Minnesota — 1972 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1972 presidential electionMinnesota · PresidentNixonR+5.5
How it voted
Share of the 1972 vote
| Richard Nixon ✓Republican | 51.6% | 898,269 |
|---|---|---|
| George McGovernDemocratic | 46.1% | 802,346 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 2.4% | 41,037 |
1972presidential margin
D+60R+60
87 counties, each filled by 1972 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
Minnesota cast 10 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (87 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Aitkin County, MN | Republican | R+9.2 |
| Anoka County, MN | Republican | R+2.6 |
| Becker County, MN | Republican | R+12.3 |
| Beltrami County, MN | Republican | R+6.6 |
| Benton County, MN | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Big Stone County, MN | Democratic | D+10.9 |
| Blue Earth County, MN | Republican | R+8.7 |
| Brown County, MN | Republican | R+27.1 |
| Carlton County, MN | Democratic | D+13.1 |
| Carver County, MN | Republican | R+26.6 |
| Cass County, MN | Republican | R+18.3 |
| Chippewa County, MN | Republican | R+2.1 |
| Chisago County, MN | Republican | R+5.9 |
| Clay County, MN | Republican | R+9.9 |
| Clearwater County, MN | Republican | R+1.8 |
| Cook County, MN | Republican | R+16.8 |
| Cottonwood County, MN | Republican | R+21.8 |
| Crow Wing County, MN | Republican | R+8.7 |
| Dakota County, MN | Republican | R+10.0 |
| Dodge County, MN | Republican | R+32.7 |
| Douglas County, MN | Republican | R+9.3 |
| Faribault County, MN | Republican | R+29.4 |
| Fillmore County, MN | Republican | R+37.8 |
| Freeborn County, MN | Republican | R+15.1 |
| Goodhue County, MN | Republican | R+28.1 |
| Grant County, MN | Democratic | D+4.6 |
| Hennepin County, MN | Republican | R+5.2 |
| Houston County, MN | Republican | R+34.9 |
| Hubbard County, MN | Republican | R+20.8 |
| Isanti County, MN | Republican | R+0.7 |
| Itasca County, MN | Democratic | D+6.8 |
| Jackson County, MN | Republican | R+4.2 |
| Kanabec County, MN | Republican | R+9.2 |
| Kandiyohi County, MN | Democratic | D+4.3 |
| Kittson County, MN | Republican | R+7.1 |
| Koochiching County, MN | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Lac qui Parle County, MN | Democratic | D+1.3 |
| Lake County, MN | Democratic | D+16.8 |
| Lake of the Woods County, MN | Republican | R+13.0 |
| Le Sueur County, MN | Republican | R+6.5 |
| Lincoln County, MN | Democratic | D+6.5 |
| Lyon County, MN | Republican | R+1.8 |
| Mahnomen County, MN | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| Marshall County, MN | Republican | R+7.7 |
| Martin County, MN | Republican | R+32.0 |
| McLeod County, MN | Republican | R+25.8 |
| Meeker County, MN | Republican | R+16.7 |
| Mille Lacs County, MN | Republican | R+13.9 |
| Morrison County, MN | Democratic | D+2.3 |
| Mower County, MN | Democratic | D+1.7 |
| Murray County, MN | Republican | R+1.1 |
| Nicollet County, MN | Republican | R+14.0 |
| Nobles County, MN | Democratic | D+4.9 |
| Norman County, MN | Republican | R+1.8 |
| Olmsted County, MN | Republican | R+40.5 |
| Otter Tail County, MN | Republican | R+25.9 |
| Pennington County, MN | Republican | R+9.9 |
| Pine County, MN | Republican | R+1.1 |
| Pipestone County, MN | Republican | R+12.3 |
| Polk County, MN | Republican | R+4.9 |
| Pope County, MN | Democratic | D+5.3 |
| Ramsey County, MN | Democratic | D+6.0 |
| Red Lake County, MN | Democratic | D+14.0 |
| Redwood County, MN | Republican | R+28.1 |
| Renville County, MN | Republican | R+8.3 |
| Rice County, MN | Republican | R+6.5 |
| Rock County, MN | Republican | R+24.6 |
| Roseau County, MN | Republican | R+8.4 |
| Scott County, MN | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Sherburne County, MN | Republican | R+3.0 |
| Sibley County, MN | Republican | R+29.8 |
| St. Louis County, MN | Democratic | D+18.9 |
| Stearns County, MN | Democratic | D+0.9 |
| Steele County, MN | Republican | R+30.9 |
| Stevens County, MN | Democratic | D+0.7 |
| Swift County, MN | Democratic | D+17.4 |
| Todd County, MN | Republican | R+11.0 |
| Traverse County, MN | Democratic | D+15.3 |
| Wabasha County, MN | Republican | R+25.4 |
| Wadena County, MN | Republican | R+16.4 |
| Waseca County, MN | Republican | R+29.0 |
| Washington County, MN | Republican | R+8.4 |
| Watonwan County, MN | Republican | R+27.7 |
| Wilkin County, MN | Republican | R+13.5 |
| Winona County, MN | Republican | R+14.6 |
| Wright County, MN | Republican | R+6.7 |
| Yellow Medicine County, MN | Republican | R+3.0 |
Minnesota results by county
87 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aitkin County | Richard Nixon+554 | 3,24153.7% | 2,68744.5% | 1041.7% | 6,032 |
| Anoka County | Richard Nixon+1,515 | 29,54649.8% | 28,03147.2% | 1,7833.0% | 59,360 |
| Becker County | Richard Nixon+1,338 | 6,03355.4% | 4,69543.1% | 1561.4% | 10,884 |
| Beltrami County | Richard Nixon+753 | 5,94752.2% | 5,19445.6% | 2522.2% | 11,393 |
| Benton County | Richard Nixon+370 | 4,65249.4% | 4,28245.4% | 4925.2% | 9,426 |
| Big Stone County | George McGovern+437 | 1,74843.5% | 2,18554.4% | 842.1% | 4,017 |
| Blue Earth County | Richard Nixon+2,064 | 12,70253.7% | 10,63845.0% | 3221.4% | 23,662 |
| Brown County | Richard Nixon+3,444 | 7,79161.2% | 4,34734.2% | 5914.6% | 12,729 |
| Carlton County | George McGovern+1,671 | 5,44542.8% | 7,11655.9% | 1691.3% | 12,730 |
| Carver County | Richard Nixon+3,694 | 8,54661.5% | 4,85234.9% | 5073.6% | 13,905 |
| Cass County | Richard Nixon+1,559 | 4,90657.7% | 3,34739.4% | 2502.9% | 8,503 |
| Chippewa County | Richard Nixon+157 | 3,78750.2% | 3,63048.1% | 1301.7% | 7,547 |
| Chisago County | Richard Nixon+544 | 4,71851.1% | 4,17445.2% | 3493.8% | 9,241 |
| Clay County | Richard Nixon+2,013 | 11,08954.4% | 9,07644.5% | 2351.2% | 20,400 |
| Clearwater County | Richard Nixon+68 | 1,81949.4% | 1,75147.5% | 1133.1% | 3,683 |
| Cook County | Richard Nixon+305 | 1,04757.6% | 74240.8% | 281.5% | 1,817 |
| Cottonwood County | Richard Nixon+1,594 | 4,39660.2% | 2,80238.4% | 1051.4% | 7,303 |
| Crow Wing County | Richard Nixon+1,446 | 8,77453.0% | 7,32844.3% | 4492.7% | 16,551 |
| Dakota County | Richard Nixon+6,488 | 34,96754.0% | 28,47944.0% | 1,3502.1% | 64,796 |
| Dodge County | Richard Nixon+1,942 | 3,86365.1% | 1,92132.4% | 1522.6% | 5,936 |
| Douglas County | Richard Nixon+1,177 | 6,67853.0% | 5,50143.6% | 4273.4% | 12,606 |
| Faribault County | Richard Nixon+2,984 | 6,50364.1% | 3,51934.7% | 1311.3% | 10,153 |
| Fillmore County | Richard Nixon+3,952 | 7,10767.9% | 3,15530.2% | 1981.9% | 10,460 |
| Freeborn County | Richard Nixon+2,584 | 9,74756.9% | 7,16341.8% | 2201.3% | 17,130 |
| Goodhue County | Richard Nixon+4,960 | 11,10763.0% | 6,14734.9% | 3772.1% | 17,631 |
| Grant County | George McGovern+186 | 1,89946.8% | 2,08551.4% | 701.7% | 4,054 |
| Hennepin County | Richard Nixon+23,008 | 228,95151.6% | 205,94346.5% | 8,4641.9% | 443,358 |
| Houston County | Richard Nixon+2,719 | 5,18666.6% | 2,46731.7% | 1371.8% | 7,790 |
| Hubbard County | Richard Nixon+1,158 | 3,29459.3% | 2,13638.5% | 1242.2% | 5,554 |
| Isanti County | Richard Nixon+55 | 3,71548.7% | 3,66047.9% | 2593.4% | 7,634 |
| Itasca County | George McGovern+1,125 | 7,55845.6% | 8,68352.4% | 3422.1% | 16,583 |
| Jackson County | Richard Nixon+295 | 3,59951.5% | 3,30447.3% | 861.2% | 6,989 |
| Kanabec County | Richard Nixon+426 | 2,39551.7% | 1,96942.5% | 2685.8% | 4,632 |
| Kandiyohi County | George McGovern+617 | 6,62445.7% | 7,24150.0% | 6164.3% | 14,481 |
| Kittson County | Richard Nixon+248 | 1,83252.7% | 1,58445.5% | 631.8% | 3,479 |
| Koochiching County | Richard Nixon+285 | 3,68150.9% | 3,39647.0% | 1532.1% | 7,230 |
| Lac qui Parle County | George McGovern+72 | 2,77348.4% | 2,84549.7% | 1081.9% | 5,726 |
| Lake County | George McGovern+1,065 | 2,57540.7% | 3,64057.5% | 1121.8% | 6,327 |
| Lake of the Woods County | Richard Nixon+205 | 87755.4% | 67242.5% | 332.1% | 1,582 |
| Le Sueur County | Richard Nixon+663 | 5,38852.5% | 4,72546.0% | 1491.5% | 10,262 |
| Lincoln County | George McGovern+267 | 1,88145.9% | 2,14852.5% | 661.6% | 4,095 |
| Lyon County | Richard Nixon+206 | 5,82050.0% | 5,61448.3% | 1961.7% | 11,630 |
| Mahnomen County | George McGovern+151 | 1,24646.3% | 1,39751.9% | 481.8% | 2,691 |
| Marshall County | Richard Nixon+474 | 3,26452.7% | 2,79045.1% | 1362.2% | 6,190 |
| Martin County | Richard Nixon+3,753 | 7,56964.6% | 3,81632.6% | 3332.8% | 11,718 |
| McLeod County | Richard Nixon+3,282 | 7,82061.4% | 4,53835.6% | 3752.9% | 12,733 |
| Meeker County | Richard Nixon+1,496 | 5,09757.1% | 3,60140.3% | 2352.6% | 8,933 |
| Mille Lacs County | Richard Nixon+1,070 | 4,29155.8% | 3,22141.9% | 1742.3% | 7,686 |
| Morrison County | George McGovern+279 | 5,71446.3% | 5,99348.6% | 6225.0% | 12,329 |
| Mower County | George McGovern+357 | 9,92948.4% | 10,28650.1% | 3151.5% | 20,530 |
| Murray County | Richard Nixon+66 | 2,95949.9% | 2,89348.8% | 751.3% | 5,927 |
| Nicollet County | Richard Nixon+1,550 | 6,23056.3% | 4,68042.3% | 1591.4% | 11,069 |
| Nobles County | George McGovern+513 | 4,95147.0% | 5,46451.9% | 1101.0% | 10,525 |
| Norman County | Richard Nixon+92 | 2,53650.5% | 2,44448.7% | 410.8% | 5,021 |
| Olmsted County | Richard Nixon+13,989 | 23,80669.0% | 9,81728.4% | 8982.6% | 34,521 |
| Otter Tail County | Richard Nixon+5,638 | 13,51962.2% | 7,88136.3% | 3311.5% | 21,731 |
| Pennington County | Richard Nixon+656 | 3,54853.8% | 2,89243.8% | 1602.4% | 6,600 |
| Pine County | Richard Nixon+87 | 3,88148.4% | 3,79447.3% | 3424.3% | 8,017 |
| Pipestone County | Richard Nixon+785 | 3,54355.6% | 2,75843.3% | 751.2% | 6,376 |
| Polk County | Richard Nixon+773 | 8,13951.2% | 7,36646.4% | 3802.4% | 15,885 |
| Pope County | George McGovern+300 | 2,61045.9% | 2,91051.2% | 1612.8% | 5,681 |
| Ramsey County | George McGovern+12,676 | 95,71645.6% | 108,39251.6% | 5,8432.8% | 209,951 |
| Red Lake County | George McGovern+357 | 1,05241.4% | 1,40955.5% | 803.1% | 2,541 |
| Redwood County | Richard Nixon+2,599 | 5,77662.4% | 3,17734.3% | 2993.2% | 9,252 |
| Renville County | Richard Nixon+830 | 5,32953.1% | 4,49944.8% | 2162.2% | 10,044 |
| Rice County | Richard Nixon+1,130 | 9,19552.6% | 8,06546.2% | 2151.2% | 17,475 |
| Rock County | Richard Nixon+1,381 | 3,47061.8% | 2,08937.2% | 530.9% | 5,612 |
| Roseau County | Richard Nixon+448 | 2,84453.2% | 2,39644.8% | 1041.9% | 5,344 |
| Scott County | Richard Nixon+565 | 7,31050.8% | 6,74546.9% | 3212.2% | 14,376 |
| Sherburne County | Richard Nixon+262 | 4,33250.0% | 4,07047.0% | 2563.0% | 8,658 |
| Sibley County | Richard Nixon+2,110 | 4,54364.2% | 2,43334.4% | 1041.5% | 7,080 |
| St. Louis County | George McGovern+19,668 | 41,43539.8% | 61,10358.7% | 1,6421.6% | 104,180 |
| Stearns County | George McGovern+364 | 18,95145.8% | 19,31546.7% | 3,1347.6% | 41,400 |
| Steele County | Richard Nixon+3,668 | 7,67864.7% | 4,01033.8% | 1801.5% | 11,868 |
| Stevens County | George McGovern+40 | 2,83048.7% | 2,87049.4% | 1111.9% | 5,811 |
| Swift County | George McGovern+1,150 | 2,67340.4% | 3,82357.8% | 1211.8% | 6,617 |
| Todd County | Richard Nixon+1,117 | 5,38753.1% | 4,27042.1% | 4804.7% | 10,137 |
| Traverse County | George McGovern+468 | 1,27641.8% | 1,74457.1% | 351.1% | 3,055 |
| Wabasha County | Richard Nixon+2,141 | 5,15861.3% | 3,01735.9% | 2382.8% | 8,413 |
| Wadena County | Richard Nixon+978 | 3,40857.0% | 2,43040.7% | 1362.3% | 5,974 |
| Waseca County | Richard Nixon+2,297 | 5,06463.9% | 2,76734.9% | 951.2% | 7,926 |
| Washington County | Richard Nixon+3,040 | 19,14253.0% | 16,10244.6% | 8542.4% | 36,098 |
| Watonwan County | Richard Nixon+1,731 | 3,96063.3% | 2,22935.7% | 621.0% | 6,251 |
| Wilkin County | Richard Nixon+553 | 2,29256.0% | 1,73942.5% | 621.5% | 4,093 |
| Winona County | Richard Nixon+2,830 | 10,91056.4% | 8,08041.8% | 3371.7% | 19,327 |
| Wright County | Richard Nixon+1,301 | 9,99651.6% | 8,69544.9% | 6953.6% | 19,386 |
| Yellow Medicine County | Richard Nixon+221 | 3,68350.3% | 3,46247.3% | 1742.4% | 7,319 |
Nominees: George McGovern (D) · Richard Nixon (R)
Minnesota's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1972 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | −8.3% |
| 1896 | −15.7% |
| 1900 | −24.5% |
| 1904 | −55.1% |
| 1908 | −26.2% |
| 1912 | +12.6% |
| 1916 | −0.1% |
| 1920 | −51.2% |
| 1924 | −44.4% |
| 1928 | −16.9% |
| 1932 | +23.6% |
| 1936 | +30.8% |
| 1940 | +3.8% |
| 1944 | +5.5% |
| 1948 | +17.3% |
| 1952 | −11.2% |
| 1956 | −7.6% |
| 1960 | +1.4% |
| 1964 | +27.8% |
| 1968 | +12.5% |
| 1972 | −5.5% |
| 1976 | +12.9% |
| 1980 | +3.9% |
| 1984 | +0.2% |
| 1988 | +7.0% |
| 1992 | +11.6% |
| 1996 | +16.1% |
| 2000 | +2.4% |
| 2004 | +3.5% |
| 2008 | +10.2% |
| 2012 | +7.7% |
| 2016 | +1.5% |
| 2020 | +7.1% |
| 2024 | +4.2% |
Source. Compiled historical county records — 1972 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.