1988 United States presidential election in Vermont
November 8, 1988
 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 124,331 115,775
Percentage 51.10% 47.58%
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

 Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

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 between moving from the most historically Republican state to among 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. Consequently, this would be 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 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, as well as the last time that Vermont voted to the right of several states, specifically Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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 Herbert Walker Bush[4]
Republican		 Michael Stanley Dukakis[4]
Democratic		 Various candidates[4]
Write-ins		 Ronald Ernest Paul[4]
Libertarian		 Various candidates[4]
Other parties		 Margin 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 7.71% 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 -3.15% 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 -0.53% 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 10.72% 8,133
Orange 6,151 54.35% 4,977 43.97% 56 0.49% 79 0.70% 55 0.49% 1,174 10.37% 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
Totals124,33151.10%115,77547.58%1,1400.47%1,0030.41%1,0840.45%8,5563.52%243,333

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

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