10 0 51.6% 46.1% | 898,269 802,346 Start date November 7, 1972 | |
 | ||
The 1972 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 7, 1972 in Minnesota as part of the 1972 United States presidential election.
The Republican Party candidate, incumbent President Richard Nixon, won the state over U.S. Senator George McGovern of South Dakota by a margin of 95,923 votes, or 5.07%. Nixon went on to win the election nationally, by a landslide margin of 23.15% of the popular vote. McGovern carried only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
The 1972 election was the last time Minnesota—historically a state which favored Republicans—was carried by a Republican. During Nixon's second term as President, the Watergate scandal resulted in the loss of the Republican Party's credibility both nationally and in Minnesota. The damage caused by Watergate was so pronounced that the Republican Party of Minnesota was forced to rebrand itself as the "Independent-Republican Party" from 1975 to 1995, in order to distance itself from the national Republican Party. As of 2016, this is the last time Minnesota has voted for a Republican nominee for President of the United States.