1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina
Flag of South Carolina.svg
  1984 November 8, 1988 1992  
  VP George Bush crop.jpg Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote80
Popular vote606,443370,554
Percentage61.50%37.58%

South Carolina Presidential Election Results 1988.svg
County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Contents

South Carolina was won by incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who was running against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as Vice President, and Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

South Carolina weighed in for this election as 16% more Republican than the national average, and was the fourth most Republican state in the nation behind Utah, New Hampshire and Idaho. [1] The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for South Carolina, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot. [2]

As of the 2020 presidential election , this is the last election in which Richland County voted for a Republican Presidential candidate, while Dillon County would not vote Republican again until 2020. [3] Bush won the election in South Carolina by a landslide 23.9% margin. Bush scored particularly strong wins in the population centers of Greenville and Lexington Counties, winning over 70% of the vote in both. He also powerfully won Spartanburg County, the largest county in the state that had remained a Democratic stronghold into the 1960s and 1970s, with over 60% of the vote.

Background

With the exception of Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election South Carolina had not supported the Democratic presidential nominee since the 1960 presidential election. [4] Democratic U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings won reelection in 1986, but Carroll A. Campbell Jr.'s victory in that year's gubernatorial election made him the second Republican governor in South Carolina in the 20th century. [5]

Campaign

George H. W. Bush campaigning in North Augusta Vice President Bush campaigns for President in Augusta, South Carolina 3145 (cropped2).jpg
George H. W. Bush campaigning in North Augusta

South Carolina was the only southern state to not hold its primary on Super Tuesday. [6]

George H. W. Bush won South Carolina in the Republican primary and placed first in all six congressional districts. Campbell was the chair of Bush's campaign in the southern region and Thomas F. Hartnett chaired the Bush campaign in South Carolina. Campbell proposed the selection of Jack Kemp or Bob Dole as Bush's vice-presidential running mate. [7]

Dan Quayle was the only major party presidential or vice-presidential candidate to visit the state following the primaries with his tour of Darlington, on September 4. [8]

While 72% of registered voters participated in the election, South Carolina had the second-lowest voter-age population turnout in the country at 38.9%, only ahead of Georgia's 38.8%. South Carolina gave Bush the highest-percentage amount of support in the South. Eleven of the twelve counties that Dukakis won had majority black populations while the remaining one, Marlboro County, had a black population of 40%. [9] Among white voters, 79% supported Bush while 20% supported Dukakis. [10] [11]

The state's entire delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, four Democratic and two Republican, was reelected [12] and the Democrats retained control over the South Carolina General Assembly. [13]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
George
Bush
Republican
Michael
Dukakis
Democratic
Other /
Undecided
The State [4] Late May 198853%43%4%
The State [14] Early September 198858.6%35.8%5.6%

Results

1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 606,44361.50%8
Democratic Michael Dukakis 370,55437.58%0
Libertarian Ron Paul 4,9350.50%0
United Citizens Party Lenora Fulani 4,0770.41%0
Totals986,009100.0%8

Results by county

County [15] George H.W. Bush
Republican
Michael Dukakis
Democratic
Ron Paul
Libertarian
Leonora Fulani
United Citizens
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %
Abbeville 3,73850.51%3,62949.03%190.26%150.20%1091.48%7,401
Aiken 27,66571.84%10,59827.52%1420.37%1020.26%17,06744.32%38,507
Allendale 1,29541.59%1,79657.68%90.29%140.45%-501-16.09%3,114
Anderson 25,93967.58%12,28132.00%880.23%750.20%13,65835.58%38,383
Bamberg 2,40345.73%2,83053.85%50.10%170.32%-427-8.12%5,255
Barnwell 4,46763.14%2,56436.24%160.23%280.40%1,90326.90%7,075
Beaufort 16,18464.68%8,69134.73%860.34%600.24%7,49329.95%25,021
Berkeley 16,77963.81%9,31235.41%660.25%1400.53%7,46728.40%26,297
Calhoun 2,58554.00%2,17545.44%160.33%110.23%4108.56%4,787
Charleston 49,14959.28%32,97739.77%3730.45%4170.50%16,17219.51%82,916
Cherokee 7,76363.89%4,32235.57%340.28%320.26%3,44128.32%12,151
Chester 3,96851.21%3,73748.23%250.32%180.23%2312.98%7,748
Chesterfield 4,99951.35%4,69948.27%210.22%160.16%3003.08%9,735
Clarendon 4,33746.15%5,03053.53%120.13%180.19%-693-7.38%9,397
Colleton 4,96251.97%4,50847.22%260.27%510.53%4544.75%9,547
Darlington 9,85455.23%7,62542.73%2021.13%1620.91%2,22912.50%17,843
Dillon 3,79353.66%3,25145.99%110.16%140.20%5427.67%7,069
Dorchester 14,75666.37%7,37133.15%510.23%540.24%7,38533.22%22,232
Edgefield 3,81455.57%3,02044.00%140.20%150.22%79411.57%6,863
Fairfield 2,71441.23%3,82758.13%150.23%270.41%-1,113-16.90%6,583
Florence 19,49060.50%12,53138.90%1060.33%870.27%6,95921.60%32,214
Georgetown 7,03256.23%5,40243.20%260.21%460.37%1,63013.03%12,506
Greenville 67,37170.82%27,18828.58%4040.42%1630.17%40,18342.24%95,126
Greenwood 9,09657.92%6,51141.46%440.28%530.34%2,58516.46%15,704
Hampton 2,82644.81%3,43554.47%140.22%310.49%-609-9.66%6,306
Horry 24,84364.68%13,31634.67%1480.39%1020.27%11,52730.01%38,409
Jasper 2,00440.66%2,89458.71%100.20%210.43%-890-18.05%4,929
Kershaw 8,87765.89%4,49433.36%610.45%410.30%4,38332.53%13,473
Lancaster 9,15259.46%6,18140.15%340.22%260.17%2,97119.31%15,393
Laurens 9,73161.97%5,93037.77%280.18%130.08%3,80124.20%15,702
Lee 2,93646.17%3,42353.83%00.00%00.00%-487-7.66%6,359
Lexington 41,46777.89%11,36621.35%2860.54%1190.22%30,10156.54%53,238
McCormick 1,17240.22%1,72259.09%160.17%590.62%-550-18.87%2,914
Marion 4,40346.42%5,00852.79%50.07%70.10%-605-6.37%9,486
Marlboro 2,92142.52%3,93757.31%30.10%170.58%-1,016-14.79%6,870
Newberry 6,42762.37%3,82537.12%230.22%300.29%2,60225.25%10,305
Oconee 10,18469.83%4,29929.48%750.51%270.19%5,88540.35%14,585
Orangeburg 13,28147.35%14,65552.25%640.23%490.17%-1,374-4.90%28,049
Pickens 17,44873.63%6,10325.76%1100.46%350.15%11,34547.87%23,696
Richland 43,84152.74%36,42043.81%1,6171.95%1,2451.50%7,4218.93%83,123
Saluda 3,22561.64%1,98437.92%150.29%80.15%1,24123.72%5,232
Spartanburg 40,80163.19%22,96435.57%3970.61%4060.63%17,83727.62%64,568
Sumter 13,16157.72%9,50241.67%530.23%850.37%3,65916.05%22,801
Union 6,01957.52%4,42042.24%200.19%60.06%1,59915.28%10,465
Williamsburg 5,91444.39%7,34355.11%220.17%450.34%-1,429-10.72%13,324
York 21,65765.02%11,45834.40%1230.37%700.21%10,19930.62%33,308
Totals606,44361.50%370,55437.58%4,9350.50%4,0770.41%235,88923.92%986,009

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped Democratic to Republican

[16] [17]

References

  1. "1988 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. "1988 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. 1 2 Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 119.
  5. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 122.
  6. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1994, p. 9.
  7. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 126-127.
  8. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 127-128.
  9. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 129-130.
  10. Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
  11. Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
  12. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 134.
  13. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 137.
  14. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 128.
  15. "SC US President Race, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.
  16. "1984 Presidential General Election Results - South Carolina". Dave Leip's election atlas.
  17. "1988 Presidential General Election Results - South Carolina". Dave Leip's election atlas.

Works cited