1988 United States presidential election in Wyoming

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

1988 United States presidential election in Wyoming

November 8, 1988

Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 106,867 67,113 Percentage 60.53% 38.01%

County Results Bush   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

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

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

Wyoming weighed in for this election as 7 points more Republican than the national average.

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Wyoming, with nearly 98 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates on the ballot.[1]

Republican victory

Bush won the election in Wyoming with a solid 22 point landslide, sweeping all 23 of the state's counties. Dukakis' best county, and Bush's worst, was Sweetwater County, which Bush won by 60 votes, or less than half of 1%. Sweetwater County is one of Wyoming's "Union Pacific counties" that traditionally formed the Democratic Party's base in the state.[2] Bush broke 70% in six counties, of which four were in the state's east and one, Park County, in the Bighorn basin, traditional areas of Republican strength in the state;[3] Sublette County rounded out this group. Overall, however, Bush's 22.52% margin in the state made it 14.80% more Republican than the nation overall. The Mountain West had trended Republican beginning in the 1952 election;[4] after voting for Truman in the nationally close 1948 election, Wyoming had consistently voted to the right of the country in every subsequent election. In 1988, it did so once again, even as some other Mountain states' traditional Republicanism wavered, as in Colorado and Montana. Bush's vote share of 60.53% made Wyoming his third-best state in the region (after Utah and Idaho), and his sixth-best overall (after Utah, New Hampshire, Idaho, South Carolina, and Florida). Along with New Hampshire, Nevada, Delaware, and Maine, it was also one of five states where every county voted for Bush.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Wyoming
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	106,867	60.53%	3
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	67,113	38.01%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	2,026	1.15%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	545	0.31%	0
Totals			176,551	100.00%	3

Results by county

County	George Herbert Walker Bush Republican		Michael Stanley Dukakis Democratic		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Albany	5,653	49.87%	5,486	48.40%	196	1.73%	167	1.47%	11,335
Big Horn	3,258	68.16%	1,469	30.73%	53	1.11%	1,789	37.43%	4,780
Campbell	6,702	73.55%	2,288	25.11%	122	1.34%	4,414	48.44%	9,112
Carbon	3,336	55.70%	2,555	42.66%	98	1.64%	781	13.04%	5,989
Converse	2,885	68.45%	1,301	30.87%	29	0.69%	1,584	37.58%	4,215
Crook	1,939	76.34%	553	21.77%	48	1.89%	1,386	54.57%	2,540
Fremont	7,681	59.59%	5,020	38.95%	188	1.46%	2,661	20.64%	12,889
Goshen	3,075	61.44%	1,875	37.46%	55	1.10%	1,200	23.98%	5,005
Hot Springs	1,490	64.11%	800	34.42%	34	1.46%	690	29.69%	2,324
Johnson	2,081	72.81%	707	24.74%	70	2.45%	1,374	48.07%	2,858
Laramie	15,561	56.04%	11,851	42.68%	358	1.29%	3,710	13.36%	27,770
Lincoln	3,237	66.10%	1,592	32.51%	68	1.39%	1,645	33.59%	4,897
Natrona	14,005	59.63%	9,148	38.95%	334	1.42%	4,857	20.68%	23,487
Niobrara	825	69.27%	354	29.72%	12	1.01%	471	39.55%	1,191
Park	6,884	70.95%	2,646	27.27%	172	1.77%	4,238	43.68%	9,702
Platte	2,253	59.16%	1,482	38.92%	73	1.92%	771	20.24%	3,808
Sheridan	5,980	55.48%	4,655	43.19%	143	1.33%	1,325	12.29%	10,778
Sublette	1,636	72.81%	576	25.63%	35	1.56%	1,060	47.18%	2,247
Sweetwater	6,780	49.47%	6,720	49.03%	205	1.50%	60	0.44%	13,705
Teton	3,616	61.02%	2,217	37.41%	93	1.57%	1,399	23.61%	5,926
Uinta	3,464	62.97%	1,922	34.94%	115	2.09%	1,542	28.03%	5,501
Washakie	2,538	67.36%	1,197	31.77%	33	0.88%	1,341	35.59%	3,768
Weston	1,988	72.98%	699	25.66%	37	1.36%	1,289	47.32%	2,724
Totals	106,867	60.53%	67,113	38.01%	2,571	1.46%	39,754	22.52%	176,551

See also

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush

References

1. "1988 Presidential General Election Results – Wyoming". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
2. "Everything About Wyoming - Wyoming Political Myths". www.wyomingalmanac.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
3. "Everything About Wyoming - Wyoming Political Myths". www.wyomingalmanac.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
4. Paulson, Arthur C. (2000). Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-96865-6.