1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia

The 1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose 6 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia

November 8, 1988

Nominee Michael Dukakis George H. W. Bush Party Democratic Republican Home state Massachusetts Texas Running mate Lloyd Bentsen Dan Quayle Electoral vote 5 0 Popular vote 341,016 310,065 Percentage 52.20% 47.46%

County Results Dukakis   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

West Virginia was won by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis who was running against incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas. Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as Vice President, and Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.

West Virginia weighed in for this election as 13% more Democratic than the national average. To date this is also the last time the state voted for a losing Democratic presidential candidate.

The 1988 election cycle is also the last time that West Virginia did not vote for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Kentucky.

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for West Virginia, with over 99% of the electorate voting for either the Republican or Democratic parties, and only three candidates appearing on the ballot.[1]

Republican national victory

Dukakis won the election in West Virginia with a 5-point margin. The relatively narrow election results in West Virginia are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party, which took place through the 1980s. Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs, spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan (called, collectively, "Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark for Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy.[2]

Dukakis ran his campaign on a socially liberal platform, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, alternatively, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan - which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas. Additionally, while the economic programs passed under Reagan, and furthered under Bush, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.[3]

Faithless elector

A rare event in any United States presidential election, West Virginia was home to a faithless elector in the election of 1988. During the assembly of the electoral college, one elector from West Virginia, Margarette Leach, cast her vote for Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen as president, and Dukakis as the vice president. She did this in order to draw attention to the lack of accountability for electors under the Electoral College system.[4]

Results

Statewide results

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	341,016	52.20%	5
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	310,065	47.46%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	2,230	0.34%	0
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen	0	0.00%	1
Totals			653,311	100.00%	6

By county

	Michael Stanley Dukakis Democratic		George Herbert Walker Bush Republican		Various candidates Other parties
County	%	#	%	#	%	#
Barbour	51.4%	3,221	48.2%	3,023	0.2%	17
Berkeley	36.8%	6,313	62.8%	10,761	0.4%	61
Boone	70.0%	6,539	29.8%	2,786	0.2%	20
Braxton	62.2%	3,377	37.3%	2,024	0.4%	22
Brooke	60.7%	6,258	38.8%	4,006	0.4%	42
Cabell	47.1%	15,368	52.7%	17,197	0.3%	97
Calhoun	53.8%	1,644	45.6%	1,395	0.6%	18
Clay	59.4%	2,263	40.3%	1,536	0.3%	12
Doddridge	33.5%	955	66.0%	1,880	0.4%	12
Fayette	67.9%	11,009	31.7%	5,143	0.3%	53
Gilmer	54.2%	1,661	45.2%	1,387	0.5%	16
Grant	21.6%	893	77.9%	3,215	0.5%	22
Greenbrier	52.9%	6,091	46.8%	5,395	0.3%	35
Hampshire	38.9%	2,085	60.7%	3,253	0.5%	25
Hancock	58.3%	8,338	41.1%	5,882	0.4%	60
Hardy	39.4%	1,689	60.2%	2,581	0.4%	18
Harrison	55.9%	17,005	43.9%	13,364	0.1%	49
Jackson	44.4%	4,573	55.4%	5,696	0.2%	22
Jefferson	44.6%	4,334	55.0%	5,349	0.4%	43
Kanawha	51.7%	41,144	48.0%	38,140	0.3%	258
Lewis	47.3%	3,272	52.1%	3,602	0.4%	34
Lincoln	59.2%	5,049	40.5%	3,457	0.3%	23
Logan	72.5%	11,317	27.2%	4,244	0.3%	47
Marion	60.8%	14,441	38.8%	9,229	0.3%	72
Marshall	53.4%	7,903	45.9%	6,793	0.5%	83
Mason	50.5%	5,468	49.3%	5,332	0.2%	25
McDowell	74.2%	7,204	25.4%	2,463	0.5%	47
Mercer	49.7%	10,152	50.0%	10,221	0.3%	57
Mineral	40.1%	4,059	59.5%	6,015	0.4%	37
Mingo	71.8%	7,429	28.0%	2,896	0.2%	25
Monongalia	53.8%	14,178	45.9%	12,091	0.2%	69
Monroe	47.0%	2,427	52.6%	2,719	0.4%	22
Morgan	33.9%	1,545	65.8%	3,002	0.4%	17
Nicholas	57.9%	5,173	41.8%	3,731	0.4%	32
Ohio	49.1%	10,121	50.2%	10,341	0.5%	116
Pendleton	45.5%	1,595	54.3%	1,901	0.2%	7
Pleasants	44.6%	1,421	55.3%	1,761	0.2%	5
Pocahontas	50.8%	1,958	48.7%	1,876	0.5%	18
Preston	42.7%	4,357	56.9%	5,804	0.3%	35
Putnam	44.7%	6,640	55.0%	8,163	0.3%	38
Raleigh	57.7%	14,302	42.0%	10,395	0.3%	85
Randolph	52.2%	5,233	47.3%	4,746	0.3%	38
Ritchie	33.3%	1,446	66.2%	2,874	0.4%	18
Roane	45.9%	2,447	53.7%	2,861	0.5%	24
Summers	57.8%	3,072	42.0%	2,231	0.2%	11
Taylor	50.0%	2,852	49.4%	2,816	0.4%	26
Tucker	52.2%	1,869	47.5%	1,699	0.2%	9
Tyler	38.8%	1,501	61.1%	2,365	0.2%	8
Upshur	38.8%	3,065	60.9%	4,813	0.2%	16
Wayne	54.7%	8,621	45.2%	7,123	0.2%	31
Webster	67.9%	2,185	31.5%	1,016	0.2%	16
Wetzel	53.4%	3,928	46.0%	3,381	0.5%	41
Wirt	45.0%	929	54.5%	1,125	0.6%	12
Wood	39.8%	12,959	59.7%	19,450	0.5%	154
Wyoming	63.4%	6,138	36.3%	3,516	0.3%	30

See also

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush

References

1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
2. "Since 1980s, the Kindest of Tax Cuts for the Rich". The New York Times. 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
3. Jerry Lanson (2008-11-06). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
4. "James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector". Slate. 2000-11-09. Retrieved 2019-06-20.