1972 United States presidential election in Idaho explained

See main article: 1972 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1972 United States presidential election in Idaho
Country:	Idaho
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1968 United States presidential election in Idaho
Previous Year:	1968
Next Election:	1976 United States presidential election in Idaho
Next Year:	1976
Election Date:	November 7, 1972^[1]
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:	199,384
Percentage1:	64.24%
Nominee2:	George McGovern
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	South Dakota
Running Mate2:	Sargent Shriver
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	80,826
Percentage2:	26.04%
Image3:	John G. Schmitz (cropped 3x4).jpg
Nominee3:	John G. Schmitz
Color3:	ff9955
Party3:	American Independent Party
Running Mate3:	Thomas J. Anderson
Home State3:	California
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	28,869
Percentage3:	9.30%
Map Size:	300px
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 Idaho took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. Idaho voters chose four^[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Idaho was won by incumbent President Richard Nixon (R–California), with 64.2 percent of the popular vote, against George McGovern (D–South Dakota), with 26.0% of the popular vote.^{[3] [4]}

In a state that would reflect McGovern's national results,^{[5] [6]} the Democratic nominee did not win a single county in Idaho. In fact, John G. Schmitz, running under the "American Independent" banner as a remnant of George Wallace's 1968 campaign, ran second ahead of McGovern in Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi and Madison Counties.^[7] Although due to the salience of the civil rights issue there had occurred numerous cases of unpledged and "Dixiecrat" candidates receiving almost the entire vote of Deep Southern counties, and a smaller number in other antebellum slave states, Schmitz' performances in Jefferson County was at the time the best by a third-party presidential candidate in any non-Southern county since 1936 when William Lemke reached over twenty-eight percent of the vote in the North Dakota counties of Burke, Sheridan and Hettinger.^[8] With 9.30% of the popular vote, Idaho would be Schmitz's strongest state in the 1972 election.^[9]

Nixon was the first Republican to sweep all Idaho's counties since Warren G. Harding in 1920, the first to carry Clearwater and Lewis Counties since Herbert Hoover in 1928, whilst the previous occasion the Republicans had won adjacent Nez Perce County was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.^[10]

Results

Results by county

County^[11]	Richard Nixon Republican		George McGovern Democratic		John G. Schmitz American Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Ada		36,665		67.51%		12,687		23.36%		4,727		8.70%		232		0.43%		23,978		44.15%		54,311
	Adams		963		67.77%		293		20.62%		162		11.40%		3		0.21%		670		47.15%		1,421
	Bannock		12,856		57.93%		7,840		35.33%		1,348		6.07%		147		0.66%		5,016		22.60%		22,191
	Bear Lake		2,213		69.48%		716		22.48%		251		7.88%		5		0.16%		1,497		47.00%		3,185
	Benewah		1,494		55.54%		1,062		39.48%		129		4.80%		5		0.19%		432		16.06%		2,690
	Bingham		6,886		64.33%		2,476		23.13%		1,312		12.26%		31		0.29%		4,410		41.20%		10,705
	Blaine		2,113		60.98%		1,240		35.79%		97		2.80%		15		0.43%		873		25.19%		3,465
	Boise		676		66.27%		256		25.10%		86		8.43%		2		0.20%		420		41.17%		1,020
	Bonner		4,405		57.47%		2,599		33.91%		632		8.25%		29		0.38%		1,806		23.56%		7,665
	Bonneville		13,134		61.19%		4,199		19.56%		4,073		18.97%		60		0.28%		8,935		41.63%		21,466
	Boundary		1,587		59.26%		860		32.11%		218		8.14%		13		0.49%		727		27.15%		2,678
	Butte		788		56.45%		387		27.72%		220		15.76%		1		0.07%		401		28.73%		1,396
	Camas		344		74.30%		95		20.52%		24		5.18%		0		0.00%		249		53.78%		463
	Canyon		18,383		68.45%		5,630		20.96%		2,769		10.31%		75		0.28%		12,753		47.49%		26,857
	Caribou		2,069		69.95%		614		20.76%		274		9.26%		1		0.03%		1,455		49.19%		2,958
	Cassia		4,576		74.26%		1,080		17.53%		473		7.68%		33		0.54%		3,496		56.73%		6,162
	Clark		339		74.34%		64		14.04%		52		11.40%		1		0.22%		275		60.30%		456
	Clearwater		1,590		50.67%		1,412		45.00%		112		3.57%		24		0.76%		178		5.67%		3,138
	Custer		989		69.06%		274		19.13%		166		11.59%		3		0.21%		715		49.93%		1,432
	Elmore		3,078		66.55%		1,153		24.93%		382		8.26%		12		0.26%		1,925		41.62%		4,625
	Franklin		2,787		71.59%		611		15.69%		490		12.59%		5		0.13%		2,176		55.90%		3,893
	Fremont		2,621		61.38%		819		19.18%		825		19.32%		5		0.12%		1,796		42.06%		4,270
	Gem		2,717		61.32%		1,069		24.13%		637		14.38%		8		0.18%		1,648		37.19%		4,431
	Gooding		3,124		70.73%		1,030		23.32%		256		5.80%		7		0.16%		2,094		47.41%		4,417
	Idaho		3,235		62.20%		1,622		31.19%		330		6.34%		14		0.27%		1,613		31.01%		5,201
	Jefferson		2,983		58.38%		715		13.99%		1,406		27.51%		6		0.12%		1,577		30.87%		5,110
	Jerome		3,661		75.11%		888		18.22%		316		6.48%		9		0.18%		2,773		56.89%		4,874
	Kootenai		9,958		61.33%		5,162		31.79%		1,076		6.63%		42		0.26%		4,796		29.54%		16,238
	Latah		6,043		55.35%		4,548		41.66%		268		2.45%		59		0.54%		1,495		13.69%		10,918
	Lemhi		1,812		61.99%		526		18.00%		578		19.77%		7		0.24%		1,234		42.22%		2,923
	Lewis		961		56.97%		635		37.64%		85		5.04%		6		0.36%		326		19.33%		1,687
	Lincoln		1,120		74.37%		313		20.78%		66		4.38%		7		0.46%		807		53.59%		1,506
	Madison		3,606		69.13%		710		13.61%		889		17.04%		11		0.21%		2,717		52.09%		5,216
	Minidoka		4,097		68.66%		1,423		23.85%		430		7.21%		17		0.28%		2,674		44.81%		5,967
	Nez Perce		6,232		52.19%		5,081		42.55%		433		3.63%		195		1.63%		1,151		9.64%		11,941
	Oneida		1,204		71.45%		402		23.86%		77		4.57%		2		0.12%		802		47.59%		1,685
	Owyhee		1,630		70.14%		463		19.92%		229		9.85%		2		0.09%		1,167		50.22%		2,324
	Payette		3,577		67.85%		1,113		21.11%		565		10.72%		17		0.32%		2,464		46.74%		5,272
	Power		1,405		64.45%		625		28.67%		142		6.51%		8		0.37%		780		35.78%		2,180
	Shoshone		3,868		53.67%		3,020		41.90%		286		3.97%		33		0.46%		848		11.77%		7,207
	Teton		932		68.58%		298		21.93%		129		9.49%		0		0.00%		634		46.65%		1,359
	Twin Falls		13,075		73.98%		3,344		18.92%		1,127		6.38%		127		0.72%		9,731		55.06%		17,673
	Valley		1,324		61.55%		537		24.97%		280		13.02%		10		0.46%		787		36.58%		2,151
	Washington		2,264		62.33%		935		25.74%		422		11.62%		11		0.30%		1,329		36.59%		3,632
Totals	199,384	64.24%	80,826	26.04%	28,869	9.30%	1,300	0.42%	118,558	38.20%	310,379

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Benewah
• Clearwater
• Lewis
• Nez Perce
• Shoshone

See also

• United States presidential elections in Idaho

Notes and References

1. Web site: United States Presidential election of 1972 - Encyclopædia Britannica. January 28, 2017.
2. Web site: 1972 Election for the Forty-Seventh Term (1973-77). January 28, 2017.
3. Web site: 1972 Presidential General Election Results - Idaho. January 28, 2017.
4. Web site: The American Presidency Project - Election of 1972. January 28, 2017.
5. Web site: 1972 Presidential Election - 270toWin.com. January 28, 2017.
6. Web site: 1972 Election - Voting America. January 28, 2017.
7. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 100
8. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 339, 343
9. Web site: 1972 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
10. Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 178-179
11. Our Campaigns; ID US President 1972