1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina

Main article: 1988 United States presidential election

1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina

←  1984 November 8, 1988 1992  →

Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 13 0 Popular vote 1,237,258 890,167 Percentage 57.97% 41.71%

County results Congressional district results Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Dukakis   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

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

The 1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 8, 1988, and was part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

North Carolina voted for the Vice President George H. W. Bush, running with U.S Senator Dan Quayle, against Governor Michael Dukakis, running with U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. As of the 2020 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which Pasquotank County voted for a Republican presidential candidate. ^[1]

Background

With the exception of Jimmy Carter's victory in North Carolina in 1976, the state had voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1968. Republican membership in the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina peaked in elections held concurrently with the presidential elections and shrank in the following midterms. Jesse Helms's victory in the 1972 senatorial election made him the state's first Republican senator in the 20th century and John Porter East was elected to the state's other seat in 1980, but lost in the 1986 election. ^[2]

Republican identification among voters in the state rose from 27% to 37% between 1968 and 1986 while identification among Democrats fell from 68% to 58%. ^[3]

Campaign

Al Gore won 51% of the white vote while Dukakis won 30%. ^[4] The racial composition of the Democratic primary was 71% white and 29% black. ^[5] 36% of white voters participated in the Republican primary. ^[6]

North Carolina was one of the southern states that Michael Dukakis's campaign viewed as winnable. The North Carolina Democratic Party used $500,000 from the national party to hire over 100 workers and organize phone banks in every county, which contacted over 200,000 households. The North Carolina Republican Party received $700,000 from the national party, but only hired ten workers and instead used the money to conduct polling and hire mailing organizations. ^[7]

George H. W. Bush campaign in the state three times, and Dan Quayle, Dukakis, and Lloyd Bentsen each came twice. ^[8] 68% of white voters supported Bush while 32% supported Dukakis. ^{[9] [10]}

Results

1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	1,237,258	57.97%	13
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	890,167	41.71%	0
	New Alliance	Lenora Fulani	5,682	0.27%	0
	Write-in	Ron Paul	1,263	0.06%	0
Invalid or blank votes					—
Totals			2,134,370	100.00%	13
Voter turnout					—

Results by county

1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina by county ^[12]

County	George H. W. Bush Republican		Michael Dukakis Democratic		Lenora Fulani New Alliance		Ron Paul Write-in		Margin
	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Mitchell	76.82%	4,620	22.90%	1,377	0.28%	17			53.92%	3,243
Avery	75.33%	4,277	24.08%	1,367	0.39%	22	0.21%	12	51.25%	2,910
Randolph	73.32%	23,881	26.53%	8,641	0.15%	49			46.79%	15,240
Davie	71.37%	7,988	28.29%	3,166	0.34%	38			43.08%	4,822
Yadkin	71.10%	7,918	28.69%	3,195	0.22%	24			42.41%	4,723
Gaston	70.32%	34,775	29.49%	14,582	0.18%	87	0.01%	7	40.83%	20,193
Catawba	69.01%	28,872	30.89%	12,922	0.11%	44			38.12%	15,950
Davidson	68.11%	28,374	31.72%	13,215	0.17%	70	0.01%	3	36.39%	15,159
Henderson	67.68%	19,711	32.06%	9,338	0.20%	58	0.06%	18	35.62%	10,373
Cabarrus	67.75%	22,524	32.14%	10,686	0.08%	26	0.04%	12	35.61%	11,838
Wilkes	67.65%	15,231	32.11%	7,230	0.24%	53			35.54%	8,001
Iredell	67.02%	21,536	32.77%	10,530	0.19%	62	0.02%	7	34.25%	11,006
Caldwell	65.78%	15,176	34.08%	7,862	0.14%	33			31.70%	7,314
Union	65.71%	17,015	34.06%	8,820	0.18%	46	0.06%	15	31.65%	8,195
Alexander	65.56%	7,968	34.13%	4,148	0.27%	33	0.04%	5	31.43%	3,820
Rowan	65.48%	23,192	34.24%	12,127	0.27%	96	0.00%	1	31.24%	11,065
Alamance	65.48%	24,131	34.31%	12,642	0.19%	69	0.02%	9	31.18%	11,489
Moore	65.37%	14,543	34.35%	7,642	0.12%	27	0.16%	36	31.02%	6,901
Dare	64.85%	5,234	34.77%	2,806	0.36%	29	0.02%	2	30.08%	2,428
Nash	64.34%	15,906	35.35%	8,740	0.13%	32	0.18%	44	28.99%	7,166
Lincoln	64.26%	11,651	35.54%	6,444	0.18%	32	0.02%	3	28.72%	5,207
Stanly	64.13%	11,885	35.76%	6,627	0.09%	17	0.02%	3	28.37%	5,258
Johnston	63.97%	15,563	35.83%	8,717	0.14%	35	0.06%	14	28.14%	6,846
Cherokee	63.78%	4,557	35.93%	2,567	0.29%	21			27.85%	1,990
Onslow	62.87%	12,253	36.75%	7,162	0.36%	71	0.01%	2	26.12%	5,091
Clay	62.47%	2,174	37.04%	1,289	0.37%	13	0.11%	4	25.43%	885
Lee	62.47%	7,104	37.21%	4,231	0.30%	34	0.02%	2	25.27%	2,873
Wayne	62.48%	15,292	37.33%	9,135	0.19%	47			25.16%	6,157
Craven	62.10%	12,057	37.66%	7,313	0.24%	46	0.01%	1	24.43%	4,744
Transylvania	61.86%	7,009	37.78%	4,280	0.17%	19	0.19%	22	24.09%	2,729
Stokes	61.81%	8,661	37.96%	5,319	0.19%	27	0.04%	5	23.85%	3,342
Carteret	61.55%	11,076	38.12%	6,859	0.28%	51	0.04%	8	23.44%	4,217
Macon	61.39%	6,026	38.44%	3,773	0.13%	13	0.04%	4	22.95%	2,253
Graham	61.16%	2,091	38.40%	1,313	0.44%	15			22.76%	778
Surry	61.06%	11,393	38.83%	7,245	0.12%	22			22.23%	4,148
Currituck	60.98%	2,443	38.82%	1,555	0.12%	5	0.07%	3	22.17%	888
New Hanover	60.56%	23,807	39.18%	15,401	0.21%	82	0.06%	23	21.38%	8,406
Beaufort	60.35%	8,190	39.44%	5,352	0.21%	28			20.91%	2,838
Polk	60.31%	3,874	39.45%	2,534	0.20%	13	0.03%	2	20.86%	1,340
Rutherford	59.73%	10,337	40.02%	6,926	0.25%	43			19.71%	3,411
Ashe	59.69%	6,019	40.01%	4,034	0.17%	17	0.13%	13	19.69%	1,985
Mecklenburg	59.42%	106,236	40.22%	71,907	0.35%	619	0.02%	34	19.20%	34,329
Burke	59.41%	15,933	40.45%	10,848	0.10%	26	0.04%	12	18.96%	5,085
McDowell	59.34%	6,526	40.46%	4,449	0.20%	22			18.89%	2,077
Forsyth	59.02%	57,688	40.65%	39,726	0.31%	302	0.02%	19	18.38%	17,962
Watauga	58.59%	8,662	40.91%	6,048	0.39%	57	0.12%	18	17.68%	2,614
Lenoir	58.13%	10,669	41.68%	7,649	0.19%	34	0.01%	1	16.46%	3,020
Buncombe	57.55%	36,828	42.14%	26,964	0.29%	185	0.02%	15	15.41%	9,864
Cleveland	57.54%	14,039	42.30%	10,321	0.11%	28	0.04%	9	15.24%	3,718
Harnett	57.25%	9,749	42.63%	7,259	0.12%	21			14.62%	2,490
Wilson	57.11%	10,997	42.65%	8,214	0.21%	40	0.03%	6	14.45%	2,783
Wake	56.87%	81,613	42.75%	61,352	0.34%	482	0.04%	57	14.12%	20,261
Guilford	56.35%	66,060	42.95%	50,351	0.24%	276	0.46%	545	13.40%	15,709
Person	56.00%	4,832	43.78%	3,777	0.20%	17	0.02%	2	12.23%	1,055
Brunswick	55.78%	10,007	43.93%	7,881	0.18%	32	0.11%	19	11.85%	2,126
Rockingham	55.77%	14,591	44.15%	11,551	0.08%	21	0.00%	1	11.62%	3,040
Pitt	55.08%	18,245	44.61%	14,777	0.22%	72	0.10%	33	10.47%	3,468
Perquimans	53.32%	1,781	46.20%	1,543	0.42%	14	0.06%	2	7.13%	238
Madison	53.07%	3,453	46.62%	3,033	0.31%	20			6.46%	420
Cumberland	53.07%	27,057	46.66%	23,789	0.24%	121	0.02%	12	6.41%	3,268
Montgomery	52.80%	4,504	46.83%	3,995	0.36%	31			5.97%	509
Pender	52.84%	4,926	46.95%	4,377	0.14%	13	0.08%	7	5.89%	549
Yancey	52.00%	4,160	47.54%	3,803	0.46%	37			4.46%	357
Chowan	51.56%	1,884	48.06%	1,756	0.38%	14			3.50%	128
Sampson	51.49%	8,524	48.38%	8,009	0.13%	22			3.11%	515
Camden	50.87%	1,144	48.07%	1,081	1.07%	24			2.80%	63
Pamlico	50.98%	2,297	48.56%	2,188	0.47%	21			2.42%	109
Jackson	51.03%	5,166	48.73%	4,933	0.24%	24			2.30%	233
Alleghany	50.98%	2,174	48.94%	2,087	0.07%	3			2.04%	87
Pasquotank	50.76%	4,006	48.91%	3,860	0.32%	25	0.01%	1	1.85%	146
Franklin	50.17%	5,499	49.62%	5,438	0.20%	22	0.01%	1	0.56%	61
Vance	49.88%	5,625	49.94%	5,631	0.16%	18	0.02%	2	-0.05%	-6
Haywood	49.68%	8,957	49.98%	9,010	0.27%	48	0.07%	13	-0.29%	-53
Swain	49.52%	1,795	50.23%	1,821	0.25%	9			-0.72%	-26
Duplin	49.24%	5,774	50.70%	5,945	0.06%	7			-1.46%	-171
Granville	46.75%	4,880	50.58%	5,280	2.62%	274	0.05%	5	-3.83%	-400
Chatham	47.81%	6,999	51.92%	7,600	0.18%	27	0.09%	13	-4.11%	-601
Greene	47.69%	2,498	52.10%	2,729	0.21%	11			-4.41%	-231
Martin	46.61%	3,149	53.26%	3,598	0.10%	7	0.03%	2	-6.65%	-449
Halifax	46.03%	7,462	53.83%	8,726	0.14%	23			-7.80%	-1,264
Jones	45.78%	1,649	54.03%	1,946	0.19%	7			-8.25%	-297
Durham	45.43%	29,928	53.79%	35,441	0.73%	478	0.05%	36	-8.37%	-5,513
Scotland	45.16%	3,199	54.56%	3,865	0.28%	20			-9.40%	-666
Tyrrell	44.70%	637	55.09%	785	0.21%	3			-10.39%	-148
Caswell	43.93%	3,299	55.79%	4,189	0.27%	20	0.01%	1	-11.85%	-890
Washington	43.69%	2,186	56.08%	2,806	0.22%	11	0.02%	1	-12.39%	-620
Edgecombe	42.92%	6,831	56.82%	9,044	0.19%	31	0.06%	10	-13.90%	-2,213
Bladen	42.77%	3,770	57.08%	5,031	0.15%	13			-14.31%	-1,261
Columbus	41.93%	6,659	57.75%	9,172	0.32%	51			-15.82%	-2,513
Gates	41.64%	1,451	58.08%	2,024	0.29%	10			-16.44%	-573
Hyde	41.52%	940	58.13%	1,316	0.35%	8			-16.61%	-376
Richmond	41.39%	5,073	58.34%	7,151	0.21%	26	0.06%	7	-16.95%	-2,078
Orange	39.13%	14,503	60.23%	22,326	0.35%	131	0.29%	107	-21.11%	-7,823
Hoke	37.88%	2,020	61.52%	3,281	0.60%	32			-23.65%	-1,261
Hertford	37.54%	2,977	62.33%	4,943	0.11%	9	0.01%	1	-24.79%	-1,966
Robeson	36.70%	9,908	62.92%	16,988	0.39%	104			-26.22%	-7,080
Anson	36.45%	2,782	63.29%	4,831	0.26%	20			-26.84%	-2,049
Bertie	36.24%	2,145	63.56%	3,762	0.20%	12			-27.32%	-1,617
Northampton	34.34%	2,415	65.39%	4,599	0.27%	19			-31.05%	-2,184
Warren	33.64%	2,163	66.09%	4,249	0.26%	17			-32.45%	-2,086

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Vance
• Haywood
• Swain
• Duplin
• Granville
• Chatham
• Greene
• Martin
• Jones
• Durham
• Scotland
• Columbus
• Gates

Voter demographics

The 1988 presidential vote by demographic subgroup
Demographic subgroup	Dukakis	Bush	% of total vote
Total vote	42	58	100
Party
Republican		94
Independent		70
Democratic		18
Ideology
Liberals		27
Moderates		49
Conservatives		83
Gender
Men		63
Women		53
Race
White		68
Black		8
Occupation
Blue collar		60
White collar		63
Professional		61
Education
Less than high school graduate		51
High school graduate		64
College		60
Graduate/professional work		52
Age
18–24 years old		65
25–49 years old		59
50–64 years old		56
65 and older		52
Family income
Under $20,000		42
$20,000–50,000		61
Over $50,000		68
Religion
Protestant		65
Catholic		48

Source: NBC exit poll (2,516 surveyed) and CBS News exit poll (1,503 surveyed) ^[13]

References

1. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
2. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 185-186.
3. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 186.
4. Black & Black 1992, p. 266.
5. Black & Black 1992, p. 263.
6. Black & Black 1992, p. 288.
7. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 190-191.
8. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 191.
9. Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
10. Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
11. "1988 Presidential General Election Results – North Carolina". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
12. "NC US President Race, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.
13. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 196-197.

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN   0674941306.
• Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN   0275931455.