Utah overwhelmingly voted for incumbent President Richard Nixon (R-California) with over 67% of the popular vote, beating Democratic South Dakota Senator George McGovern with a margin of over 40%, carrying every county in the state. Nixon carried every county with over 60% of the vote except for Carbon County, which had typically been the most Democratic area of the state. U.S. Representative John G. Schmitz (R-California) of the American Independent Party received nearly 6% of the popular vote.