See main article: 1972 United States presidential election.
| Election Name: | 1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island |
| Country: | Rhode Island |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1968 United States presidential election in Rhode Island |
| Previous Year: | 1968 |
| Next Election: | 1976 United States presidential election in Rhode Island |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
| Election Date: | November 7, 1972 |
| Image1: | Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Richard Nixon |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | California |
| Running Mate1: | Spiro Agnew |
| Electoral Vote1: | 4 |
| Popular Vote1: | 220,383 |
| Percentage1: | 53.00% |
| Nominee2: | George McGovern |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | South Dakota |
| Running Mate2: | Sargent Shriver |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 194,645 |
| Percentage2: | 46.81% |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Richard Nixon |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Richard Nixon |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Rhode Island voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Nixon took 53.00% of the vote to McGovern's 46.81%, a margin of 6.19%. However, this result made Rhode Island about 17% more Democratic than the nation as a whole. This was the second of three elections in which Rhode Island did not vote for the same candidate as neighboring Massachusetts, which recurred only in 1852 and 1980.
, this is the last election in which Providence County voted for the Republican candidate, and Nixon won the county by only 186 votes. This is the most recent presidential election where a Republican presidential candidate was able to win every county in the state of Rhode Island.
Rhode Island would go on to vote Republican only once more since this election; in 1984, when Ronald Reagan narrowly won the state.
| 1972 United States presidential election in Rhode Island[1] [2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | ||
| Republican | Richard Nixon (incumbent) | 220,383 | 53.00% | 4 | ||
| Democratic | George McGovern | 194,645 | 46.81% | 0 | ||
| Socialist Workers | Linda Jenness | 729 | 0.18% | 0 | ||
| American Independent | John G. Schmitz (write-in) | 25 | 0.01% | 0 | ||
| People's | Benjamin Spock (write-in) | 5 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Libertarian | John Hospers (write-in) | 2 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Write-ins | Scattered (write-ins) | 19 | 0.00% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 415,808 | 100.00% | 4 | |||
| Voter turnout | — | |||||
| County | Richard Nixon Republican | George McGovern Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Bristol | 12,009 | 54.62% | 9,928 | 45.16% | 48 | 0.22% | 2,081 | 9.46% | 21,985 | ||||||||||
| Kent | 40,534 | 58.19% | 29,004 | 41.64% | 115 | 0.17% | 11,530 | 16.55% | 69,653 | ||||||||||
| Newport | 19,142 | 59.75% | 12,844 | 40.09% | 49 | 0.16% | 6,298 | 19.66% | 32,035 | ||||||||||
| Providence | 129,418 | 49.94% | 129,232 | 49.87% | 506 | 0.19% | 186 | 0.07% | 259,156 | ||||||||||
| Washington | 19,280 | 58.46% | 13,637 | 41.35% | 62 | 0.19% | 5,643 | 17.11% | 32,979 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 220,383 | 53.00% | 194,645 | 46.81% | 780 | 0.19% | 25,738 | 6.19% | 415,808 | ||||||||||