1988 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

none June 2025 September 2023 1988 United States presidential election 1988 United States presidential election in Washington (state) Washington presidential no 1984 United States presidential election in Washington (state) 1984 1992 United States presidential election in Washington (state) 1992 November 8, 1988 x200px File:Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg Michael Dukakis Democratic Party (United States) Massachusetts Lloyd Bentsen 10 933,516 50.05% File:VP George Bush crop.jpg George H. W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Texas Dan Quayle 0 903,835 48.46% 350px 350px County results Dukakis #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% Bush #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% Tie #d4c4dc 40–50% President Ronald Reagan Republican Party (United States) George H. W. Bush Republican Party (United States) The 1988 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 8, 1988. All fifty states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. The State of Washington was won by Democratic Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who was running against incumbent Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas. Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen, and Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle. The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Washington, with 98.5% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1988&fips=53&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 1988 Presidential General Election Results – Washington Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2018-01-26 In typical form for the time and political climate in Washington – an East/West split can be seen in the voter turnout: with the coastal counties voting in the majority for Dukakis, and the inland counties voting mainly for Bush. Dukakis carried Washington state with 50.05% of the vote to Bush's 48.46%, a margin of 1.59%, making it the closest state in the election. This made Washington one of ten states (along with the District of Columbia) to vote for Dukakis, even as Bush won a convincing victory nationally. Washington weighed in for this election as over 9% more Democratic than the national average. For decades prior to 1988, Washington had been a swing state, and it had gone Republican in the four preceding elections, even voting for losing Republican candidate Gerald Ford in 1976. But the state's strong Democratic tilt in 1988 portended the political direction the state would take in the modern era. Dukakis’ 1988 victory began a Democratic winning streak in Washington state that has never been broken since. Washington's Democratic trend was largely driven by the dramatic shift toward the Democrats among urban and suburban voters that began in the 1980s. While Bush won many rural counties, Dukakis won the two most heavily populated counties in Washington state: King County and Pierce County. Results 1988 United States presidential election in Washington Democratic Party (United States) Michael DukakisLloyd Bentsen 933,516 50.05% +7.19% Republican Party (United States) George H. W. BushDan Quayle 903,835 48.46% −7.36% Libertarian Party (United States) Ron PaulAndre Marrou 17,240 0.92% +0.45% U.S. Labor Party Lyndon LaRoucheDebra Hanania Freeman 4,412 0.24% N/A New Alliance Party Lenora FulaniWynonia Burke 3,520 0.19% +0.10% Workers World Party Larry HolmesGloria La Riva 1,440 0.08% +0.05% Socialist Workers Party (United States) James WarrenKathleen Mickells 1,290 0.07% −0.05% 1,865,253 100.00% N/A By county Countyhttps://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/results_report.aspx?e=25&c=&c2=&t=772&t2=1&p=&p2=&y= Elections Search Results November 1988 General President/Vice President Munro Ralph Ralph Munro November 8, 1988 Secretary of State of Washington November 18, 2025 Michael DukakisDemocratic George H. W. BushRepublican Other candidatesVarious parties Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % Adams 1,612 37.59% 2,612 60.91% 64 1.49% -1,000 -23.32% 4,288 Asotin 3,422 53.60% 2,874 45.02% 88 1.38% 548 8.58% 6,384 Benton 14,817 33.66% 28,688 65.18% 511 1.16% -13,871 -31.51% 44,016 Chelan 8,183 40.78% 11,601 57.82% 281 1.40% -3,418 -17.03% 20,065 Clallam 11,123 48.80% 11,200 49.14% 471 2.07% -77 -0.34% 22,794 Clark 40,021 51.11% 37,285 47.61% 1,000 1.28% 2,736 3.49% 78,306 Columbia 730 37.55% 1,172 60.29% 42 2.16% -442 -22.74% 1,944 Cowlitz 16,090 56.53% 12,009 42.19% 366 1.29% 4,081 14.34% 28,465 Douglas 3,760 40.66% 5,378 58.16% 109 1.18% -1,618 -17.50% 9,247 Ferry 972 48.10% 972 48.10% 77 3.81% 0 0.00% 2,021 Franklin 4,772 41.67% 6,488 56.65% 192 1.68% -1,716 -14.98% 11,452 Garfield 593 44.96% 714 54.13% 12 0.91% -121 -9.17% 1,319 Grant 7,564 40.24% 10,859 57.76% 376 2.00% -3,295 -17.53% 18,799 Grays Harbor 14,097 60.27% 8,860 37.88% 434 1.86% 5,237 22.39% 23,391 Island 8,510 39.85% 12,552 58.78% 291 1.36% -4,042 -18.93% 21,353 Jefferson 5,270 54.69% 4,184 43.42% 182 1.89% 1,086 11.27% 9,636 King 349,663 53.88% 290,574 44.78% 8,720 1.34% 59,089 9.11% 648,957 Kitsap 33,748 48.45% 34,743 49.88% 1,158 1.66% -995 -1.43% 69,649 Kittitas 5,318 50.67% 5,048 48.09% 130 1.24% 270 2.57% 10,496 Klickitat 2,991 49.15% 2,920 47.98% 175 2.88% 71 1.17% 6,086 Lewis 8,629 37.13% 14,184 61.04% 425 1.83% -5,555 -23.90% 23,238 Lincoln 1,884 40.56% 2,689 57.89% 72 1.55% -805 -17.33% 4,645 Mason 7,826 50.34% 7,426 47.77% 293 1.88% 400 2.57% 15,545 Okanogan 5,630 47.96% 5,856 49.88% 254 2.16% -226 -1.93% 11,740 Pacific 5,017 61.18% 3,073 37.48% 110 1.34% 1,944 23.71% 8,200 Pend Oreille 1,925 50.74% 1,802 47.50% 67 1.77% 123 3.24% 3,794 Pierce 96,688 49.72% 94,167 48.42% 3,618 1.86% 2,521 1.30% 194,473 San Juan 3,008 51.74% 2,660 45.75% 146 2.51% 348 5.99% 5,814 Skagit 15,159 46.79% 16,550 51.08% 692 2.14% -1,391 -4.29% 32,401 Skamania 1,748 55.28% 1,356 42.88% 58 1.83% 392 12.40% 3,162 Snohomish 80,694 48.27% 84,158 50.34% 2,313 1.38% -3,464 -2.07% 167,165 Spokane 68,520 49.24% 68,787 49.43% 1,843 1.32% -267 -0.19% 139,150 Stevens 5,068 42.37% 6,576 54.97% 318 2.66% -1,508 -12.61% 11,962 Thurston 33,860 50.59% 31,980 47.78% 1,090 1.63% 1,880 2.81% 66,930 Wahkiakum 961 59.10% 629 38.68% 36 2.21% 332 20.42% 1,626 Walla Walla 7,448 42.80% 9,683 55.64% 272 1.56% -2,235 -12.84% 17,403 Whatcom 25,571 51.05% 23,820 47.55% 703 1.40% 1,751 3.50% 50,094 Whitman 7,403 48.28% 7,680 50.09% 250 1.63% -277 -1.81% 15,333 Yakima 23,221 43.07% 30,026 55.70% 663 1.23% -6,805 -12.62% 53,910Totals933,51650.05%903,83548.46%27,9021.50%29,6811.59%1,865,253 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic 20em Asotin Clark King Kittitas Klickitat Mason Pend Oreille Pierce San Juan Skamania Thurston Whatcom Counties that flipped from Republican to Tied Ferry right 275px Swing by county Legend #00a1c8 Democratic — +>15% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5-15% #09ceff Democratic — +10-12.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% 275px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #77e3ff Democratic — +5-7.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5-5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0-2.5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% #ff8080 Republican — +5-7.5% 275px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold Tied #ae8bb1 Flip Analysis King County, home to the city of Seattle and its surrounding suburbs, was and is by far the most heavily populated county in the state, and a bellwether county for the state as a whole. In every presidential election since Washington achieved statehood, the candidate who won King County also won Washington state as a whole. While the city of Seattle had long leaned Democratic, the surrounding suburbs had long leaned Republican, making King County a swing county, and thus Washington state a swing state. In 1976, moderate Republican Gerald Ford had carried Washington state 50–46, while winning King County 51–45. In the 1984 Republican landslide, Ronald Reagan won King County by a 52–47 margin. However, Michael Dukakis won King County by a 54–45 margin, a raw vote difference of 59,089 votes, providing more than the entire 29,681 raw vote difference by which he carried Washington state as a whole. The 1988 result started a yet-unbroken Democratic winning streak in King County, and would prove to be the start of a long-term dramatic shift toward the Democratic Party in the county and thus in the state as a whole. As the city of Seattle grew, and its suburbs continued abandoning the GOP and increasingly trended Democratic in the 1990s and 2000s, King County would be transformed from a swing county prior to 1988 into a Democratic stronghold; twenty years later, in 2008, Democrat Barack Obama would receive over 70% of the vote in King County. The Democratic dominance in King County that began in 1988 would solidify Washington as a strong blue state in the modern era. In the eight presidential elections since 1988, no Republican candidate has replicated the percentages of the vote received by George H.W. Bush in King, Pierce, Snohomish, Kitsap, Island, Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, or Thurston counties. 2020 11 As of the 2024 presidential election this is the last election when Kitsap County and Snohomish County have supported the Republican presidential nominee.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 This also is the last election where the state of Washington was decided by a margin of five points or less. Dukakis and Bush tied in Ferry County. This is the second time in a presidential election in Washington (after 1896) and the last time until Bill Clinton won Georgia in 1992 that two candidates tied in a county. See also United States presidential elections in Washington (state) Presidency of George H. W. Bush References Washington 1988 Category:1988 Washington (state) elections