1988 United States presidential election in Iowa

none June 2025 September 2023 1988 United States presidential election in Iowa Iowa Flag of Iowa (xrmap collection).svg presidential no 1984 United States presidential election in Iowa 1984 1992 United States presidential election in Iowa 1992 November 8, 1988 x200px File:Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg Michael Dukakis Democratic Party (United States) Massachusetts Lloyd Bentsen 8 670,557 54.71% File:VP George Bush crop.jpg George H. W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Texas Dan Quayle 0 545,355 44.50% 280px County results 280px Precinct results 280px Bush #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% #aa0000 80–90% #800000 90–100% Dukakis #86b6f2 50–60% #4389E3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% #0645B4 80–90% #002B84 90–100% President Ronald Reagan Republican Party (United States) George H. W. Bush Republican Party (United States) The 1988 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Iowa was won by Democratic governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts with 54.71% of the popular vote over Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush's 44.50%, a victory margin of 10.21%, which made Iowa exactly 18% more Democratic than the nation-at-large. A major reason why it voted so Democratic compared to the rest of the nation was the 1980s farm crisis. This made it one of 10 states (along with the District of Columbia) to vote for Dukakis, while Bush won a convincing electoral victory nationwide. Bush became the first Republican to ever win the presidency without carrying Iowa, a feat that would only be repeated once more, when his son George W. Bush lost the state in 2000 but won the national election by extremely narrow margins. George W. Bush would later carry the state in 2004, which made George H.W. Bush the only Republican to win the presidency without ever winning the state, as well as the only Republican to have ever won the national popular vote without winning the state. Dukakis was also the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964. The state would not vote for the losing candidate again until 2000, the loser of the popular vote until 2016, and the loser of both the popular and electoral vote until 2020. Dukakis remains the last Democratic nominee to win Iowa but lose the popular vote. Background The farm crisis of the 1980s under the Reagan administration made the Midwest one of the targets for the Dukakis campaign in 1988, which ultimately proved successful in the region with Democrats performing strongly in many farm states. Nowhere was this more evident than in Iowa, which was the second most Democratic state in the nation in 1988 in terms of both vote percentage and victory margin; it was one of just two states (along with Rhode Island) to vote Democratic by a double-digit margin. This Democratic support was spread widely across the state, with Dukakis winning 75 of the state's 99 counties, whilst counties carried by Bush were concentrated within the state's typically archconservative western fringe. Iowa was also the only state in the nation where Dukakis won by a larger margin than fellow Democrat Bill Clinton would win it by four years later in 1992; Dukakis won 13 Iowa counties which would vote for Bush in 1992. While Dukakis personally overperformed in Iowa due to the farm crisis, 1988 was also the beginning of a relatively long-term re-alignment of the state toward the Democratic Party, as the historically Republican state became a Democratic leaning swing state for a quarter of a century. Iowa had voted Republican in the five preceding elections, and nine of the previous eleven. From 1988 to 2012, Iowa voted Democratic in six of the seven elections that followed (out of the nine total elections overall), although starting in 2016, the state again became reliably Republican. Despite this, 2024 11 as of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Marion County, Buena Vista County, Sac County, and Humboldt County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 Iowa (with four counties), Texas (with three), and Montana (with one) are the only states containing counties that Dukakis (as of 2024) was the last Democrat to carry. As of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, this is the last time Iowa voted to the left of many modern-day blue or blue-leaning states, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, neighboring Illinois, neighboring Minnesota, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Vermont.Iowa Voting Results and Participants https://www.countingthevotes.com/iowa/ 2022-09-03 CountingTheVotes.com en-USMaryland Voting Results and Participants https://www.countingthevotes.com/maryland/ 2022-09-03 CountingTheVotes.com en-US Results 1988 United States presidential election in Iowa1988 Presidential General Election Results - Iowa http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1988&fips=19&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 U.S. Election Atlas 28 April 2013PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Michael Dukakis 670,557 54.71% 8 Republican George H. W. Bush 545,355 44.50% 0 Independent Lyndon LaRouche 3,526 0.29% 0 Libertarian Ron Paul 2,494 0.20% 0 N/A Write-ins 1,613 0.13% 0 America First David Duke 755"notseparated" Votes for this candidate were not separated by county and only given as a state-wide total.https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=2115 Our Campaigns IA US President Race, November 03, 1988 0.06% 0 New Alliance Lenora Fulani 540"notseparated" 0.04% 0 Socialist Willa Kenoyer 334"notseparated" 0.03% 0 Socialist Equality Edward Winn 235"notseparated" 0.02% 0 Socialist Workers James Warren 205"notseparated" 0.02% 0 Totals 1,225,614 100.00% 8 Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 59%/73% Results by county County Michael DukakisDemocratic George H.W. BushRepublican Lyndon LaRoucheIndependent Ron PaulLibertarian Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # % Adair 2,261 54.84% 1,833 44.46% 7 0.17% 5 0.12% 17 0.41% 428 10.38% 4,123 Adams 1,283 53.91% 1,080 45.38% 4 0.17% 5 0.21% 8 0.34% 203 8.53% 2,380 Allamakee 2,768 46.17% 3,186 53.14% 12 0.20% 11 0.18% 18 0.30% -418 -6.97% 5,995 Appanoose 3,209 52.71% 2,779 45.65% 62 1.02% 15 0.25% 23 0.38% 430 7.06% 6,088 Audubon 1,863 55.27% 1,478 43.84% 16 0.47% 4 0.12% 10 0.30% 385 11.43% 3,371 Benton 5,873 58.87% 4,011 40.20% 44 0.44% 15 0.15% 34 0.34% 1,862 18.67% 9,977 Black Hawk 31,657 56.36% 24,112 42.93% 143 0.25% 82 0.15% 177 0.32% 7,545 13.43% 56,171 Boone 7,232 61.89% 4,381 37.49% 44 0.38% 11 0.09% 18 0.15% 2,851 24.40% 11,686 Bremer 4,961 49.12% 5,079 50.29% 24 0.24% 18 0.18% 17 0.17% -118 -1.17% 10,099 Buchanan 4,778 57.42% 3,495 42.00% 6 0.07% 15 0.18% 27 0.32% 1,283 15.42% 8,321 Buena Vista 4,580 51.90% 4,170 47.25% 16 0.18% 35 0.40% 24 0.27% 410 4.65% 8,825 Butler 2,593 42.19% 3,523 57.32% 12 0.20% 6 0.10% 12 0.20% -930 -15.13% 6,146 Calhoun 2,990 54.31% 2,474 44.94% 15 0.27% 14 0.25% 12 0.22% 516 9.37% 5,505 Carroll 5,437 58.63% 3,701 39.91% 79 0.85% 22 0.24% 34 0.37% 1,736 18.72% 9,273 Cass 2,934 42.11% 3,962 56.86% 43 0.62% 12 0.17% 17 0.24% -1,028 -14.75% 6,968 Cedar 4,032 53.91% 3,373 45.10% 10 0.13% 16 0.21% 48 0.64% 659 8.81% 7,479 Cerro Gordo 12,857 57.49% 9,358 41.84% 74 0.33% 36 0.16% 40 0.18% 3,499 15.65% 22,365 Cherokee 3,574 52.14% 3,218 46.94% 26 0.38% 15 0.22% 22 0.32% 356 5.20% 6,855 Chickasaw 3,530 57.53% 2,549 41.54% 25 0.41% 6 0.10% 26 0.42% 981 15.99% 6,136 Clarke 2,262 57.50% 1,631 41.46% 3 0.08% 1 0.03% 37 0.94% 631 16.04% 3,934 Clay 4,173 53.02% 3,641 46.26% 30 0.38% 13 0.17% 13 0.17% 532 6.76% 7,870 Clayton 4,320 52.41% 3,839 46.58% 30 0.36% 18 0.22% 35 0.42% 481 5.83% 8,242 Clinton 12,549 54.56% 10,243 44.53% 116 0.50% 55 0.24% 39 0.17% 2,306 10.03% 23,002 Crawford 3,868 52.91% 3,375 46.16% 28 0.38% 21 0.29% 19 0.26% 493 6.75% 7,311 Dallas 7,501 60.40% 4,858 39.12% 6 0.05% 19 0.15% 35 0.28% 2,643 21.28% 12,419 Davis 2,246 58.35% 1,563 40.61% 12 0.31% 7 0.18% 21 0.55% 683 17.74% 3,849 Decatur 2,192 60.44% 1,406 38.76% 4 0.11% 9 0.25% 16 0.44% 786 21.68% 3,627 Delaware 3,947 53.11% 3,425 46.08% 26 0.35% 11 0.15% 23 0.31% 522 7.03% 7,432 Des Moines 11,593 59.84% 7,652 39.50% 62 0.32% 26 0.13% 41 0.21% 3,941 20.34% 19,374 Dickinson 3,342 47.06% 3,678 51.80% 41 0.58% 19 0.27% 21 0.30% -336 -4.74% 7,101 Dubuque 23,797 61.74% 14,530 37.69% 88 0.23% 60 0.16% 72 0.19% 9,267 24.05% 38,547 Emmet 2,778 55.82% 2,173 43.66% 9 0.18% 12 0.24% 5 0.10% 605 12.16% 4,977 Fayette 5,304 51.56% 4,921 47.84% 17 0.17% 30 0.29% 15 0.15% 383 3.72% 10,287 Floyd 4,377 56.60% 3,266 42.23% 53 0.69% 11 0.14% 26 0.34% 1,111 14.37% 7,733 Franklin 2,594 52.39% 2,320 46.86% 21 0.42% 9 0.18% 7 0.14% 274 5.53% 4,951 Fremont 1,547 43.86% 1,946 55.17% 18 0.51% 5 0.14% 11 0.31% -399 -11.31% 3,527 Greene 3,011 58.31% 2,091 40.49% 32 0.62% 10 0.19% 20 0.39% 920 17.82% 5,164 Grundy 2,211 38.91% 3,433 60.42% 19 0.33% 10 0.18% 9 0.16% -1,222 -21.51% 5,682 Guthrie 2,910 58.40% 2,005 40.24% 35 0.70% 23 0.46% 10 0.20% 905 18.16% 4,983 Hamilton 4,156 55.46% 3,277 43.73% 23 0.31% 14 0.19% 24 0.32% 879 11.73% 7,494 Hancock 2,831 50.62% 2,731 48.83% 17 0.30% 6 0.11% 8 0.14% 100 1.79% 5,593 Hardin 5,088 56.53% 3,856 42.84% 14 0.16% 18 0.20% 25 0.28% 1,232 13.69% 9,001 Harrison 2,883 47.83% 3,108 51.57% 7 0.12% 8 0.13% 21 0.35% -225 -3.74% 6,027 Henry 3,754 48.39% 3,951 50.93% 9 0.12% 18 0.23% 26 0.34% -197 -2.54% 7,758 Howard 2,330 53.87% 1,970 45.55% 5 0.12% 3 0.07% 17 0.39% 360 8.32% 4,325 Humboldt 2,713 50.64% 2,594 48.42% 31 0.58% 9 0.17% 10 0.19% 119 2.22% 5,357 Ida 1,787 47.29% 1,951 51.63% 19 0.50% 11 0.29% 11 0.29% -164 -4.34% 3,779 Iowa 3,338 49.93% 3,247 48.57% 42 0.63% 21 0.31% 37 0.55% 91 1.36% 6,685 Jackson 4,864 59.08% 3,237 39.32% 102 1.24% 22 0.27% 8 0.10% 1,627 19.76% 8,233 Jasper 8,940 56.82% 6,703 42.60% 20 0.13% 22 0.14% 48 0.31% 2,237 14.22% 15,733 Jefferson 3,594 49.26% 3,614 49.53% 8 0.11% 40 0.55% 40 0.55% -20 -0.27% 7,296 Johnson 28,759 64.41% 15,453 34.61% 22 0.05% 149 0.33% 264 0.59% 13,306 29.80% 44,647 Jones 4,641 56.70% 3,496 42.71% 5 0.06% 8 0.10% 35 0.43% 1,145 13.99% 8,185 Keokuk 2,899 55.43% 2,278 43.56% 29 0.55% 12 0.23% 12 0.23% 621 11.87% 5,230 Kossuth 5,088 55.87% 3,938 43.24% 60 0.66% 13 0.14% 8 0.09% 1,150 12.63% 9,107 Lee 10,911 63.11% 6,228 36.02% 89 0.51% 41 0.24% 21 0.12% 4,683 27.09% 17,290 Linn 42,993 56.04% 33,129 43.18% 57 0.07% 178 0.23% 361 0.47% 9,864 12.86% 76,718 Louisa 2,268 51.78% 2,060 47.03% 10 0.23% 15 0.34% 27 0.62% 208 4.75% 4,380 Lucas 2,454 57.84% 1,776 41.86% 2 0.05% 3 0.07% 8 0.19% 678 15.98% 4,243 Lyon 1,706 32.41% 3,517 66.81% 26 0.49% 8 0.15% 7 0.13% -1,811 -34.40% 5,264 Madison 3,421 58.36% 2,410 41.11% 8 0.14% 8 0.14% 15 0.26% 1,011 17.25% 5,862 Mahaska 4,451 47.76% 4,798 51.48% 41 0.44% 16 0.17% 14 0.15% -347 -3.72% 9,320 Marion 6,922 53.44% 5,914 45.65% 83 0.64% 9 0.07% 26 0.20% 1,008 7.79% 12,954 Marshall 9,760 55.62% 7,657 43.63% 21 0.12% 41 0.23% 70 0.40% 2,103 11.99% 17,549 Mills 2,092 38.96% 3,212 59.82% 27 0.50% 25 0.47% 13 0.24% -1,120 -20.86% 5,369 Mitchell 2,870 54.66% 2,338 44.52% 27 0.51% 7 0.13% 9 0.17% 532 10.14% 5,251 Monona 2,408 53.62% 2,068 46.05% 4 0.09% 2 0.04% 9 0.20% 340 7.57% 4,491 Monroe 2,338 63.76% 1,313 35.81% 4 0.11% 4 0.11% 8 0.22% 1,025 27.95% 3,667 Montgomery 1,898 37.22% 3,166 62.08% 18 0.35% 8 0.16% 10 0.20% -1,268 -24.86% 5,100 Muscatine 7,059 50.06% 6,904 48.96% 78 0.55% 29 0.21% 32 0.23% 155 1.10% 14,102 O'Brien 2,768 39.14% 4,241 59.97% 29 0.41% 18 0.25% 16 0.23% -1,473 -20.83% 7,072 Osceola 1,277 39.12% 1,951 59.77% 15 0.46% 4 0.12% 17 0.52% -674 -20.65% 3,264 Page 2,185 32.12% 4,583 67.37% 9 0.13% 7 0.10% 19 0.28% -2,398 -35.25% 6,803 Palo Alto 3,377 61.82% 2,041 37.36% 29 0.53% 5 0.09% 11 0.20% 1,336 24.46% 5,463 Plymouth 4,220 43.93% 5,316 55.33% 34 0.35% 22 0.23% 15 0.16% -1,096 -11.40% 9,607 Pocahontas 2,722 58.51% 1,871 40.22% 22 0.47% 24 0.52% 13 0.28% 851 18.29% 4,652 Polk 84,476 59.01% 57,854 40.42% 71 0.05% 282 0.20% 461 0.32% 26,622 18.59% 143,144 Pottawattamie 14,958 46.16% 17,193 53.06% 136 0.42% 57 0.18% 61 0.19% -2,235 -6.90% 32,405 Poweshiek 4,876 56.53% 3,683 42.70% 17 0.20% 26 0.30% 23 0.27% 1,193 13.83% 8,625 Ringgold 1,609 58.92% 1,110 40.64% 3 0.11% 1 0.04% 8 0.29% 499 18.28% 2,731 Sac 2,613 51.47% 2,411 47.49% 21 0.41% 14 0.28% 18 0.35% 202 3.98% 5,077 Scott 34,415 52.12% 31,025 46.98% 249 0.38% 188 0.28% 158 0.24% 3,390 5.14% 66,035 Shelby 2,806 47.88% 3,019 51.52% 9 0.15% 12 0.20% 14 0.24% -213 -3.64% 5,860 Sioux 2,923 22.00% 10,270 77.29% 49 0.37% 12 0.09% 34 0.26% -7,347 -55.29% 13,288 Story 19,051 57.55% 13,782 41.63% 73 0.22% 92 0.28% 107 0.32% 5,269 15.92% 33,105 Tama 4,584 57.21% 3,362 41.96% 20 0.25% 21 0.26% 25 0.31% 1,222 15.25% 8,012 Taylor 1,671 50.15% 1,647 49.43% 1 0.03% 1 0.03% 12 0.36% 24 0.72% 3,332 Union 3,236 53.57% 2,751 45.54% 31 0.51% 9 0.15% 14 0.23% 485 8.03% 6,041 Van Buren 1,612 48.35% 1,692 50.75% 6 0.18% 9 0.27% 15 0.45% -80 -2.40% 3,334 Wapello 10,177 64.93% 5,350 34.14% 90 0.57% 24 0.15% 32 0.20% 4,827 30.79% 15,673 Warren 9,627 59.68% 6,424 39.82% 30 0.19% 14 0.09% 36 0.22% 3,203 19.86% 16,131 Washington 3,776 49.58% 3,741 49.12% 49 0.64% 28 0.37% 22 0.29% 35 0.46% 7,616 Wayne 1,988 57.18% 1,467 42.19% 6 0.17% 16 0.46% 0 0.00% 521 14.99% 3,477 Webster 10,267 59.03% 6,926 39.82% 121 0.70% 26 0.15% 53 0.30% 3,341 19.21% 17,393 Winnebago 2,804 49.17% 2,863 50.20% 11 0.19% 7 0.12% 18 0.32% -59 -1.03% 5,703 Winneshiek 4,443 50.92% 4,194 48.07% 28 0.32% 25 0.29% 35 0.40% 249 2.85% 8,725 Woodbury 20,153 51.38% 18,790 47.90% 136 0.35% 56 0.14% 90 0.23% 1,363 3.48% 39,225 Worth 2,440 61.28% 1,488 37.37% 3 0.08% 9 0.23% 42 1.05% 952 23.91% 3,982 Wright 3,353 55.38% 2,658 43.90% 8 0.13% 21 0.35% 14 0.23% 695 11.48% 6,054Totals670,55754.71%545,35544.50%3,5260.29%2,4940.20%3,6820.30%125,20210.21%1,225,614 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic 18em Adair Adams Appanoose Audubon Benton Black Hawk Buchanan Buena Vista Calhoun Carroll Cedar Cherokee Chickasaw Clarke Clay Clayton Clinton Crawford Decatur Delaware Emmet Fayette Floyd Franklin Guthrie Hamilton Hancock Hardin Howard Humboldt Iowa Jackson Jasper Jones Keokuk Kossuth Linn Lousia Lucas Madison Marion Marshall Mitchell Monona Muscatine Pocahontas Poweshiek Sac Scott Story Tama Taylor Union Warren Washington Wayne Winneshiek Woodbury Wright See also United States presidential elections in Iowa Notes References expanded 1988 Iowa United States president