1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Dukakis 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%	Bush 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
President before election; Ronald Reagan ; Republican	Elected President; George H. W. Bush ; Republican

Last updated March 29, 2024

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

West Virginia weighed in for this election as 13 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. As of 2020, this is the last time a Republican presidential candidate won the presidency without winning West Virginia. The 1988 election cycle is also the last time that West Virginia did not vote for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Kentucky.

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for West Virginia, with over 99% of the electorate voting for either the Republican or Democratic parties, and only three candidates appearing on the ballot.^[1] Dukakis won the election in West Virginia with a 5-point margin.

A rare event in any United States presidential election, West Virginia was home to a faithless elector in the election of 1988. During the assembly of the electoral college, one elector from West Virginia, Margarette Leach, cast her vote for the Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen as president, and Dukakis as the vice president. She did this in order to draw attention to the lack of accountability for electors under the Electoral College system.^[2]

Results

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	341,016	52.20%	5
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	310,065	47.46%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	2,230	0.34%	0
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen	0	0.00%	1
Totals			653,311	100.00%	6

Results by county

County	Michael Dukakis Democratic		George H.W. Bush Republican		Lenora Fulani New Alliance		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Barbour	3,221	51.45%	3,023	48.28%	17	0.27%	198	3.17%	6,261
Berkeley	6,313	36.84%	10,761	62.80%	61	0.36%	-4,448	-25.96%	17,135
Boone	6,539	69.97%	2,786	29.81%	20	0.21%	3,753	40.16%	9,345
Braxton	3,377	62.27%	2,024	37.32%	22	0.41%	1,353	24.95%	5,423
Brooke	6,258	60.72%	4,006	38.87%	42	0.41%	2,252	21.85%	10,306
Cabell	15,368	47.05%	17,197	52.65%	97	0.30%	-1,829	-5.60%	32,662
Calhoun	1,644	53.78%	1,395	45.63%	18	0.59%	249	8.15%	3,057
Clay	2,263	59.38%	1,536	40.30%	12	0.31%	727	19.08%	3,811
Doddridge	955	33.54%	1,880	66.03%	12	0.42%	-925	-32.49%	2,847
Fayette	11,009	67.94%	5,143	31.74%	53	0.33%	5,866	36.20%	16,205
Gilmer	1,661	54.21%	1,387	45.27%	16	0.52%	274	8.94%	3,064
Grant	893	21.62%	3,215	77.85%	22	0.53%	-2,322	-56.23%	4,130
Greenbrier	6,091	52.87%	5,395	46.83%	35	0.30%	696	6.04%	11,521
Hampshire	2,085	38.88%	3,253	60.66%	25	0.47%	-1,168	-21.78%	5,363
Hancock	8,338	58.39%	5,882	41.19%	60	0.42%	2,456	17.20%	14,280
Hardy	1,689	39.39%	2,581	60.19%	18	0.42%	-892	-20.80%	4,288
Harrison	17,005	55.90%	13,364	43.93%	49	0.16%	3,641	11.97%	30,418
Jackson	4,573	44.44%	5,696	55.35%	22	0.21%	-1,123	-10.91%	10,291
Jefferson	4,334	44.56%	5,349	55.00%	43	0.44%	-1,015	-10.44%	9,726
Kanawha	41,144	51.73%	38,140	47.95%	258	0.32%	3,004	3.78%	79,542
Lewis	3,272	47.37%	3,602	52.14%	34	0.49%	-330	-4.77%	6,908
Lincoln	5,049	59.20%	3,457	40.53%	23	0.27%	1,592	18.67%	8,529
Logan	11,317	72.51%	4,244	27.19%	47	0.30%	7,073	45.32%	15,608
Marion	14,441	60.82%	9,229	38.87%	72	0.30%	5,212	21.95%	23,742
Marshall	7,903	53.47%	6,793	45.96%	83	0.56%	1,110	7.51%	14,779
Mason	5,468	50.51%	5,332	49.26%	25	0.23%	136	1.25%	10,825
McDowell	7,204	74.16%	2,463	25.36%	47	0.48%	4,741	48.80%	9,714
Mercer	10,152	49.69%	10,221	50.03%	57	0.28%	-69	-0.34%	20,430
Mineral	4,059	40.14%	6,015	59.49%	37	0.37%	-1,956	-19.35%	10,111
Mingo	7,429	71.78%	2,896	27.98%	25	0.24%	4,533	43.80%	10,350
Monongalia	14,178	53.83%	12,091	45.91%	69	0.26%	2,087	7.92%	26,338
Monroe	2,427	46.96%	2,719	52.61%	22	0.43%	-292	-5.65%	5,168
Morgan	1,545	33.85%	3,002	65.78%	17	0.37%	-1,457	-31.93%	4,564
Nicholas	5,173	57.89%	3,731	41.75%	32	0.36%	1,442	16.14%	8,936
Ohio	10,121	49.18%	10,341	50.25%	116	0.56%	-220	-1.07%	20,578
Pendleton	1,595	45.53%	1,901	54.27%	7	0.20%	-306	-8.74%	3,503
Pleasants	1,421	44.59%	1,761	55.26%	5	0.16%	-340	-10.67%	3,187
Pocahontas	1,958	50.83%	1,876	48.70%	18	0.47%	82	2.13%	3,852
Preston	4,357	42.73%	5,804	56.92%	35	0.34%	-1,447	-14.19%	10,196
Putnam	6,640	44.74%	8,163	55.00%	38	0.26%	-1,523	-10.26%	14,841
Raleigh	14,302	57.71%	10,395	41.95%	85	0.34%	3,907	15.76%	24,782
Randolph	5,233	52.24%	4,746	47.38%	38	0.38%	487	4.86%	10,017
Ritchie	1,446	33.33%	2,874	66.25%	18	0.41%	-1,428	-32.92%	4,338
Roane	2,447	45.89%	2,861	53.66%	24	0.45%	-414	-7.77%	5,332
Summers	3,072	57.81%	2,231	41.98%	11	0.21%	841	15.83%	5,314
Taylor	2,852	50.09%	2,816	49.46%	26	0.46%	36	0.63%	5,694
Tucker	1,869	52.25%	1,699	47.50%	9	0.25%	170	4.75%	3,577
Tyler	1,501	38.75%	2,365	61.05%	8	0.21%	-864	-22.30%	3,874
Upshur	3,065	38.83%	4,813	60.97%	16	0.20%	-1,748	-22.14%	7,894
Wayne	8,621	54.65%	7,123	45.15%	31	0.20%	1,498	9.50%	5,775
Webster	2,185	67.92%	1,016	31.58%	16	0.50%	1,169	36.34%	3,217
Wetzel	3,928	53.44%	3,381	46.00%	41	0.56%	547	7.44%	7,350
Wirt	929	44.97%	1,125	54.45%	12	0.58%	-196	-9.48%	2,066
Wood	12,959	39.80%	19,450	59.73%	154	0.47%	-6,491	-19.93%	32,563
Wyoming	6,138	63.38%	3,516	36.31%	30	0.31%	2,622	27.07%	9,684
Totals	341,016	52.20%	310,065	47.46%	2,230	0.34%	30,951	4.74%	653,311

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

↑ A faithless Democratic elector voted for Bentsen for president and Dukakis for vice president

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References

↑ "1988 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
↑ "James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector". Slate. November 9, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2019.

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[1] A faithless Democratic elector voted for Bentsen for president and Dukakis for vice president

[2] "1988 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 21, 2013.

[3] "James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector". Slate. November 9, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2019.

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