The United States presidential election of 2072 was the 72nd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2072. The Republican Party's nomination was eventually won by Governor Lewis K. Smith of Kansas, who ran on a policy of fiscal and foreign conservatism against incumbent President and Democratic candidate Edward B. Nicholson. Smith, however, was handicapped by his poor governing record in Kansas, his low favorability ratings, limited support from his own party, the perception of many voters that he was a right-wing extremist, and the sexual scandal involving his vice-presidential running mate, Senator Jackie Levinston of Indiana.
Capitalizing upon a strong economy and foreign policy successes in both Korea and the Congo, Nicholson easily won reelection to the Presidency. He won 61.1% of the popular vote, tied with Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 total as the highest percentage of the popular vote won by a presidential candidate since 1820, and the largest percentage won since Johnson. It marked the first time since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection in 1984 that a candidate from either party won by a double-digit margin in the popular vote. He received nearly thirty-four million more popular votes then Smith, the widest margin of any presidential election in U.S. history. Nicholson carried 41 states and the District of Columbia, capturing 486 electoral votes. Smith won the remaining nine states and Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, earning 52 electoral votes. This election marked the first time since 1988 that a candidate from either party won with more then 400 electoral votes, and the first time since 1984 that a candidate captured at least 90% of the Electoral College.
This election set a number of electoral milestones for the United States. Nicholson became the first Democrat to carry Nebraska and South Dakota since LBJ in 1964; only the second ever (after Johnson) to carry Alaska; the first to carry Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky since Bill Clinton in 1996; and only the second Democrat of the century to carry Montana and North Dakota. Nicholson also became the first Democrat since LBJ to carry both non college-educated and college-educated whites, to sweep all age demographics and income groups, and to win a majority of Protestant votes. He was also the first Democrat, since Jimmy Carter in 1976, to win the majority of the nation's counties, and the first since Clinton in 1996 to win at least one county in every state. Since 2072, no candidate has equaled or surpassed Nicholson's percentage of the popular vote, or his performance in the Electoral College.
General election[]
Results[]
Election results by county. Blue-Counties won by E.B. Nicholson. Red-Counties won by L.K. Smith.
The election was held on November 8, 2072. Nicholson beat Smith in the general election, winning over 61% of the popular vote, the highest percentage won since Lyndon B. Johnson's triumph over Barry Goldwater in 1964. He carried 41 states, the District of Columbia, and three of four congressional districts, capturing 486 electoral votes. This was the most for a candidate of either party during the twenty-first century, and the highest total earned since 1984. In the end, Smith won only his home state of Kansas, eight other Republican states in the South and West-Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, earning 52 electoral votes. This was the lowest total won by a major-party candidate since Walter Mondale in 1984, and the worst Republican performance in the Electoral College since that of Goldwater in 1964. Moreover, his performance in the popular vote (38.47%) was the worst since Goldwater's, and the worst performance for any major-party candidate during the twenty-first century.

2072, Election Results by Congressional District.
Smith continued to remain strongest in the Mountain West and in the South, long the main regions of competition for the Republicans. Nevertheless, Nicholson won a majority of the popular vote in the South. Conversely, Nicholson became only the second Democrat in history to carry Alaska (following Johnson in 1964), and the first to carry Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, and South Dakota in the twenty-first century. He was also only the second Democrat in the century to carry Montana and North Dakota, following Steven Baucus in 2044.

2072, Election Results by State with Popular Vote Percentages.
Of the 3,144 counties, independent municipalities, and parishes in the United States making returns, Nicholson won in 2,170 (69.02%) while Smith carried 974 (30.97%).
The Nicholson landslide defeated many conservative Republican congressmen, giving him a majority that could overcome the conservative coalition.
United States presidential election, 2072 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
Democratic | Edward Brigham Nicholson | 93,697,460 | 61.05% | 486 | |
Republican | Lewis Kyle Smith | 59,042,445 | 38.47% | 52 |
Close States[]
Blue denotes states (or congressional districts that contribute an electoral vote) won by Democratic President E.B. Nicholson; red denotes those won by Republican Lewis K. Smith.
Margin of victory under 1% (6 electoral votes)
- Kansas, 0.99%
Margin of victory under 5% (34 electoral votes)
- Kentucky, 1.83%
- Tennessee, 2.30%
- North Carolina, 4.73%
Margin of victory over 5%, but less then 10% (62 electoral votes)
- Nebraska, 5.21%
- Missouri, 7.36%
- South Carolina, 7.72%
- Mississippi, 7.92%
- West Virginia, 8.25%
- Georgia, 9.03%
- Arizona, 9.73%
Results by State[]
State | Edward Brigham Nicholson (Democratic) | Lewis Kyle Smith (Republican) |
---|---|---|
Alabama | 34.36% | 62.08% |
Alaska | 65.91% | 34.09% |
Arizona | 54.86% | 45.14% |
Arkansas | 56.06% | 43.21% |
California | 63.32% | 36.49% |
Colorado | 61.27% | 38.19% |
Connecticut | 67.81% | 32.09% |
Delaware | 60.95% | 38.78% |
District of Columbia | 90.86% | 4.09% |
Florida | 56.15% | 43.85% |
Georgia | 54.09% | 45.06% |
Hawaii | 80.87% | 19.13% |
Idaho | 51.31% | 43.24% |
Illinois | 67.94% | 32.06% |
Indiana | 55.98% | 43.56% |
Iowa | 61.88% | 37.92% |
Kansas | 49.45% | 50.45% |
Kentucky | 50.92% | 49.08% |
Louisiana | 56.56% | 43.44% |
Maine | 68.80% | 31.14% |
Maryland | 70.60% | 27.17% |
Massachusetts | 76.19% | 23.44% |
Michigan | 66.70% | 33.30% |
Minnesota | 63.76% | 36.00% |
Mississippi | 52.36% | 44.44% |
Missouri | 53.54% | 46.18% |
Montana | 58.95% | 40.57% |
Nebraska | 52.61% | 47.39% |
Nevada | 65.47% | 34.53% |
New Hampshire | 63.89% | 36.11% |
New Jersey | 65.61% | 33.86% |
New Mexico | 61.53% | 31.74% |
New York | 72.55% | 24.67% |
North Carolina | 53.16% | 48.43% |
North Dakota | 57.97% | 41.88% |
Ohio | 62.94% | 37.06% |
Oklahoma | 38.45% | 58.09% |
Oregon | 63.72% | 35.96% |
Pennsylvania | 64.92% | 34.70% |
Rhode Island | 78.76% | 21.24% |
South Carolina | 53.67% | 45.95% |
South Dakota | 55.61% | 44.39% |
Tennessee | 48.85% | 51.15% |
Texas | 64.05% | 35.95% |
Utah | 33.45% | 62.96% |
Vermont | 74.50% | 24.68% |
Virginia | 54.94% | 40.67% |
Washington | 61.97% | 37.37% |
West Virginia | 45.87% | 54.12% |
Wisconsin | 62.09% | 37.74% |
Wyoming | 35.47% | 62.52% |
Total | 61.05% (41 states + D.C., 486) | 38.47% (9 states + N.E. 03, 52) |
Results by Demographic Group[]
Group (%) | Edward Brigham Nicholson (Democratic) | Lewis Kyle Smith (Republican) |
---|---|---|
Women | 62 | 38 |
Men | 60 | 40 |
White | 52 | 48 |
Black | 95 | 5 |
Hispanic | 72 | 28 |
Asian | 73 | 27 |
Other | 60 | 40 |
College | 63 | 37 |
High school or lower | 59 | 41 |
Prof & Business | 60 | 40 |
White collar | 56 | 44 |
Manual | 61 | 39 |
18-30 | 66 | 34 |
30-49 | 62 | 38 |
50 and older | 59 | 41 |
Protestants | 55 | 45 |
Catholics | 70 | 30 |
Jews | 74 | 26 |
Agnostic/Atheistic | 78 | 22 |
Other | 60 | 40 |
Republicans | 26 | 73 |
Democrats | 98 | 2 |
Independents | 62 | 38 |
East | 69 | 31 |
Midwest | 64 | 36 |
South | 51 | 48 |
West | 60 | 40 |
Urban | 66 | 34 |
Suburban | 62 | 38 |
Rural | 53 | 47 |
Total | 61.05% | 38.47% |
Electoral records[]
- This election was the first since 1988 in which a presidential candidate won with more then 400 electoral votes. Nicholson's 486 electoral votes were the most earned by any candidate since Ronald Reagan had captured 525 against Walter Mondale in 1984. This was also the first election since 1984 in which a candidate captured more then 90% of the Electoral College.
- Nicholson became the first Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1964, to win the majority of the non-college educated white vote, capturing slightly over 50%. He also won the highest percentage of the college-educated white vote ever for a Democrat: 61.30%. This election marked only the second time since 1964 that a Democrat carried the overall white vote.
- Smith won the majority of the white vote in all of the states he carried, as well as in Georgia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. He also tied Nicholson among white voters in South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia. Nicholson won the white vote in the remaining 35 states.
- Nicholson won 81% of the non-white vote, capturing 95% of African-Americans, 72% of Hispanics, and 73% of Asians. African-American voters proved critical in Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Missouri, while Hispanic voters bolstered the President's margins in Arizona, Nevada, Florida, and Texas.
- Nicholson's 61.05% tied with Lyndon Johnson (1964), as the highest popular-vote percentage won in American history, and as the fifth-largest popular-vote margin between candidates. He achieved this percentage by earning the almost unanimous support of Democrats, capturing a quarter of Republicans, and winning a commanding majority (62%) among independents.
- This election marked the first time since 1964 that a Democrat won the states of Nebraska and South Dakota. Smith, however, carried Nebraska's 3rd congressional district, one of the most Republican in the country.
- South Carolina voted Democratic for the third time in the twenty-first century, following 2040 and 2044.
- This election was the first since 2044 in which the states of North Dakota and Montana voted Democratic.
- This election marked the first time since 1976 in which a Democrat won the majority of the nation's counties.
- Nicholson won the majority of counties in 37 states. Smith won the majority in 12 (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, West Virginia). Of these states, Nicholson won Nebraska (thanks to his commanding performance in the 2nd congressional district and his victory in the 1st), Georgia (due to sweeping the Atlanta metropolitan area/suburbs, the Black Belt, and Savannah), North Carolina (the Research Triangle and Northeastern Carolina), and Florida (sweep of all major metropolitan and suburban counties, such as Broward, Palm Beach, Miami Dade, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Monroe, Duval, Volusia, Brevard, Polk, Ft. St. Lucie, Leon, Alachua, Gadsden, Manatee, Seminole, Marion).
- Nicholson and Smith were exactly tied in Kentucky, winning 60 counties each. Nicholson edged out thanks to dominating margins in Louisville and Lexington. Notably, Elliott County voted Democratic for the first time in 56 years, since Donald Trump's victory in 2016.
- Nicholson became the first Democrat since Al Gore in 2000 to win any counties in Oklahoma, carrying much of the Old Dixie Region; the state, however, remained Republican.
- In West Virginia, he became the first Democrat since Barack Obama in 2008 to win any counties, though Smith also carried that state.
- Nicholson won every county in eleven states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Alaska, and Hawaii. This was the first time since 1924 that a single candidate won every county in New England. In all of the Northeast, Smith won only six counties: two in Maryland (Dorchester and Garnett) and four in Pennsylvania (Union, Snyder, Lebanon, and Wayne). This was the first time since 1964 that one candidate won all of the counties in New York, and only the second time in the century (following 2008), that all New Hampshire counties voted for one party.
- Nicholson won all but two counties in Oregon and Maryland.
- Nicholson won all but three counties in Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Washington.
- Nicholson won all but four counties in Illinois, and all but five in Ohio. In Illinois, Nicholson became the first Democrat ever to win Ogle County, and the first to win Lee County since 1852.
- Of the country's major cities (over 500,000 people), Smith prevailed only in Oklahoma City, Greenville, and Boise; all others voted for Nicholson.
- Nicholson had a dominating performance in his home state of Texas, capturing 64.05% of the popular vote, sweeping all 36 congressional districts, and winning 238 of the state's 254 counties. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Houston, along with the smaller cities such as Lubbock, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and Galveston, all gave the native son wide margins over his Republican challenger.
- By contrast, Smith barely held on in his home state of Kansas, edging out by 0.99%, thanks to Sedgwick, Johnson, and Leavenworth Counties. Nicholson won Riley, Geary, Atchinson, and Shawnee Counties, in addition to running high totals in the Democratic stronghold of Wyandotte County.
- Nicholson's best state was Hawaii, where he got 80.80% of the vote. His worst state was Utah, where he got 33.45%.
- Smith's best state was Utah where he got 62.96% of the vote. His worst state was Hawaii, where he got 19.13%.