United States gubernatorial elections were held on 7 November 1972 in 18 states and two territories, concurrent with the House, Senate elections and presidential election.
Gubernatorial elections were also held in Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas. In these states, they were the last elections on a two-year cycle, before switching to a four-year term for governors (see 1970 United States gubernatorial elections for more information).
Closest races
States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
- Illinois, 1.66%
- North Dakota, 2.08%
- New Hampshire, 2.36%
- North Carolina, 2.55%
- Texas, 2.92%
- Delaware, 3.36%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
- Rhode Island, 5.48%
- Washington, 7.96%
- Montana, 8.24%
- West Virginia, 9.48%
Arkansas
The 1972 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democratic Governor Dale Bumpers defeated Republican nominee Len E. Blaylock with 75.44% of the vote, despite Democratic nominee George McGovern losing the state in a landslide in the concurrent presidential election.
Delaware
The 1972 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Democratic nominee Sherman W. Tribbitt defeated incumbent Republican Governor Russell W. Peterson with 51.27% of the vote.
Illinois
The 1972 Illinois gubernatorial election was held in Illinois on November 7, 1972. Incumbent first-term Republican governor Richard B. Ogilvie lost reelection in an upset to the Democratic nominee, Dan Walker.
This was the first election in which each party's nominee for lieutenant governor of Illinois ran on a ticket with the gubernatorial nominee for the general election. Previously, there had been two separate elections for the two offices. This would be the last election of the 20th century in which a Democrat won the governorship of Illinois, with all seven remaining elections of that century being won by Republican nominees.
Indiana
The 1972 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Although during the same election cycle Indiana voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the governor to serve in office for eight out of 12 years, incumbent Republican Governor Edgar Whitcomb was term-limited due to having been elected under the prior version of the constitution.
Republican nominee, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives Otis Bowen, defeated Democratic nominee, former Governor (1961–1965) Matthew E. Welsh, with 56.77% of the vote.
Iowa
The 1972 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Robert D. Ray defeated Democratic nominee Paul Franzenburg with 58.43% of the vote.
Kansas
The 1972 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democrat Robert Docking defeated Republican nominee Morris Kay with 62.0% of the vote.
Missouri
The 1972 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972 in the U.S state of Missouri and resulted in a victory for the Republican nominee for the first time since 1940 incumbent State Auditor of Missouri Kit Bond, over the Democratic nominee, Edward L. Dowd, and nonpartisan Paul J. Leonard. Joseph P. Teasdale was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, before winning the nomination in the 1976 election, as was lieutenant governor William S. Morris, while Gene McNary was a candidate for the Republican nomination.
Montana
The 1972 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Governor of Montana Forrest H. Anderson, who was first elected in 1968, declined to seek re-election. Thomas Lee Judge, the lieutenant governor of Montana, won a competitive Democratic primary, and moved on to the general election, where he faced Ed Smith, a rancher and the Republican nominee. Although President Richard Nixon won the state in a landslide in that year's presidential election, Judge managed to handily defeat Smith, winning his first of two terms as governor.
New Hampshire
The 1972 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Governor Walter R. Peterson Jr. was defeated for renomination in the Republican primary.
Republican nominee Meldrim Thomson Jr. defeated Democratic nominee Roger J. Crowley with 41.38% of the vote.
North Carolina
The 1972 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Republican nominee James Holshouser defeated Democratic nominee Skipper Bowles with 51% of the vote. Holshouser thus became the first Republican elected governor of the state since 1896.
This election was also the first time in a century (since the 1872 election) that a Republican candidate won an outright majority of the vote.
North Dakota
The 1972 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. The election pitted Democratic Congressman Arthur A. Link against Republican Lieutenant Governor Richard F. Larsen. Link narrowly defeated Larsen by a margin of 51% to 49%.
Rhode Island
The 1972 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Democratic nominee Philip Noel defeated Republican nominee Herbert F. DeSimone with 52.55% of the vote.
South Dakota
The 1972 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972, to elect a governor of South Dakota. It was the last election in South Dakota to elect the governor for a two-year term after a 1972 state constitutional amendment established a four-year term. Democratic nominee Richard F. Kneip was re-elected, defeating Republican nominee Carveth Thompson despite incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon winning the state with 62% of the vote on the same ballot.
Texas
The 1972 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Preston Smith ran for reelection, but lost renomination to businessman Dolph Briscoe. Smith was overwhelmingly rejected in the Democratic primary, taking fourth place with only 8% of the vote amid the fallout from the Sharpstown scandal. Briscoe went on to win the general election by a relatively small margin, winning 48% of the vote to Republican Henry Grover's 45%. Raza Unida candidate Ramsey Muniz won 6%.
Utah
The 1972 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Democratic incumbent Cal Rampton defeated Republican nominee Nicholas L. Strike with 69.69% of the vote. Rampton's victory was despite incumbent Republican president Richard Nixon winning the state with over 67% of the vote in the concurrent presidential election. The election made Rampton the first governor to serve three terms.
Vermont
The 1972 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1972. The incumbent Republican Governor Deane C. Davis was not a candidate for re-election to another term as governor of Vermont. The Democratic nominee, Thomas P. Salmon, defeated the Republican nominee, Luther F. Hackett, to become his successor. Future U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ran as a member of the Liberty Union Party.
Washington
The 1972 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Governor of Washington Daniel J. Evans, who was first elected eight years earlier, and then re-elected in 1968, was eligible for re-election, as Washington does not have gubernatorial term limits.
On election day, Evans defeated former governor Albert D. Rosellini by a comfortable margin of 51% to 43% in a rematch of the 1964 contest.
West Virginia
The 1972 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1972, to elect the governor of West Virginia. Incumbent Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr. successfully ran for reelection to a second term. This was the first time a governor was reelected to a second four-year term in state history, and the first time a governor had been reelected since 1872.