1988 United States presidential election in Michigan
1988 United States presidential election in Michigan Turnout 55.3% [1]
County Results
Bush
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
Dukakis
50–60%
60–70%
The 1988 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia , were part of the 1988 United States presidential election . Voters chose 20 electors to the Electoral College , which selected the president and vice president .
Michigan 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 .
Michigan weighed in for this election as 0.1% more Republican than the national average. This is the last time a Republican carried Michigan with a majority of the vote, and was last time it voted Republican at all until Donald Trump 's plurality win in 2016 .
Typical for elections in the 1980s, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan turned out mainly Democratic, and the Lower Peninsula turned out mainly Republican, with the notable exception of Detroit 's highly populated Wayne County , which voted mainly Democratic. As of the 2020 presidential election [update] , this is the last election in which Ingham County , Kalamazoo County , and Muskegon County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[2] As of the 2020 U.S. presidential election , this is also the last time Michigan voted to the right of neighboring Wisconsin , as well as the last time the Lower Peninsula voted for the Republican presidential candidate.
The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Michigan, with more than 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties.[3] Bush won the election in Michigan with a solid 7.90% point margin.
As of the 2020 U.S. presidential election , this is also the last time Michigan was the most Republican-leaning of the three Rust Belt swing states (also consisting of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania).
Results
1988 United States presidential election in Michigan
Party
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
George H. W. Bush
1,965,486
53.57%
20
Democratic
Michael Dukakis
1,675,783
45.67%
0
Libertarian
Ron Paul
18,336
0.50%
0
New Alliance Party
Lenora Fulani
2,513
0.07%
0
Minnesota Progressive Party
Eugene McCarthy
2,497
0.07%
0
Socialist Equality Party
Edward Winn
1,958
0.05%
0
Write-Ins
902
0.02%
0
Socialist Workers Party
James Warren
819
0.02%
0
Workers World
Larry Holmes
804
0.02%
0
America First
David Duke
60
>0.01%
0
Totals
3,669,158
100.0%
20
Results by county
County
George H.W. Bush Republican
Michael Dukakis Democratic
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast[4]
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alcona
2,966
60.47%
1,918
39.10%
21
0.43%
1,048
21.37%
4,905
Alger
1,830
45.08%
2,210
54.45%
19
0.47%
-380
-9.37%
4,059
Allegan
22,163
66.78%
10,785
32.50%
240
0.72%
11,378
34.28%
33,188
Alpena
6,664
51.05%
6,341
48.58%
49
0.38%
323
2.47%
13,054
Antrim
5,231
61.95%
3,159
37.41%
54
0.64%
2,072
24.54%
8,444
Arenac
3,064
48.63%
3,211
50.97%
25
0.40%
-147
-2.34%
6,300
Baraga
1,630
47.88%
1,753
51.50%
21
0.62%
-123
-3.62%
3,404
Barry
12,546
60.66%
7,983
38.60%
152
0.73%
4,563
22.06%
20,681
Bay
20,710
42.13%
28,225
57.42%
217
0.44%
-7,515
-15.29%
49,152
Benzie
3,240
56.52%
2,437
42.52%
55
0.96%
803
14.00%
5,732
Berrien
37,799
62.81%
21,948
36.47%
436
0.72%
15,851
26.34%
60,183
Branch
9,225
63.48%
5,231
36.00%
75
0.52%
3,994
27.48%
14,531
Calhoun
26,771
53.77%
22,717
45.63%
299
0.60%
4,054
8.14%
49,787
Cass
10,229
57.61%
7,444
41.92%
83
0.47%
2,785
15.69%
17,756
Charlevoix
5,802
59.43%
3,875
39.69%
85
0.87%
1,927
19.74%
9,762
Cheboygan
5,395
57.52%
3,943
42.04%
42
0.45%
1,452
15.48%
9,380
Chippewa
6,786
56.23%
5,222
43.27%
60
0.50%
1,564
12.96%
12,068
Clare
5,661
54.18%
4,710
45.08%
77
0.74%
951
9.10%
10,448
Clinton
15,497
62.39%
9,225
37.14%
115
0.46%
6,272
25.25%
24,837
Crawford
3,097
62.28%
1,825
36.70%
51
1.03%
1,272
25.58%
4,973
Delta
7,114
44.28%
8,891
55.34%
60
0.37%
-1,777
-11.06%
16,065
Dickinson
6,158
49.89%
6,129
49.66%
56
0.45%
29
0.23%
12,343
Eaton
24,193
60.78%
15,322
38.49%
291
0.73%
8,871
22.29%
39,806
Emmet
7,105
62.40%
4,170
36.62%
111
0.97%
2,935
25.78%
11,386
Genesee
70,922
40.10%
104,880
59.30%
1,057
0.60%
-33,958
-19.20%
176,859
Gladwin
4,746
52.83%
4,164
46.35%
73
0.81%
582
6.48%
8,983
Gogebic
3,509
40.38%
5,151
59.27%
31
0.36%
-1,642
-18.89%
8,691
Grand Traverse
17,191
62.46%
10,098
36.69%
236
0.86%
7,093
25.77%
27,525
Gratiot
8,447
59.36%
5,719
40.19%
64
0.45%
2,728
19.17%
14,230
Hillsdale
10,571
68.29%
4,763
30.77%
145
0.94%
5,808
37.52%
15,479
Houghton
7,098
51.83%
6,510
47.54%
86
0.63%
588
4.29%
13,694
Huron
9,419
61.91%
5,714
37.56%
81
0.53%
3,705
24.35%
15,214
Ingham
58,363
50.56%
55,984
48.50%
1,088
0.94%
2,379
2.06%
115,435
Ionia
12,028
59.05%
8,160
40.06%
181
0.89%
3,868
18.99%
20,369
Iosco
7,234
59.17%
4,929
40.32%
62
0.51%
2,305
18.85%
12,225
Iron
2,866
42.94%
3,774
56.55%
34
0.51%
-908
-13.61%
6,674
Isabella
10,362
56.07%
7,960
43.07%
160
0.87%
2,402
13.00%
18,482
Jackson
33,885
60.37%
21,865
38.96%
377
0.67%
12,020
21.41%
56,127
Kalamazoo
50,205
55.64%
39,457
43.73%
573
0.64%
10,748
11.91%
90,235
Kalkaska
3,369
61.21%
2,092
38.01%
43
0.78%
1,277
23.20%
5,504
Kent
131,910
63.77%
73,467
35.52%
1,465
0.71%
58,443
28.25%
206,842
Keweenaw
536
45.81%
631
53.93%
3
0.26%
-95
-8.12%
1,170
Lake
1,713
46.32%
1,958
52.95%
27
0.73%
-245
-6.63%
3,698
Lapeer
16,670
60.19%
10,736
38.76%
291
1.05%
5,934
21.43%
27,697
Leelanau
5,215
60.51%
3,331
38.65%
73
0.85%
1,884
21.86%
8,619
Lenawee
19,115
57.84%
13,690
41.42%
243
0.74%
5,425
16.42%
33,048
Livingston
31,331
68.79%
13,749
30.19%
466
1.02%
17,582
38.60%
45,546
Luce
1,528
63.22%
864
35.75%
25
1.03%
664
27.47%
2,417
Mackinac
3,127
59.65%
2,093
39.93%
22
0.42%
1,034
19.72%
5,242
Macomb
175,632
60.33%
112,856
38.77%
2,627
0.90%
62,776
21.56%
291,115
Manistee
5,368
52.58%
4,765
46.67%
77
0.75%
603
5.91%
10,210
Marquette
11,704
42.92%
15,418
56.54%
145
0.53%
-3,714
-13.62%
27,267
Mason
6,800
59.58%
4,531
39.70%
82
0.72%
2,269
19.88%
11,413
Mecosta
8,181
63.02%
4,736
36.48%
64
0.49%
3,445
26.54%
12,981
Menominee
5,440
52.28%
4,918
47.26%
48
0.46%
522
5.02%
10,406
Midland
19,994
59.12%
13,452
39.78%
371
1.10%
6,542
19.34%
33,817
Missaukee
3,566
68.26%
1,621
31.03%
37
0.71%
1,945
37.23%
5,224
Monroe
26,189
54.19%
21,847
45.21%
288
0.60%
4,342
8.98%
48,324
Montcalm
10,963
58.46%
7,664
40.87%
127
0.68%
3,299
17.59%
18,754
Montmorency
2,514
61.32%
1,563
38.12%
23
0.56%
951
23.20%
4,100
Muskegon
33,567
53.36%
28,977
46.06%
363
0.58%
4,590
7.30%
62,907
Newaygo
9,896
64.32%
5,389
35.03%
100
0.65%
4,507
29.29%
15,385
Oakland
283,359
61.27%
174,745
37.78%
4,384
0.95%
108,614
23.49%
462,488
Oceana
5,693
62.46%
3,356
36.82%
65
0.71%
2,337
25.64%
9,114
Ogemaw
4,091
50.20%
4,012
49.23%
47
0.58%
79
0.97%
8,150
Ontonagon
2,023
44.34%
2,517
55.17%
22
0.48%
-494
-10.83%
4,562
Osceola
5,218
64.25%
2,860
35.22%
43
0.53%
2,358
29.03%
8,121
Oscoda
1,972
62.27%
1,170
36.94%
25
0.79%
802
25.33%
3,167
Otsego
4,620
63.31%
2,635
36.11%
43
0.59%
1,985
27.20%
7,298
Ottawa
61,515
76.20%
18,769
23.25%
445
0.55%
42,746
52.95%
80,729
Presque Isle
3,614
54.11%
3,025
45.29%
40
0.60%
589
8.82%
6,679
Roscommon
5,866
56.93%
4,394
42.65%
43
0.42%
1,472
14.28%
10,303
Saginaw
42,401
47.88%
45,616
51.51%
549
0.62%
-3,215
-3.63%
88,566
Sanilac
10,653
65.73%
5,445
33.60%
109
0.67%
5,208
32.13%
16,207
Schoolcraft
1,802
46.37%
2,071
53.29%
13
0.33%
-269
-6.92%
3,886
Shiawassee
15,506
53.94%
13,056
45.42%
186
0.65%
2,450
8.52%
28,748
St. Clair
32,336
60.26%
20,909
38.97%
413
0.77%
11,427
21.29%
53,658
St. Joseph
13,084
64.79%
7,017
34.74%
95
0.47%
6,067
30.05%
20,196
Tuscola
12,093
56.90%
9,060
42.63%
101
0.48%
3,033
14.27%
21,254
Van Buren
14,522
57.17%
10,668
42.00%
210
0.83%
3,854
15.17%
25,400
Washtenaw
55,029
46.67%
61,799
52.41%
1,092
0.93%
-6,770
-5.74%
117,920
Wayne
291,996
39.03%
450,222
60.18%
5,938
0.79%
-158,226
-21.15%
748,156
Wexford
6,043
58.07%
4,287
41.20%
76
0.73%
1,756
16.87%
10,406
Totals
1,965,486
53.57%
1,675,783
45.67%
27,894
0.76%
289,703
7.90%
3,669,163
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
See also
References