast on it to be properly recorded.[4] Circuit Judge Harry Clark barred the Talbot County Board of Election Supervisors from certifying the county's results until a revote was held at the affected polling location, which occurred on November 15.[5]

Of his three presidential campaigns, this was the only time Nixon carried the home state of his running mate. Nixon had lost Maryland in 1968 and had also failed to win Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.'s home state of Massachusetts in 1960.

Results

1972 United States presidential election in Maryland[6]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew 829,305 61.26% 10
Democratic George McGovern Sargent Shriver 505,781 37.36% 0
American Independent John G. Schmitz Thomas J. Anderson 18,726 1.38% 0

Results by county

County Richard Milhous Nixon
Republican		 George Stanley McGovern
Democratic		 John George Schmitz
American Independent		 Margin Total votes cast[7]
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Allegany 20,687 64.55% 10,808 33.72% 553 1.73% 9,879 30.83% 32,048
Anne Arundel 71,707 72.26% 26,082 26.28% 1,450 1.46% 45,625 45.97% 99,239
Baltimore 175,897 70.30% 70,309 28.10% 4,018 1.61% 105,588 42.20% 250,224
Baltimore City 119,486 45.15% 141,323 53.40% 3,843 1.45% -21,837 -8.25% 264,652
Calvert 4,024 63.43% 2,232 35.18% 88 1.39% 1,792 28.25% 6,344
Caroline 4,325 72.71% 1,567 26.34% 56 0.94% 2,758 46.37% 5,948
Carroll 16,847 77.25% 4,408 20.21% 553 2.54% 12,439 57.04% 21,808
Cecil 10,759 70.82% 4,113 27.08% 319 2.10% 6,646 43.75% 15,191
Charles 9,665 67.34% 4,502 31.37% 186 1.30% 5,163 35.97% 14,353
Dorchester 6,859 74.97% 2,136 23.35% 154 1.68% 4,723 51.62% 9,149
Frederick 19,907 69.48% 8,235 28.74% 509 1.78% 11,672 40.74% 28,651
Garrett 5,480 76.60% 1,510 21.11% 164 2.29% 3,970 55.49% 7,154
Harford 25,141 73.16% 8,737 25.42% 488 1.42% 16,404 47.73% 34,366
Howard 19,265 63.55% 10,668 35.19% 383 1.26% 8,597 28.36% 30,316
Kent 4,036 64.36% 2,168 34.57% 67 1.07% 1,868 29.79% 6,271
Montgomery 133,090 56.50% 100,228 42.55% 2,239 0.95% 32,862 13.95% 235,557
Prince George's 116,166 58.55% 79,914 40.28% 2,330 1.17% 36,252 18.27% 198,410
Queen Anne's 4,380 70.45% 1,712 27.54% 125 2.01% 2,668 42.91% 6,217
Somerset 4,342 67.33% 2,036 31.57% 71 1.10% 2,306 35.76% 6,449
St. Mary's 7,689 67.55% 3,571 31.37% 122 1.07% 4,118 36.18% 11,382
Talbot 6,620 74.73% 2,181 24.62% 58 0.65% 4,439 50.11% 8,859
Washington 24,234 69.27% 10,039 28.70% 712 2.04% 14,195 40.57% 34,985
Wicomico 13,115 69.71% 5,510 29.29% 190 1.01% 7,605 40.42% 18,815
Worcester 5,584 75.22% 1,792 24.14% 48 0.65% 3,792 51.08% 7,424
Totals829,30561.26%505,78137.36%18,7261.38%323,52423.90%1,353,812

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The other six are 1864, 1896 under William Jennings Bryan's "cross of gold" opposed by Northeastern industrialists, and the four elections from 1944 to 1956

References

  1. ↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  2. ↑ Counting the Votes; Maryland Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Maryland - Google Drive". docs.google.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ Seeley, John (November 22, 2000). "Early and Often". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Polls Will Reopen for 435 Whose Votes Didn't Record". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 11, 1972. p. 21.
  6. ↑ Maryland Manual 1969–1970. The Hall of Records Commission of the State of Maryland. p. 473. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, ‘For President of the United States’ Maryland General Election Returns – November 7, 1972 (Annapolis, 1972)
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