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1988 United States elections

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1988 United States elections
1986          1987          1988          1989          1990
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 8
Incumbent presidentRonald Reagan (Republican)
Next Congress101st
Presidential election
Partisan controlRepublican hold
Popular vote marginRepublican +7.8%
Electoral vote
George H. W. Bush (R)426
Michael Dukakis (D)111
1988 United States presidential election in California1988 United States presidential election in Oregon1988 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1988 United States presidential election in Idaho1988 United States presidential election in Nevada1988 United States presidential election in Utah1988 United States presidential election in Arizona1988 United States presidential election in Montana1988 United States presidential election in Wyoming1988 United States presidential election in Colorado1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico1988 United States presidential election in North Dakota1988 United States presidential election in South Dakota1988 United States presidential election in Nebraska1988 United States presidential election in Kansas1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1988 United States presidential election in Texas1988 United States presidential election in Minnesota1988 United States presidential election in Iowa1988 United States presidential election in Missouri1988 United States presidential election in Arkansas1988 United States presidential election in Louisiana1988 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1988 United States presidential election in Illinois1988 United States presidential election in Michigan1988 United States presidential election in Indiana1988 United States presidential election in Ohio1988 United States presidential election in Kentucky1988 United States presidential election in Tennessee1988 United States presidential election in Mississippi1988 United States presidential election in Alabama1988 United States presidential election in Georgia1988 United States presidential election in Florida1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina1988 United States presidential election in Virginia1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia1988 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1988 United States presidential election in Maryland1988 United States presidential election in Delaware1988 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey1988 United States presidential election in New York1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut1988 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1988 United States presidential election in Vermont1988 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1988 United States presidential election in Maine1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1988 United States presidential election in Hawaii1988 United States presidential election in Alaska1988 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1988 United States presidential election in Maryland1988 United States presidential election in Delaware1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut1988 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1988 United States presidential election in Vermont1988 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
1988 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Bush, blue denotes states won by Dukakis. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contested33 of 100 seats
Net seat changeDemocratic +1
1988 United States Senate election in Arizona1988 United States Senate election in California1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut1988 United States Senate election in Delaware1988 United States Senate election in Florida1988 United States Senate election in Hawaii1988 United States Senate election in Indiana1988 United States Senate election in Maine1988 United States Senate election in Maryland1988 United States Senate election in Massachusetts1988 United States Senate election in Michigan1988 United States Senate election in Minnesota1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi1988 United States Senate election in Missouri1988 United States Senate election in Montana1988 United States Senate election in Nebraska1988 United States Senate election in Nevada1988 United States Senate election in New Jersey1988 United States Senate election in New Mexico1988 United States Senate election in New York1988 United States Senate election in North Dakota1988 United States Senate election in Ohio1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1988 United States Senate election in Rhode Island1988 United States Senate election in Tennessee1988 United States Senate election in Texas1988 United States Senate election in Utah1988 United States Senate election in Vermont1988 United States Senate election in Virginia1988 United States Senate election in Washington1988 United States Senate election in West Virginia1988 United States Senate election in Wisconsin1988 United States Senate election in Wyoming
1988 Senate results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting members
Popular vote marginDemocratic +7.7%
Net seat changeDemocratic +2
1988 House of Representatives results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested14 (12 states, 2 territories)
Net seat changeDemocratic +1
1988 Rhode Island gubernatorial election1988 Delaware gubernatorial election1988 Indiana gubernatorial election1988 Missouri gubernatorial election1988 Montana gubernatorial election1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election1988 North Carolina gubernatorial election1988 North Dakota gubernatorial election1988 Utah gubernatorial election1988 Vermont gubernatorial election1988 Washington gubernatorial election1988 West Virginia gubernatorial election1988 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election1988 American Samoa gubernatorial election
1988 gubernatorial election results
Territorial races not shown

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold

The 1988 United States elections were held on November 8 and elected the president of the United States and members of the 101st United States Congress. Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush defeated Democratic Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis. Despite Dukakis' defeat, the Democratic Party built on their majorities in Congress.

In the 1988 presidential election, Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush defeated Democratic governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts.[1] Bush won the popular vote by just under eight points, and won 426 of the 538 electoral votes. Bush won the Republican nomination over Kansas senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson of Virginia. Dukakis won the Democratic nomination over Reverend Jesse Jackson of Illinois, Tennessee senator Al Gore, and Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt. Bush's victory remains the only time since Harry S. Truman's victory in the 1948 presidential election in which either party won more than two consecutive presidential elections.

Neither the Senate nor the House saw any significant partisan change, and the Democratic Party retained control of both chambers. In the gubernatorial elections, the Democratic Party picked up one governorship. This was the first election since 1960 to see the winning presidential candidate's party fail to have any coattails in either house of Congress. This is the second and most recent time since 1889 that a newly elected president's party did not control either house of Congress.

Federal elections

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Presidential election

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Incumbent President Ronald Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term, due to term limits established by the 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution. With Reagan's support, Bush entered the 1988 Republican primaries as the front-runner. He defeated Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson to win the nomination, and selected Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. Dukakis won the 1988 Democratic primaries after Democratic leaders such as Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy withdrew or declined to run. He selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas – who had defeated Bush in a U.S. Senate race 18 years earlier – as his running mate.

Running an aggressive campaign, Bush concentrated on the economy and continuing Reagan's policies. He attacked Dukakis as an elitist "Massachusetts liberal", and Dukakis appeared to fail to respond effectively to Bush's criticism. Despite Dukakis's initial lead, Bush pulled ahead in opinion polling conducted in September and won by a substantial margin in both the popular and electoral vote. No candidate since 1988 has managed to equal or surpass Bush's share of the electoral or popular vote. Dukakis won 45.6% of the popular vote and carried ten states and Washington, D.C. Bush became the first sitting vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836.

Senate elections

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Despite Bush's victory, the Democrats gained a net of one seat in the Senate. Seven seats changed parties, with four incumbents being defeated. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased by one from 54–46 to 55–45.

House of Representatives elections

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Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 7.7 percentage points, picking up a net of two seats.[2]

State elections

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The Democrats had a net gain of one seat in the gubernatorial elections.

References

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  1. ^ "1988 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 8, 1988" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 10 April 2017.