Holshouser:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Robert W. Scott Democratic James Holshouser Republican The 1972 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1972.

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.

[1] 22.8% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary.

[2] 4.9% of the voting age population participated in the Republican primary.