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1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi
County Results Congressional District Results
Nixon
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%
McGovern
50-60%
The 1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent President Nixon won the state of Mississippi with 78.20% of the vote.[ 1] This was the highest percentage Nixon received in any state in the election.[ 2] Nixon even received a higher share of the vote in Mississippi than McGovern did in the District of Columbia , making this one of only two elections where Washington, D.C. wasn't the largest margin for either candidate, along with 1964 .
In Mississippi, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states. McGovern carried only three counties – Claiborne , Holmes , and Jefferson – all of which have overwhelming majority black populations.[ 3] This was also the first time since 1944 that Mississippi backed the national winner in a presidential election.
As of the 2024 presidential election [update] , this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Republican presidential candidate: Quitman , Bolivar , Sharkey , Wilkinson , Humphreys , Coahoma , Noxubee , and Tunica . Marshall County wouldn't vote Republican again until 2024.[ 4] The proportion of white voters supporting McGovern was utterly negligible and estimated at maximally three percent.[ 5] Calculated estimates indicate that 100% of white voters supported Nixon while 0% supported McGovern.
Results
Results by individual elector
General election results[ 8] [ 1]
Party
Pledged to
Elector
Votes
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
B. B. McClendon, Jr.
505,125
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
H. F. McCarty, Jr.
500,702
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
Clyde Q. Sheely
500,493
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
Paul V. Lacoste
500,378
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
J. B. Bright
499,990
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
William Neville, Jr.
499,194
Republican Party
Richard Nixon
Joe A. Moore
497,430
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Frank A. Riley
126,782
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Robert S. Reeves
126,116
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Bobby Garraway
124,922
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Mathew Page
124,871
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Daniel Harvey
124,037
Democratic Party
George McGovern
Obie Clark
123,664
Democratic Party
George McGovern
William Bruce Guy
123,080
Independent
John G. Schmitz
William Hollis Burrow
11,598
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Homer Brown Wells
11,030
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Robert L. Baker
10,993
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Robert W. Schaffer
10,925
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Mrs. Robert W. Saul
10,888
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Curtis W. Caine
10,789
Independent
John G. Schmitz
Andrew Cvitanovich
10,569
Independent
Linda Jenness
John Earl Brown
2,458
Independent
Linda Jenness
Robert Donnell
1,478
Independent
Linda Jenness
Shirley M. Roberts
1,415
Independent
Linda Jenness
Delores Buford
1,386
Independent
Linda Jenness
James Westley Miggins
1,359
Independent
Linda Jenness
Darius Singleton
1,313
Total votes
645,963
Results by county
County[ 9]
Richard Nixon Republican
George McGovern Democratic
John G. Schmitz Independent
Linda Jenness Independent
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Adams
8,500
67.16%
3,697
29.21%
255
2.01%
205
1.62%
4,803
37.95%
12,657
Alcorn
5,732
83.28%
982
14.27%
134
1.95%
35
0.51%
4,750
69.01%
6,883
Amite
2,846
68.94%
1,185
28.71%
93
2.25%
4
0.10%
1,661
40.23%
4,128
Attala
4,738
79.50%
1,103
18.51%
116
1.95%
3
0.05%
3,635
60.99%
5,960
Benton
1,483
66.35%
701
31.36%
51
2.28%
0
0.00%
782
34.99%
2,235
Bolivar
7,397
66.12%
3,616
32.32%
155
1.39%
19
0.17%
3,781
33.80%
11,187
Calhoun
3,023
90.37%
245
7.32%
75
2.24%
2
0.06%
2,778
83.05%
3,345
Carroll
1,777
73.31%
580
23.93%
66
2.72%
1
0.04%
1,197
49.38%
2,424
Chickasaw
3,753
84.66%
579
13.06%
62
1.40%
39
0.88%
3,174
71.60%
4,433
Choctaw
2,301
86.57%
326
12.26%
29
1.09%
2
0.08%
1,975
74.31%
2,658
Claiborne
1,521
41.76%
2,076
57.00%
31
0.85%
14
0.38%
-555
-15.24%
3,642
Clarke
4,561
81.56%
954
17.06%
74
1.32%
3
0.05%
3,607
64.50%
5,592
Clay
4,035
71.39%
1,410
24.95%
116
2.05%
91
1.61%
2,625
46.44%
5,652
Coahoma
6,602
61.56%
3,708
34.57%
333
3.10%
82
0.76%
2,894
26.99%
10,725
Copiah
5,498
73.11%
1,803
23.98%
125
1.66%
94
1.25%
3,695
49.13%
7,520
Covington
3,842
84.09%
642
14.05%
77
1.69%
8
0.18%
3,200
70.04%
4,569
DeSoto
7,917
80.88%
1,557
15.91%
314
3.21%
1
0.01%
6,360
64.97%
9,789
Forrest
14,418
80.56%
2,933
16.39%
531
2.96%
16
0.09%
11,485
64.17%
17,898
Franklin
2,361
78.73%
561
18.71%
63
2.10%
14
0.47%
1,800
60.02%
2,999
George
3,979
92.90%
270
6.30%
33
0.77%
1
0.02%
3,709
86.60%
4,283
Greene
2,884
83.52%
513
14.86%
43
1.25%
13
0.38%
2,371
68.66%
3,453
Grenada
4,800
75.09%
1,471
23.01%
107
1.67%
14
0.22%
3,329
52.08%
6,392
Hancock
5,133
86.28%
745
12.52%
64
1.08%
7
0.12%
4,388
73.76%
5,949
Harrison
28,962
84.02%
4,761
13.81%
534
1.55%
213
0.62%
24,201
70.21%
34,470
Hinds
49,877
77.82%
12,679
19.78%
1,126
1.76%
414
0.65%
37,198
58.04%
64,096
Holmes
3,158
47.23%
3,459
51.73%
57
0.85%
12
0.18%
-301
-4.50%
6,686
Humphreys
2,334
69.01%
892
26.37%
86
2.54%
70
2.07%
1,442
42.64%
3,382
Issaquena
701
60.80%
395
34.26%
34
2.95%
23
1.99%
306
26.54%
1,153
Itawamba
4,419
89.20%
509
10.27%
24
0.48%
2
0.04%
3,910
78.93%
4,954
Jackson
22,204
88.68%
2,534
10.12%
282
1.13%
18
0.07%
19,670
78.56%
25,038
Jasper
3,597
78.47%
935
20.40%
50
1.09%
2
0.04%
2,662
58.07%
4,584
Jefferson
1,131
43.37%
1,457
55.87%
16
0.61%
4
0.15%
-326
-12.50%
2,608
Jefferson Davis
2,830
72.83%
1,005
25.86%
43
1.11%
8
0.21%
1,825
46.97%
3,886
Jones
16,489
83.79%
2,790
14.18%
320
1.63%
80
0.41%
13,699
69.61%
19,679
Kemper
2,748
75.25%
837
22.92%
65
1.78%
2
0.05%
1,911
52.33%
3,652
Lafayette
5,391
76.89%
1,545
22.04%
67
0.96%
8
0.11%
3,846
54.85%
7,011
Lamar
5,022
88.38%
493
8.68%
161
2.83%
6
0.11%
4,529
79.70%
5,682
Lauderdale
18,337
81.79%
3,453
15.40%
613
2.73%
17
0.08%
14,884
66.39%
22,420
Lawrence
3,394
81.70%
709
17.07%
50
1.20%
1
0.02%
2,685
64.63%
4,154
Leake
4,217
79.13%
1,053
19.76%
56
1.05%
3
0.06%
3,164
59.37%
5,329
Lee
10,730
82.60%
1,632
12.56%
520
4.00%
109
0.84%
9,098
70.04%
12,991
Leflore
6,779
75.58%
2,038
22.72%
148
1.65%
4
0.04%
4,741
52.86%
8,969
Lincoln
7,593
86.01%
1,070
12.12%
161
1.82%
4
0.05%
6,523
73.89%
8,828
Lowndes
10,098
78.70%
2,398
18.69%
326
2.54%
9
0.07%
7,700
60.01%
12,831
Madison
5,047
57.20%
3,464
39.26%
239
2.71%
74
0.84%
1,583
17.94%
8,824
Marion
6,805
79.40%
1,693
19.75%
65
0.76%
7
0.08%
5,112
59.65%
8,570
Marshall
3,326
62.10%
1,875
35.01%
115
2.15%
40
0.75%
1,451
27.09%
5,356
Monroe
7,273
84.10%
1,279
14.79%
84
0.97%
12
0.14%
5,994
69.31%
8,648
Montgomery
3,210
76.32%
925
21.99%
67
1.59%
4
0.10%
2,285
54.33%
4,206
Neshoba
6,815
88.22%
812
10.51%
93
1.20%
5
0.06%
6,003
77.71%
7,725
Newton
5,585
88.05%
597
9.41%
157
2.48%
4
0.06%
4,988
78.64%
6,343
Noxubee
2,239
66.28%
1,052
31.14%
83
2.46%
4
0.12%
1,187
35.14%
3,378
Oktibbeha
6,160
75.56%
1,880
23.06%
100
1.23%
13
0.16%
4,280
52.50%
8,153
Panola
5,284
70.61%
2,091
27.94%
105
1.40%
3
0.04%
3,193
42.67%
7,483
Pearl River
7,487
88.04%
901
10.60%
111
1.31%
5
0.06%
6,586
77.44%
8,504
Perry
2,689
84.14%
446
13.95%
60
1.88%
1
0.03%
2,243
70.19%
3,196
Pike
6,542
72.08%
2,332
25.69%
188
2.07%
14
0.15%
4,210
46.39%
9,076
Pontotoc
4,476
89.45%
488
9.75%
40
0.80%
0
0.00%
3,988
79.70%
5,004
Prentiss
4,607
91.12%
398
7.87%
51
1.01%
0
0.00%
4,209
83.25%
5,056
Quitman
2,524
74.41%
790
23.29%
59
1.74%
19
0.56%
1,734
51.12%
3,392
Rankin
12,187
85.19%
1,913
13.37%
197
1.38%
8
0.06%
10,274
71.82%
14,305
Scott
5,244
79.95%
1,213
18.49%
91
1.39%
11
0.17%
4,031
61.46%
6,559
Sharkey
1,426
67.94%
655
31.21%
15
0.71%
3
0.14%
771
36.73%
2,099
Simpson
5,669
85.87%
871
13.19%
51
0.77%
11
0.17%
4,798
72.68%
6,602
Smith
4,419
92.35%
329
6.88%
36
0.75%
1
0.02%
4,090
85.47%
4,785
Stone
2,467
88.49%
293
10.51%
27
0.97%
1
0.04%
2,174
77.98%
2,788
Sunflower
5,389
73.27%
1,874
25.48%
77
1.05%
15
0.20%
3,515
47.79%
7,355
Tallahatchie
3,442
77.37%
835
18.77%
157
3.53%
15
0.34%
2,607
58.60%
4,449
Tate
3,966
75.74%
1,151
21.98%
104
1.85%
15
0.27%
2,815
53.76%
5,236
Tippah
3,937
85.87%
569
12.41%
76
1.66%
3
0.07%
3,368
73.46%
4,585
Tishomingo
4,177
89.23%
443
9.46%
52
1.11%
9
0.19%
3,734
79.77%
4,681
Tunica
1,446
62.19%
858
36.90%
18
0.77%
3
0.13%
588
25.29%
2,325
Union
5,477
87.91%
658
10.56%
90
1.44%
5
0.08%
4,819
77.35%
6,230
Walthall
3,110
79.66%
747
19.13%
41
1.05%
6
0.15%
2,363
60.53%
3,904
Warren
10,420
71.97%
3,480
24.04%
452
3.12%
126
0.87%
6,940
47.93%
14,478
Washington
9,634
63.78%
4,623
30.61%
535
3.54%
312
2.07%
5,011
33.17%
15,104
Wayne
4,648
82.08%
975
17.22%
35
0.62%
5
0.09%
3,673
64.86%
5,663
Webster
3,624
89.15%
403
9.91%
38
0.93%
0
0.00%
3,221
79.24%
4,065
Wilkinson
1,608
52.65%
1,409
46.14%
32
1.05%
5
0.16%
199
6.51%
3,054
Winston
5,155
78.64%
1,354
20.66%
39
0.59%
7
0.11%
3,801
57.98%
6,555
Yalobusha
2,944
77.53%
797
20.99%
48
1.26%
8
0.21%
2,147
56.54%
3,797
Yazoo
5,555
72.58%
2,008
26.23%
84
1.10%
7
0.09%
3,547
46.35%
7,654
Totals
505,125
78.20%
126,782
19.63%
11,598
1.80%
2,458
0.38%
378,343
58.57%
645,963
Counties that flipped from American Independent to Republican
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
[ 10] [ 11]
Notes
References
Works cited