The 1872 United States presidential election in California was held on November 5, 1872, as part of the 1872 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. As was standard at the time, voters chose electors directly rather than simply voting for their party's candidate.
California voted for the Republican incumbent, Ulysses S. Grant, over the Liberal Republican nominee, New York Tribune publisher Horace Greeley.
Results + General Election ResultsA Statement of the votes polled at the General Election held throughout the State on Tuesday November 5th A.D. 1872 for Presidential ElectorsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant C. Spreckles51,181 Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant J. E. Hale51,162 Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant J. O. Goodwin51,157 Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant J. F. Miller51,151 Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant J. B. Felton51,149 Republican Party Ulysses S. Grant T. H. Rose51,140 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley J. C. Shorb39,060 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley Jo Hamilton39,006 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley John Yule38,972 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley F. M. Pixley38,962 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley Peter Donahue38,954 Liberal Republican Party Horace Greeley F. H. Rosenbaum38,931 Straight-Out Democratic Party Charles O'Conor J. Mora Moss920 Straight-Out Democratic Party Charles O'Conor Z. Montgomery915 Straight-Out Democratic Party Charles O'Conor A. J. King905 Straight-Out Democratic Party Charles O'Conor W. J. Graves903 Straight-Out Democratic Party Charles O'Conor John Nugent883Straight-Out Democratic PartyCharles O'ConorM. R. C. Pullen880 Write-in Scattering226Votes cast 91,387
Results by county County Ulysses S. GrantRepublican Horace GreeleyLiberal Republican Charles O'ConorStraight-Out Democratic ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # %Alameda2,56467.21%1,22832.19%230.60%00.00%1,33635.02%3,815Alpine8964.49%3827.54%117.97%00.00%5136.96%138Amador99455.81%76643.01%130.73%80.45%22812.80%1,781Butte1,20456.95%81638.60%904.26%40.19%38818.35%2,114Calaveras90854.18%75144.81%171.01%00.00%1579.37%1,676Colusa49049.54%49950.46%00.00%00.00%−9−0.91%989Contra Costa95867.51%46132.49%00.00%00.00%49735.02%1,419Del Norte16954.87%13945.13%00.00%00.00%309.74%308El Dorado1,30952.30%1,09343.67%1014.04%00.00%2168.63%2,503Fresno11131.90%23768.10%00.00%00.00%−126−36.21%348Humboldt99370.18%40328.48%191.34%00.00%59041.70%1,415Inyo20653.93%17646.07%00.00%00.00%307.85%382Kern17538.04%28561.96%00.00%00.00%−110−23.91%460Klamath8340.49%12259.51%00.00%00.00%−39−19.02%205Lake20236.14%35563.51%20.36%00.00%−153−7.37%559Lassen18266.67%9133.33%00.00%00.00%9133.33%273Los Angeles1,31247.23%1,22944.24%2368.50%10.04%832.99%2,778Marin60066.52%30133.37%10.11%00.00%29933.15%902Mariposa39952.29%36447.71%00.00%00.00%354.59%763Mendocino66245.28%72549.59%694.72%60.41%−63−4.31%1,462Merced26340.90%38059.10%00.00%00.00%−117−18.20%643Mono8863.77%5036.23%00.00%00.00%3827.54%138Monterey1,15453.62%97645.35%221.02%00.00%1788.27%2,152Napa90061.18%55237.53%191.29%00.00%34823.66%1,471Nevada2,03958.51%1,43741.23%90.26%00.00%60217.27%3,485Placer1,41662.24%83836.84%110.48%100.44%57825.41%2,275Plumas51264.65%28035.35%00.00%00.00%23229.29%792Sacramento3,39069.70%1,46930.20%50.10%00.00%1,92139.49%4,864San Bernardino31853.74%18930.05%10216.22%00.00%14923.69%629San Diego51357.45%36040.31%202.24%00.00%15317.13%893San Francisco11,81151.02%11,18548.32%00.00%1540.67%6262.70%23,150San Joaquin1,78457.40%1,31242.21%120.39%00.00%47215.19%3,108San Luis Obispo46155.01%32138.31%566.68%00.00%14016.71%838San Mateo64868.14%30331.86%00.00%00.00%34536.28%951Santa Barbara69258.94%48241.06%00.00%00.00%21017.89%1,174Santa Clara2,21856.96%1,67042.89%60.15%00.00%54814.07%3,894Santa Cruz1,02966.99%47030.60%372.41%00.00%55936.39%1,536Shasta53962.38%28232.64%434.98%00.00%25729.75%864Sierra92571.21%37428.79%00.00%00.00%55142.42%1,299Siskiyou70951.68%66348.32%00.00%00.00%463.35%1,372Solano2,41265.61%1,25734.19%70.19%00.00%1,15531.42%3,676Sonoma1,70350.24%1,60147.23%461.36%401.18%1023.01%3,390Stanislaus46441.06%66658.94%00.00%00.00%−202−17.88%1,130Sutter49562.50%27634.85%192.40%20.25%21927.65%792Tehama40062.60%23536.78%40.63%00.00%16525.82%639Trinity34552.75%30746.94%20.31%00.00%385.81%654Tulare39544.23%49855.77%00.00%00.00%−103−11.53%893Tuolumne81051.20%72645.89%462.91%00.00%845.31%1,582Yolo84153.74%71145.43%120.77%10.06%1308.31%1,565Yuba1,15857.53%85242.32%30.15%00.00%30615.20%2,013Total51,18156.00%39,06042.74%9201.01%2260.25%12,12113.26%91,387
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Amador Del Norte El Dorado Los Angeles Mariposa Monterey San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco Santa Clara Siskiyou Sonoma Tehama Tuolumne Yolo
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Liberal Republican
Colusa Fresno Kern Klamath Lake Mendocino Merced Shasta Stanislaus Tulare
See also United States presidential elections in California
Notes
References