Election in Massachusetts
1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
|
|
Turnout
| 68.7%
[1]
2.3
pp
|
---|
|
County Results
Municipality Results
McGovern
40?50%
50?60%
60?70%
70?80%
|
Nixon
40?50%
50?60%
60?70%
70?80%
80?90%
| |
|
The
1972 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
took place on November 7, 1972, as part of the
1972 United States presidential election
, which was held throughout all 50 states and
D.C.
Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors to the
Electoral College
, who voted for
president
and
vice president
.
Massachusetts
voted for the
Democratic
nominee,
Senator
George McGovern
of
South Dakota
, over incumbent
Republican
President
Richard Nixon
of
California
. McGovern's running mate was U.S. Ambassador
Sargent Shriver
of
Maryland
, who had replaced Senator
Thomas Eagleton
during the campaign, while Nixon ran with incumbent
Vice President
Spiro Agnew
of
Maryland
.
McGovern carried Massachusetts with 54.20% of the vote to Nixon's 45.23%, a Democratic victory margin of 8.97%. In the midst of a massive nationwide Republican landslide in which Richard Nixon had carried 49 states, Massachusetts proved to be the only state in the nation that would cast its electoral votes for George McGovern, joined by the
District of Columbia
. McGovern also carried the state by a surprisingly comfortable nine-point margin, making the state 32% more Democratic than the national average in the 1972 election.
McGovern, a staunch
liberal
Democrat best known for his strong principled opposition to the
Vietnam War
, was painted by the Nixon campaign as an extremist too far to the left of the American mainstream at the time, and this paid off in delivering Nixon a nationwide re-election landslide. Prior to 1972, Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since
1928
, and a Democratic stronghold since
1960
. But McGovern's comfortable victory in 1972 still stands out, as many other traditional Democratic strongholds abandoned the Democrats in 1972. For example, Nixon took neighboring
Rhode Island
by six points, even though it normally voted similarly to Massachusetts.
J. Anthony Lukas
noted that many New Yorkers felt that
Ted Kennedy
's outsize money and influence in Massachusetts played a major role in keeping the state in the Democratic column, summing up this explanation simply as "Teddy did it". Kennedy was also the brother-in-law of Democratic vice presidential nominee Shriver.
[2]
Results
[
edit
]
Results by county
[
edit
]
County
|
George McGovern
Democratic
|
Richard Nixon
Republican
|
Various candidates
Other parties
|
Margin
|
Total votes cast
|
#
|
%
|
#
|
%
|
#
|
%
|
#
|
%
|
Barnstable
|
22,636
|
38.08%
|
36,340
|
61.14%
|
466
|
0.78%
|
-13,704
|
-23.06%
|
59,442
|
Berkshire
|
35,391
|
53.39%
|
30,380
|
45.83%
|
513
|
0.78%
|
5,011
|
7.56%
|
66,284
|
Bristol
|
103,163
|
54.65%
|
84,390
|
44.71%
|
1,215
|
0.64%
|
18,773
|
9.94%
|
188,768
|
Dukes
|
2,001
|
46.15%
|
2,312
|
53.32%
|
23
|
0.53%
|
-311
|
-7.27%
|
4,336
|
Essex
|
157,324
|
52.96%
|
138,040
|
46.47%
|
1,719
|
0.57%
|
19,284
|
6.49%
|
297,083
|
Franklin
|
11,968
|
42.35%
|
16,088
|
56.93%
|
202
|
0.72%
|
-4,120
|
-14.58%
|
28,258
|
Hampden
|
94,945
|
52.13%
|
86,164
|
47.31%
|
1,024
|
0.56%
|
8,781
|
4.82%
|
182,133
|
Hampshire
|
28,572
|
53.25%
|
24,529
|
45.72%
|
553
|
1.03%
|
4,043
|
7.53%
|
53,654
|
Middlesex
|
345,343
|
55.91%
|
269,064
|
43.56%
|
3,244
|
0.53%
|
76,279
|
12.35%
|
617,651
|
Nantucket
|
952
|
40.00%
|
1,418
|
59.58%
|
10
|
0.42%
|
-466
|
-19.58%
|
2,380
|
Norfolk
|
150,732
|
52.57%
|
134,459
|
46.89%
|
1,558
|
0.54%
|
16,273
|
5.68%
|
286,749
|
Plymouth
|
69,124
|
47.32%
|
76,062
|
52.07%
|
878
|
0.61%
|
-6,938
|
-4.75%
|
146,064
|
Suffolk
|
166,250
|
65.76%
|
85,272
|
33.73%
|
1,299
|
0.51%
|
80,978
|
32.03%
|
252,821
|
Worcester
|
144,139
|
52.77%
|
127,560
|
46.70%
|
1,428
|
0.53%
|
16,579
|
6.07%
|
273,127
|
Totals
|
1,332,540
|
54.20%
|
1,112,078
|
45.23%
|
14,138
|
0.57%
|
220,462
|
8.97%
|
2,458,756
|
Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican
[
edit
]
Results by congressional district
[
edit
]
McGovern won 11 of 12 congressional districts, including three that elected Republicans. Nixon won one that elected a Democrat (the
12th district
). The results below show the percentage of the two-party vote share won by each candidate and do not account for third party votes.
[4]
Analysis
[
edit
]
On the county map, McGovern carried 9 of the state's 14 counties, including the most heavily populated parts of the state. The state's capital and largest city,
Boston
, would prove to be a McGovern stronghold; voters in
Suffolk County
, where Boston is located, cast 66% of the vote for McGovern. Boston is one of the few areas in the country where McGovern actually outperformed
Jimmy Carter
’s performance four years later in
1976
; while Carter won narrow popular and electoral victories nationally, he carried Suffolk County with only 61%. On the other hand, despite Nixon's loss in the state and though
Ronald Reagan
would carry the state twice, this election remains the last time
Dukes County
, which had never voted Democratic before
Lyndon B. Johnson
’s landslide in
1964
,
[5]
has voted Republican.
[6]
It is also the last time that the towns of
Deerfield
,
Gill
,
Monterey
,
Oak Bluffs
,
Pelham
,
Tisbury
,
Williamsburg
, and
Williamstown
have voted Republican.
The results in 1972 made Massachusetts the only state which Richard Nixon never carried in any of his three presidential campaigns, although it voted for Nixon when he was
Dwight Eisenhower
's running mate in
1952
and
1956
. It voted for its native son
John F. Kennedy
when he defeated Nixon in 1960, and
Hubert Humphrey
when he lost to Nixon in
1968
. This was also the first time in history that a Republican president was elected twice without ever carrying Massachusetts, a feat that has only been repeated once more, in
2004
. Nixon was the first president to win two terms without the state since Andrew Jackson in 1828 and 1832. As of 2020, this election marks only the second of three times (after 1852 and 1980) that Massachusetts has not voted for the same candidate as neighboring Rhode Island.
"Don't blame me! I'm from Massachusetts"
[
edit
]
After Nixon was re-elected, he would later resign only a year and a half into his second term due to his involvement in the
Watergate scandal
and the illegal activities he committed. After the Watergate scandal broke and Nixon resigned due to criminal activity, a bumper sticker with the words "Don't blame me! I'm from Massachusetts" became a symbol of the sentiment felt by Massachusetts residents, serving as a proverbial "I told you so" to the 49 states that supported Nixon's re-election.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
REPORT NUMBER P20-253,
Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1972
, table 3
- ^
Lukas, J. Anthony (January 14, 1973).
"As Massachusetts went?"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
May 17,
2019
.
- ^
"1972 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts"
.
Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
. Retrieved
February 7,
2013
.
- ^
"1972 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District"
. Retrieved
October 9,
2023
.
- ^
The Political Graveyard;
Dukes County, Massachusetts
- ^
Sullivan, Robert David;
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
;
America Magazine
in
The National Catholic Review
; June 29, 2016
- ^
Kahn, Joseph P. (October 23, 2012).
"George McGovern's indelible mark on Massachusetts politics"
.
Boston Globe
. Retrieved
May 31,
2015
.