1988 Electoral Map

1988 Election Results

George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, winning 426 electoral votes and roughly 53% of the popular vote to secure a third consecutive Republican presidential victory. Dukakis carried states worth 112 electoral votes, but received 111 after a West Virginia elector voted for his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush preserved the core of Reagan’s coalition, sweeping the former Confederate states and holding California, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. His victories in Illinois and Pennsylvania were each by less than three percentage points, but his national electoral advantage was substantial.

Democrats nevertheless recovered ground from their 1984 defeat. Dukakis carried 10 states and the District of Columbia, bringing New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Iowa, Washington and Oregon back into the Democratic column. Bush’s map was much smaller than Reagan’s 49-state sweep, but those Democratic gains still left Dukakis far short of a majority.

Bush campaigned on continuity with Reagan while attacking Dukakis as too liberal on crime, defense and taxes. Dukakis never established an effective answer. The result showed the durability of the Republican presidential coalition, even as Democratic gains in the Northeast, Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest revealed where that coalition was beginning to weaken.