1988 United States presidential election in Vermont

1988 United States presidential election in Vermont
Bush 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%	Dukakis 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
President before election; Ronald Reagan ; Republican	Elected President; George H. W. Bush ; Republican

Last updated July 22, 2024

The 1988 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Vermont voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, by a narrow margin of 3.52%. Bush took 51.10% of the vote to Dukakis's 47.58%. This was one of only two times in the state's history (the other being William Howard Taft's 1.91% victory margin in 1912) that Vermont was decided by a margin of less than 5.00%, as the state spent little time as a swing state during its transition from being the most historically Republican state to the most Democratic.

While the Republicans held onto Vermont's three electoral votes once more, the closeness of the race represented a turning point in the state's political history. Vermont had once been one of the most Republican areas in the country, historically having voted Republican more times than any other state, often by landslide margins. From 1856 to 1984, the state had gone Republican in every presidential election except for the 1964 Democratic landslide. Despite this history, Vermont was considered a swing state in 1988, and the Dukakis campaign targeted it in its electoral strategy.^[1] In this election, the state weighed in as about 4% more Democratic than the nation. With the exception of Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Dukakis’ performance was the best of any Democratic presidential candidate in Vermont until Bill Clinton won the state in 1992.

Bush lost Addison and Windham counties, which had only voted Democratic once, in 1964, thus he became the first Republican to ever win without either of those counties. Like the rest of liberal and secular New England, Vermont in the 1980s began moving to the Democratic Party as the Republican Party became increasingly dominated by conservatives, Southerners, and Evangelical Christians. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that a Republican would carry the state of Vermont in a presidential election, and in the following three decades, it would become regarded as one of the bluest of blue states. It would also be the last time the Republicans would carry the counties of Bennington, Lamoille, Rutland, Washington and Windsor.^[2] This is also the last time that a Republican has won over 60% of the vote in any county in Vermont, which Bush did in the counties of Caledonia and Essex.

To date, this is the last time that the cities of Rutland and Vergennes, as well as the towns of Albany, Arlington, Berlin, Bethel, Bolton, Brandon, Brookline, Cambridge, Chester, Colchester, Dover, East Montpelier, Elmore, Enosburgh, Essex, Fairlee, Goshen, Grafton, Grand Isle, Granville, Halifax, Hardwick, Hartland, Hartford, Hubbardton, Hyde Park, Jamaica, Jay, Jericho, Johnson, Killington, Kirby, Ludlow, Middletown Springs, Moretown, Morristown, Mount Holly, Newark, Peacham, Pomfret, Poultney, Pownal, Proctor, Randolph, Reading, Rochester, Salisbury, Shaftsbury, Sharon, Shelburne, Shrewsbury, South Hero, Springfield, St. Albans, St. George, Stockbridge, Stowe, Sudbury, Townshend, Waitsfield, Walden, Waltham, Waterbury, Weathersfield, West Windsor, Williston, Wilmington, Winhall, Wolcott, and Woodstock voted Republican.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Vermont^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	124,331	51.10%	3
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	115,775	47.58%	0
	No party	Write-ins	1,140	0.47%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	1,003	0.41%	0
	Independent	Lyndon LaRouche	275	0.11%	0
	New Alliance	Lenora Fulani	205	0.08%	0
	America First	David Duke	190	0.08%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Herbert G. Lewin	161	0.07%	0
	Liberty Union (Socialist)	Willa Kenoyer	142	0.06%	0
	Socialist Workers	James Warren	111	0.05%	0
Totals			243,333	100.00%	3
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					59%/70%

Results by county

County	George H.W. Bush^[4] Republican		Michael Dukakis^[4] Democratic		Various candidates^[4] Write-ins		Ron Paul^[4] Libertarian		Various candidates^[4] Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Addison	6,773	49.09%	6,791	49.22%	63	0.46%	93	0.67%	77	0.56%	-18	-0.13%	13,797
Bennington	8,387	53.34%	7,174	45.62%	39	0.25%	55	0.35%	70	0.45%	1,213	7.72%	15,725
Caledonia	6,915	61.13%	4,251	37.58%	57	0.50%	52	0.46%	37	0.33%	2,664	23.55%	11,312
Chittenden	27,380	47.75%	29,185	50.89%	266	0.46%	301	0.52%	214	0.37%	-1,805	-3.14%	57,346
Essex	1,535	64.20%	837	35.01%	5	0.21%	6	0.25%	8	0.33%	698	29.19%	2,391
Franklin	7,293	49.16%	7,372	49.70%	61	0.41%	49	0.33%	59	0.40%	-79	-0.54%	14,834
Grand Isle	1,316	48.24%	1,369	50.18%	7	0.26%	22	0.81%	14	0.51%	-53	-1.94%	2,728
Lamoille	4,433	54.51%	3,561	43.78%	49	0.60%	43	0.53%	47	0.58%	872	10.73%	8,133
Orange	6,151	54.35%	4,977	43.97%	56	0.49%	79	0.70%	55	0.49%	1,174	10.38%	11,318
Orleans	5,257	54.70%	4,224	43.95%	69	0.72%	25	0.26%	36	0.37%	1,033	10.75%	9,611
Rutland	14,482	55.15%	11,496	43.78%	118	0.45%	62	0.24%	103	0.39%	2,986	11.37%	26,261
Washington	13,253	50.40%	12,690	48.26%	138	0.52%	77	0.29%	136	0.52%	563	2.14%	26,294
Windham	8,572	45.96%	9,839	52.75%	77	0.41%	48	0.26%	117	0.63%	-1,267	-6.79%	18,653
Windsor	12,584	50.48%	12,009	48.17%	135	0.54%	91	0.37%	111	0.45%	575	2.31%	24,930
Totals	124,331	51.10%	115,775	47.58%	1,140	0.47%	1,003	0.41%	1,084	0.45%	8,556	3.52%	243,333

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

↑ "DUKAKIS ELECTORAL STRATEGY SET - The Washington Post".
↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
↑ "1988 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
1 2 3 4 5 Our Campaigns; VT US Presidential Election Race, November 08, 1988

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[1] "DUKAKIS ELECTORAL STRATEGY SET - The Washington Post".

[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

[3] "1988 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 7, 2013.

[Our-4] 1 2 3 4 5 Our Campaigns; VT US Presidential Election Race, November 08, 1988

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