1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

Main article: 1988 United States presidential election

1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

←  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 8 0 Popular vote 678,367 483,423 Percentage 57.93% 41.28%

Precinct/VTD Results [lower-alpha 1] County Results Bush   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90-100% Dukkakis   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Other   Tie   No votes   No data/unmatched [lower-alpha 1]

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

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

Oklahoma 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.

The election was very partisan, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot. ^[1] The Southeastern portion of the state resumed turning out in large numbers for the Democratic Party; in 1984 almost all its counties voted in majority for Reagan. This may be somewhat attributed to the influence of the ongoing drought and the farming crisis in the Great Plains, and of the politically volatile state of Texas, which was also changing its political orientation through the 1980s and 1990s from a Democratic area to a largely Republican one. Bush's dominance in the more populated metro Oklahoma City and Tulsa ensured a safe GOP victory. However, despite Bush and Quayle winning the state, Oklahoma swung more to the Democrats from 1984 to 1988 than any other state in the nation, swinging by 21.30 percentage points. Additionally, this remains the last time that a Democrat has won more than sixty percent of the vote in any Oklahoma county (these being Jefferson, Haskell, Hughes, Coal and Choctaw).

Bush easily won Oklahoma on election day, defeating Dukakis by a 16-point margin. Oklahoma weighed in for this election as 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	678,367	57.93%	8
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	483,423	41.28%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	6,261	0.53%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	2,985	0.25%	0
Totals			1,171,036	100.0%	8

Results by county

County	George Herbert Walker Bush Republican		Michael Stanley Dukakis Democratic		Ronald Ernest Paul [2] Libertarian		Leonora Branch Fulani [2] New Alliance		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	3,558	57.02%	2,624	42.05%	36	0.58%	22	0.35%	934	14.97%	6,240
Alfalfa	1,960	62.58%	1,117	35.66%	33	1.05%	22	0.70%	843	26.92%	3,132
Atoka	1,971	43.13%	2,565	56.13%	19	0.42%	15	0.33%	-594	-13.00%	4,570
Beaver	2,013	71.03%	777	27.42%	37	1.31%	7	0.25%	1,236	43.61%	2,834
Beckham	3,463	50.08%	3,388	48.99%	41	0.59%	23	0.33%	75	1.08%	6,915
Blaine	2,889	61.03%	1,775	37.49%	48	1.01%	22	0.46%	1,114	23.53%	4,734
Bryan	4,615	40.13%	6,849	59.55%	21	0.18%	16	0.14%	-2,234	-19.42%	11,501
Caddo	4,689	46.07%	5,387	52.93%	67	0.66%	34	0.33%	-698	-6.86%	10,177
Canadian	17,872	70.00%	7,453	29.19%	139	0.54%	66	0.26%	10,419	40.81%	25,530
Carter	8,430	50.98%	7,988	48.31%	72	0.44%	45	0.27%	442	2.67%	16,535
Cherokee	5,838	46.99%	6,483	52.18%	68	0.55%	35	0.28%	-645	-5.19%	12,424
Choctaw	2,217	39.60%	3,362	60.05%	15	0.27%	5	0.09%	-1,145	-20.45%	5,599
Cimarron	1,153	70.01%	470	28.54%	21	1.28%	3	0.18%	683	41.47%	1,647
Cleveland	36,313	61.62%	22,067	37.44%	407	0.69%	146	0.25%	14,246	24.17%	58,933
Coal	891	39.25%	1,365	60.13%	9	0.40%	5	0.22%	-474	-20.88%	2,270
Comanche	17,464	60.02%	11,441	39.32%	104	0.36%	90	0.31%	6,023	20.70%	29,099
Cotton	1,266	45.62%	1,482	53.41%	17	0.61%	10	0.36%	-216	-7.78%	2,775
Craig	2,463	45.23%	2,940	53.98%	24	0.44%	19	0.35%	-477	-8.76%	5,446
Creek	11,308	53.89%	9,512	45.33%	99	0.47%	63	0.30%	1,796	8.56%	20,982
Custer	6,735	63.98%	3,697	35.12%	66	0.63%	29	0.28%	3,038	28.86%	10,527
Delaware	5,248	51.39%	4,889	47.88%	45	0.44%	30	0.29%	359	3.52%	10,212
Dewey	1,543	60.49%	963	37.75%	28	1.10%	17	0.67%	580	22.74%	2,551
Ellis	1,422	63.37%	786	35.03%	27	1.20%	9	0.40%	636	28.34%	2,244
Garfield	15,248	64.78%	8,067	34.27%	156	0.66%	67	0.28%	7,181	30.51%	23,538
Garvin	5,109	47.94%	5,438	51.03%	84	0.79%	25	0.23%	-329	-3.09%	10,656
Grady	7,994	53.84%	6,689	45.05%	116	0.78%	49	0.33%	1,305	8.79%	14,848
Grant	1,690	56.71%	1,249	41.91%	29	0.97%	12	0.40%	441	14.80%	2,980
Greer	1,225	48.94%	1,256	50.18%	13	0.52%	9	0.36%	-31	-1.24%	2,503
Harmon	611	40.63%	890	59.18%	2	0.13%	1	0.07%	-279	-18.55%	1,504
Harper	1,281	67.42%	593	31.21%	14	0.74%	12	0.63%	688	36.21%	1,900
Haskell	1,822	37.73%	2,963	61.36%	26	0.54%	18	0.37%	-1,141	-23.63%	4,829
Hughes	2,037	38.24%	3,259	61.18%	19	0.36%	12	0.23%	-1,222	-22.94%	5,327
Jackson	4,423	55.28%	3,542	44.27%	24	0.30%	12	0.15%	881	11.01%	8,001
Jefferson	1,063	37.35%	1,767	62.09%	7	0.25%	9	0.32%	-704	-24.74%	2,846
Johnston	1,518	42.39%	2,042	57.02%	14	0.39%	7	0.20%	-524	-14.63%	3,581
Kay	12,646	61.50%	7,751	37.69%	112	0.54%	55	0.27%	4,895	23.80%	20,564
Kingfisher	4,011	68.54%	1,777	30.37%	45	0.77%	19	0.32%	2,234	38.17%	5,852
Kiowa	2,030	46.58%	2,296	52.68%	19	0.44%	13	0.30%	-266	-6.10%	4,358
Latimer	1,830	43.23%	2,365	55.87%	20	0.47%	18	0.43%	-535	-12.64%	4,233
Le Flore	6,964	51.05%	6,594	48.34%	63	0.46%	20	0.15%	370	2.71%	13,641
Lincoln	6,409	59.67%	4,225	39.34%	67	0.62%	39	0.36%	2,184	20.34%	10,740
Logan	6,947	59.36%	4,603	39.33%	117	1.00%	37	0.32%	2,344	20.03%	11,704
Love	1,361	41.66%	1,889	57.82%	12	0.37%	5	0.15%	-528	-16.16%	3,267
McClain	4,771	56.44%	3,594	42.52%	35	0.95%	16	0.44%	1,177	13.92%	8,453
McCurtain	4,920	49.64%	4,928	49.72%	16	0.34%	12	0.26%	-8	-0.08%	9,911
McIntosh	2,665	39.53%	4,041	59.94%	55	0.43%	40	0.31%	-1,376	-20.41%	6,742
Major	2,638	71.86%	982	26.75%	68	0.80%	20	0.24%	1,656	45.11%	3,671
Marshall	1,911	40.93%	2,730	58.47%	37	0.37%	26	0.26%	-819	-17.54%	4,669
Mayes	6,115	47.40%	6,691	51.86%	23	0.34%	13	0.19%	-576	-4.46%	12,901
Murray	2,056	42.89%	2,697	56.26%	29	0.60%	12	0.25%	-641	-13.37%	4,794
Muskogee	11,147	44.47%	13,760	54.89%	98	0.39%	63	0.25%	-2,613	-10.42%	25,068
Noble	3,015	63.80%	1,661	35.15%	32	0.68%	18	0.38%	1,354	28.65%	4,726
Nowata	2,000	47.24%	2,203	52.03%	16	0.38%	15	0.35%	-203	-4.79%	4,234
Okfuskee	1,851	45.17%	2,209	53.90%	21	0.51%	17	0.41%	-358	-8.74%	4,098
Oklahoma	135,376	63.59%	75,812	35.61%	1,162	0.55%	541	0.25%	59,564	27.98%	212,891
Okmulgee	5,674	40.52%	8,262	59.00%	40	0.29%	28	0.20%	-2,588	-18.48%	14,004
Osage	7,162	47.57%	7,778	51.66%	75	0.50%	40	0.27%	-616	-4.09%	15,055
Ottawa	5,026	42.85%	6,658	56.77%	27	0.23%	18	0.15%	-1,632	-13.91%	11,729
Pawnee	3,324	53.94%	2,781	45.13%	42	0.68%	15	0.24%	543	8.81%	6,162
Payne	16,027	59.57%	10,568	39.28%	233	0.87%	77	0.29%	5,459	20.29%	26,905
Pittsburg	7,594	46.47%	8,623	52.77%	78	0.48%	47	0.29%	-1,029	-6.30%	16,342
Pontotoc	6,609	49.92%	6,484	48.98%	95	0.72%	51	0.39%	125	0.94%	13,239
Pottawatomie	12,099	57.15%	8,873	41.92%	133	0.63%	64	0.30%	3,226	15.24%	21,169
Pushmataha	1,841	42.80%	2,430	56.50%	16	0.37%	14	0.33%	-589	-13.69%	4,301
Roger Mills	1,132	56.26%	866	43.04%	11	0.55%	3	0.15%	266	13.22%	2,012
Rogers	12,940	59.22%	8,771	40.14%	103	0.47%	37	0.17%	4,169	19.08%	21,851
Seminole	4,078	44.95%	4,911	54.13%	53	0.58%	31	0.34%	-833	-9.18%	9,073
Sequoyah	5,710	53.22%	4,951	46.15%	52	0.48%	16	0.15%	759	7.07%	10,729
Stephens	9,844	55.32%	7,833	44.02%	71	0.40%	47	0.26%	2,011	11.30%	17,795
Texas	4,971	73.62%	1,717	25.43%	40	0.59%	24	0.36%	3,254	48.19%	6,752
Tillman	1,754	44.65%	2,148	54.68%	15	0.38%	11	0.28%	-394	-10.03%	3,928
Tulsa	127,512	64.48%	69,044	34.91%	862	0.44%	345	0.17%	58,468	29.56%	197,763
Wagoner	10,219	57.68%	7,378	41.64%	86	0.49%	35	0.20%	2,841	16.03%	17,718
Washington	14,613	67.30%	6,971	32.11%	90	0.41%	39	0.18%	7,642	35.20%	21,713
Washita	2,402	50.62%	2,290	48.26%	38	0.80%	15	0.32%	112	2.36%	4,745
Woods	2,835	60.95%	1,735	37.30%	51	1.10%	30	0.65%	1,100	23.65%	4,651
Woodward	4,996	66.68%	2,408	32.14%	56	0.75%	33	0.44%	2,588	34.54%	7,493
Totals	678,367	57.93%	483,423	41.28%	6,261	0.53%	2,985	0.25%	194,944	16.65%	1,171,036

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Atoka
• Bryan
• Caddo
• Cherokee
• Choctaw
• Cotton
• Craig
• Garvin
• Greer
• Harmon
• Jefferson
• Johnston
• Kiowa
• Latimer
• Love
• McCurtain
• McIntosh
• Marshall
• Mayes
• Murray
• Muskogee
• Nowata
• Okfuskee
• Okmulgee
• Osage
• Ottawa
• Pittsburg
• Pushmataha
• Seminole
• Tillman

Slates of Electors

Democrat: Lou Rogers Watkins, M. David Riggs, Loretta Y. Jackson, Fred L. Boettcher, C. Pat Frank, Randy L. Beutler, Neil McElderry Jr, Demetrius Bereolos

Republican: Ron Collett, Lavelle Dennis, Mary Lou Mathis, Joyce Perring, Art Rubin, Susan Kay Schroeder, Rosemary Tarr, Dorothy Zumwalt

Libertarian: F. G. Litzaw, Brian W. Holk, G. Dennis Garland, Paul O. Woodward, Mary E. Laurent, Debby L. Wair, Whitney L. Boutin Jr, Michael A. Wair

New Alliance: Sandra Williams, Susanne Michelle Adams, Carol J. Mizell, Toni A. Zucconi, Tania Ann Zucconi, Rhonda K. Tsotigh, Jeffrey L. Fuller, Carl Jonathan Wood ^[3]

See also

• United States presidential elections in Oklahoma
• Presidency of George H. W. Bush

Notes

1. 1990 U.S. Census Voting Tabulation Districts (VTDs), with revisions, were used in place of true precincts for 74 of 77 counties. Not all VTDs were able to be matched to precinct data—these are offset in a separate color. Only votes for Bush and Dukkakis were available, accounting for 99.21% of votes cast for president.

References

1. "1988 Presidential General Election Results — Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
2. "OK US Presidential Election, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.
3. "Elections of 1988 — General Election, November 8, 1988" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board.