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, his most overwhelming dominance in any of the fifty states, carrying the Magnolia State's seven electoral votes. Nixon defeated McGovern by a whopping margin of 58.57%, a margin never equalled in any state since and exceeded by any Republican nominee in the party's history only five times. This also marked the first time since 1944 that the state was on the winning side of the presidential election.