November 5, 1988

George H.W. Bush Wins 1988

George H.W. Bush defeats Michael Dukakis with 438 electoral votes, winning 40 states.

Michael Dukakis

100 EV

270 to win

George H.W. Bush

438 EV

100

438

270

George H.W. Bush wins

438

Electoral Votes

53.4%

Popular Vote

States Carried

91,588,227

Total Votes Cast

George H.W. Bush won the 1988 presidential election with 438 electoral votes to Michael Dukakis's 100. George H.W. Bush received 53.4% of the popular vote and carried 40 states. Compared to the previous election, 100 counties changed parties—0 flipped Republican and 100 flipped Democratic.

Senate results →House results →Swing analysis →

State Results

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Recent Presidential Elections

Year	Democrat	Republican	Electoral	Popular	Winner
1988	Michael Dukakis	George H.W. Bush	100-438	R+7.7%	GOP
1984	Walter Mondale	Ronald Reagan	13-525	R+18.2%	GOP
1980	Jimmy Carter	Ronald Reagan	51-487	R+9.7%	GOP
1976	Democratic	Republican	292-246	D+2.1%	DEM
1972	Democratic	Republican	14-524	R+23.2%	GOP

State-by-State Results

11 Dem40 Rep

Battleground States (Margin < 5%)

State	EV	1988	1984	1980	1976	1972
District of Columbia	3	D+68.3	D+71.7	D+61.5	D+65.1	D+56.5
Rhode Island	4	D+11.7	R+3.6	D+10.5	D+11.3	R+6.2
Iowa	6	D+10.2	R+7.4	R+12.7	R+1.0	R+17.1
Hawaii	4	D+9.5	R+11.3	D+1.9	D+2.5	R+25.0
Massachusetts	11	D+7.8	R+2.8	R+0.1	D+15.7	D+9.0
Minnesota	10	D+7.0	D+0.2	D+3.9	D+12.9	R+5.5
West Virginia	4	D+4.7	R+10.5	D+4.5	D+16.1	R+27.2
Oregon	8	D+4.7	R+12.2	R+9.7	R+0.2	R+10.1
New York	28	D+4.1	R+8.0	R+2.7	D+4.4	R+17.3
Wisconsin	10	D+3.6	R+9.2	R+4.7	D+1.7	R+9.7
Washington	12	D+1.6	R+13.0	R+12.3	R+3.9	R+18.3
Illinois	19	R+2.1	R+12.9	R+7.9	R+2.0	R+18.5
Pennsylvania	19	R+2.3	R+7.3	R+7.1	D+2.7	R+20.0
Maryland	10	R+2.9	R+5.5	D+3.0	D+6.1	R+23.9
Vermont	3	R+3.5	R+17.1	R+6.0	R+11.2	R+26.2
California	54	R+3.6	R+16.3	R+16.8	R+1.8	R+13.5
Missouri	10	R+4.0	R+20.1	R+6.8	D+3.6	R+24.7
New Mexico	5	R+5.0	R+20.5	R+18.2	R+2.5	R+24.5
Connecticut	7	R+5.1	R+21.9	R+9.6	R+5.2	R+18.4
Montana	4	R+5.9	R+22.3	R+24.4	R+7.4	R+20.1
South Dakota	3	R+6.3	R+26.5	R+28.8	R+1.5	R+8.6
Colorado	10	R+7.8	R+28.3	R+24.0	R+11.5	R+28.0
Michigan	15	R+7.9	R+19.0	R+6.5	R+5.4	R+14.4
Louisiana	8	R+10.2	R+22.6	R+5.5	D+5.8	R+37.0
Ohio	17	R+10.8	R+18.8	R+10.6	D+0.3	R+21.6
Maine	4	R+11.4	R+22.1	R+3.4	R+0.8	R+23.0
Kentucky	8	R+11.6	R+20.7	R+1.5	D+7.2	R+28.6
Delaware	3	R+12.4	R+19.9	R+2.3	D+5.4	R+20.4
Texas	40	R+12.6	R+27.5	R+13.9	D+3.2	R+33.0
North Dakota	3	R+13.1	R+31.0	R+38.0	R+5.8	R+26.3
Kansas	6	R+13.2	R+33.7	R+24.6	R+7.5	R+38.1
New Jersey	14	R+13.6	R+20.9	R+13.4	R+2.2	R+24.8
Arkansas	6	R+14.2	R+22.2	R+0.6	D+30.0	R+38.1
North Carolina	16	R+16.3	R+24.0	R+2.1	D+11.1	R+40.6
Tennessee	11	R+16.3	R+16.3	R+0.3	D+13.0	R+38.0
Oklahoma	7	R+16.6	R+37.9	R+25.5	R+1.2	R+49.7
Alabama	9	R+19.3	R+22.4	R+1.3	D+13.1	R+46.9
Indiana	11	R+20.2	R+24.0	R+18.4	R+7.6	R+32.8
Georgia	16	R+20.3	R+20.4	D+14.8	D+33.9	R+50.5
Virginia	13	R+20.5	R+25.2	R+12.7	R+1.3	R+37.7
Mississippi	6	R+20.8	R+24.5	R+1.3	D+1.9	R+58.6
Nevada	6	R+20.9	R+33.9	R+35.6	R+4.4	R+27.4
Nebraska	5	R+21.0	R+41.7	R+39.5	R+20.7	R+41.0
Arizona	11	R+21.2	R+33.9	R+32.4	R+16.6	R+31.3
Florida	30	R+22.4	R+30.7	R+17.0	D+5.3	R+44.1
Wyoming	3	R+22.5	R+42.3	R+34.7	R+19.5	R+38.5
Alaska	3	R+23.3	R+36.8	R+27.9	R+22.3	R+23.5
South Carolina	9	R+23.9	R+28.0	R+1.5	D+13.1	R+42.7
Idaho	4	R+26.1	R+46.0	R+41.3	R+22.8	R+38.2
New Hampshire	4	R+26.2	R+37.7	R+29.4	R+11.3	R+29.1
Utah	6	R+34.2	R+49.8	R+52.2	R+28.8	R+41.3

Counties That Changed Parties

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Flipped Democratic

100 total

Buffalo County, South Dakota, SDD+40.8%Ellis County, Kansas, KSD+37.4%Menard County, Texas, TXD+34.7%Nowata County, Oklahoma, OKD+33.0%Tillman County, Oklahoma, OKD+32.3%

95 more counties(Seeker)

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