United States presidential election in Iowa, 1988

United States presidential election in Iowa, 1988

November 8, 1988
Nominee Michael Dukakis George H.W. Bush Party Democratic Republican Home state Massachusetts Texas Running mate Lloyd Bentsen Dan Quayle Electoral vote 8 0 Popular vote 670,557 545,355 Percentage 54.7% 44.5%
County Results   Dukakis—60-70%   Dukakis—50-60%   Dukakis—<50%   Bush—<50%   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%
President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

Elections in Iowa
Federal government Presidential elections 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Iowa caucuses Democratic 1976 1992 2000 2004 2008 2012 Republican 2000 2008 2012 Ames Straw Poll U. S. Senate elections 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 U.S. House elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
State government General elections 2014 2016 Gubernatorial elections 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Iowa Senate elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Iowa House elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 Iowa special elections 2009

The 1988 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Iowa was won by Democratic Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts with 54.71% of the popular vote over Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush's 44.50%, a victory margin of 10.22%. This made it one of 10 states (plus the District of Columbia) to vote for Dukakis, while Bush won a convincing electoral victory nationwide.

The farm crisis of the 1980s under the incumbent Republican administration made the Midwest one of the targets for the Dukakis campaign in 1988, which ultimately proved successful in the region with Democrats performing strongly in many farm states. Nowhere was this more evident than in Iowa, which was the second most Democratic state in the nation in 1988 in terms of both vote percentage and victory margin; it was one of just two states (along with Rhode Island) to vote Democratic by a double digit margin. This Democratic support was spread widely across the state, with Dukakis winning 75 of the state's 99 counties. Iowa was also the only state in the nation which Dukakis won by a larger margin than fellow Democrat Bill Clinton would win it by four years later in 1992; Dukakis won 13 counties in Iowa in 1988 which would vote for Bush in 1992.

While Dukakis personally overperformed in Iowa due to the farm crisis, 1988 was also the beginning of a long-term re-alignment of the state toward the Democratic Party, as the historically-Republican state has been a Democratic-leaning state ever since; prior to this election, Iowa had voted Republican in the five preceding elections. Beginning in 1988, Iowa has voted Democratic in six of the eight elections that have since occurred.

Results

References