The 1972 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 7, 1972 as part of the 1972 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Washington voted for the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, over the Democratic challenger, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Nixon took 56.92% of the vote to McGovern's 38.64%, a margin of 18.28%, which still made the state 4.87% more Democratic than the nation at-large.