1988 United States presidential election in New York

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1988 United States presidential election in New York
Flag of New York (1901-2020).svg
  1984 November 8, 1988 1992  
  Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg VP George Bush crop.jpg
Nominee Michael Dukakis George H. W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance Liberal Conservative
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Running mate Lloyd Bentsen Dan Quayle
Electoral vote360
Popular vote3,347,8823,081,871
Percentage51.62%47.52%

New York Presidential Election Results 1988.svg
County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

International policy with the buckling Soviet Union was a critical component of the political landscape in the late 1980s. Vice President Bush can be seen here standing with United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, on the New York waterfront, 1988. President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush meet with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on Governor's Island New York.jpg
International policy with the buckling Soviet Union was a critical component of the political landscape in the late 1980s. Vice President Bush can be seen here standing with United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, on the New York waterfront, 1988.

The 1988 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose 36 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

New York was won by Democratic Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts with 51.62% of the popular vote over Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who took 47.52%, a victory margin of 4.10%. [1] This result made New York roughly 12% more Democratic than the nation-at-large. Dukakis’ statewide victory is largely attributable to winning four of five boroughs of New York City overall with 66.2% of the vote. However, even though losing the city in a landslide, Bush's 32.8% share of the vote was a relatively respectable showing for a Republican in NYC, particularly in retrospect. In the 8 elections that followed 1988, Republican presidential candidates have received only 17% to 24% of the vote in New York City. This would be the last time until 2016 that the state would vote differently than neighboring Pennsylvania.

1988 would mark the end of an era in New York's political history. Since the 1940s, New York had been a Democratic-leaning swing state, usually voting Democratic in close elections, but often by small margins. Republicans would dominate much of upstate New York and populated suburban counties like Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Westchester County. However, they would be narrowly outvoted statewide by the fiercely Democratic and massively populated New York City area, along with some upstate cities like Buffalo, Albany, and the college town of Ithaca. This pattern would endure in 1988 for the final time, allowing Bush to keep the race fairly close, only losing the state to Dukakis by 4%. Bush became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Broome County and the first to win without Montgomery County since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

This was the last election in which a Republican presidential nominee won heavily populated Nassau and Westchester Counties, as well as Monroe, Onondaga, and Ulster Counties, [2] and also the last election in which New York was decided by a single-digit margin. Beginning in 1992, the Democrats would make substantial inroads in the suburbs around New York City as well as parts of upstate, making New York a solid blue state that has gone Democratic by double-digit margins in every election since, consequently, this is the last time a Democrat lost the Upstate region. Rensselaer, Franklin, and St. Lawerence counties would not vote Republican again until 2016.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in New York
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic Michael Dukakis3,255,48750.19%
Liberal Michael Dukakis92,3951.42%
Total Michael Dukakis 3,347,88251.62%36
Republican George H. W. Bush2,838,41443.76%
Conservative George H. W. Bush243,4573.75%
Total George H. W. Bush 3,081,87147.52%0
Right to Life William Marra 20,4970.32%0
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 15,8450.24%0
Libertarian Ron Paul 12,1090.19%0
Workers World Larry Holmes4,1790.06%0
Socialist Workers James Warren 3,2870.05%0
Write-in Edward Winn 100.00%0
Write-in Willa Kenoyer 30.00%0
Totals6,485,683100.0%36

New York City results

1988 Presidential Election in New York City Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Democratic-
Liberal
Michael Dukakis 385,675218,245363,916325,14747,8121,340,79566.17%
76.14%73.22%66.28%59.47%37.95%
Republican-
Conservative
George H. W. Bush 115,92776,043178,961217,04977,427665,40732.84%
22.89%25.51%32.60%39.70%61.46%
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 2,6232,3673,2892,06216110,5020.52%
0.52%0.79%0.60%0.38%0.13%
Right to Life William Marra 678718155713553324,6400.23%
0.13%0.24%0.28%0.25%0.26%
Libertarian Ron Paul 8722354824751212,1850.11%
0.17%0.08%0.09%0.09%0.10%
Socialist Workers James Warren 475266480368721,6610.08%
0.09%0.09%0.09%0.07%0.06%
Workers’ World Larry Holmes301207334273501,1650.06%
0.06%0.07%0.06%0.07%0.04%
TOTAL506,551298,081549,019546,729125,9752,026,355100.00%

Results by county

CountyMichael Dukakis
Democratic
George H.W. Bush
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Albany 86,56458.70%59,53440.37%1,3630.92%27,03018.33%147,461
Allegany 5,61431.85%11,88067.40%1320.75%-6,266-35.55%17,626
Bronx 218,24573.22%76,04325.51%3,7931.27%142,20247.71%298,081
Broome 48,13049.95%47,61049.41%6250.65%5200.54%96,365
Cattaraugus 12,44738.38%19,69160.72%2900.89%-7,244-22.34%32,428
Cayuga 15,04446.60%16,93452.45%3070.95%-1,890-5.85%32,285
Chautauqua 25,81444.61%31,64254.68%4110.71%-5,828-10.07%57,867
Chemung 15,96642.99%20,95156.41%2220.60%-4,985-13.42%37,139
Chenango 8,02140.30%11,72758.92%1540.77%-3,706-18.62%19,902
Clinton 12,67044.36%15,70254.97%1910.67%-3,032-10.61%28,563
Columbia 11,58543.03%15,11156.12%2280.85%-3,526-13.09%26,924
Cortland 7,67340.88%10,93458.26%1620.86%-3,261-17.38%18,769
Delaware 7,46339.26%11,39159.92%1560.82%-3,928-20.66%19,010
Dutchess 38,96838.22%62,16560.97%8260.81%-23,197-22.75%101,959
Erie 238,77955.43%188,79643.83%3,2170.75%49,98311.60%430,792
Essex 6,62338.70%10,35060.48%1400.82%-3,727-21.78%17,113
Franklin 7,92846.11%9,13553.14%1290.75%-1,207-7.03%17,192
Fulton 9,01243.06%11,75756.17%1620.77%-2,745-13.11%20,931
Genesee 9,94540.87%14,18258.29%2050.84%-4,237-17.42%24,332
Greene 7,26537.61%11,87461.46%1800.93%-4,609-23.85%19,319
Hamilton 97629.42%2,32069.94%210.63%-1,344-40.52%3,317
Herkimer 12,69445.30%15,10453.90%2240.80%-2,410-8.60%28,022
Jefferson 14,13742.05%19,30457.41%1810.54%-5,167-15.36%33,622
Kings 363,91666.28%178,96132.60%6,1421.12%184,95533.68%549,019
Lewis 4,25241.94%5,78757.08%990.98%-1,535-15.14%10,138
Livingston 9,50640.11%14,00459.10%1870.79%-4,498-18.99%23,697
Madison 10,66541.41%14,90257.86%1870.73%-4,237-16.45%25,754
Monroe 153,65049.33%155,27149.85%2,5450.82%-1,621-0.52%311,466
Montgomery 11,37150.13%11,12849.05%1860.82%2431.08%22,685
Nassau 250,13042.22%337,43056.96%4,8580.82%-87,300-14.74%592,418
New York 385,67576.14%115,92722.89%4,9490.98%269,74853.25%506,551
Niagara 43,80150.42%42,53748.97%5300.61%1,2641.45%86,868
Oneida 47,66546.07%55,03953.20%7570.73%-7,374-7.13%103,461
Onondaga 94,75147.26%104,08051.91%1,6540.82%-9,329-4.65%200,485
Ontario 17,34143.97%21,78055.23%3140.80%-4,439-11.26%39,435
Orange 38,46536.70%65,44662.44%8990.86%-26,981-25.74%104,810
Orleans 5,91339.28%9,02859.97%1140.76%-3,115-20.69%15,055
Oswego 18,43041.69%25,36257.37%4190.95%-6,932-15.68%44,211
Otsego 11,06945.49%13,02153.51%2451.01%-1,952-8.02%24,335
Putnam 12,15833.31%24,08665.99%2560.70%-11,928-32.68%36,500
Queens 325,14759.47%217,04939.70%4,5330.83%108,09819.77%546,729
Rensselaer 33,06647.79%35,41251.18%7191.04%-2,346-3.39%69,197
Richmond 47,81237.95%77,42761.46%7360.58%-29,615-23.51%125,975
Rockland 47,63442.42%63,82556.83%8420.75%-16,191-14.41%112,301
St. Lawrence 18,92147.92%20,29051.39%2700.68%-1,369-3.47%39,481
Saratoga 31,68441.81%43,49857.39%6060.80%-11,814-15.58%75,788
Schenectady 36,48351.83%33,36447.40%5390.77%3,1194.43%70,386
Schoharie 5,38942.99%7,00855.90%1391.11%-1,619-12.91%12,536
Schuyler 2,90040.04%4,29159.25%510.70%-1,391-19.21%7,242
Seneca 6,21545.80%7,22153.21%1350.99%-1,006-7.41%13,571
Steuben 12,82433.34%25,35965.93%2830.74%-12,535-32.59%38,466
Suffolk 199,21538.73%311,24260.51%3,8930.76%-112,027-21.78%514,350
Sullivan 11,63542.20%15,71357.00%2200.80%-4,078-14.80%27,568
Tioga 8,10238.68%12,67060.49%1740.83%-4,568-21.81%20,946
Tompkins 21,45558.46%14,93240.69%3120.85%6,52317.77%36,699
Ulster 30,74442.37%41,17356.75%6400.88%-10,429-14.38%72,557
Warren 8,58034.85%15,86064.41%1820.74%-7,280-29.56%24,622
Washington 8,20136.42%14,10362.64%2110.94%-5,902-26.22%22,515
Wayne 12,95938.22%20,61360.80%3300.97%-7,654-22.58%33,902
Westchester 169,86045.78%197,95653.36%3,1920.86%-28,096-7.58%371,008
Wyoming 5,22835.17%9,45163.59%1841.24%-4,223-28.42%14,863
Yates 3,50738.65%5,48860.48%790.87%-1,981-21.83%9,074
Totals3,347,88251.62%3,081,87147.52%55,9300.86%266,0114.10%6,485,683

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

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References

  1. "1988 Presidential General Election Results - New York". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  2. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016