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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 was won by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis who was running against incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas. Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as Vice President, and Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.

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

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia by county
County Michael Stanley Dukakis
Democratic
George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican
Leonora Branch Fulani
New Alliance
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Barbour 3,221 51.45% 3,023 48.28% 17 0.27% 198 3.16% 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 -56.22% 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 -4.78% 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 1.26% 10,825
McDowell 7,204 74.16% 2,463 25.36% 47 0.48% 4,741 48.81% 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 -31.92% 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 15.77% 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 -7.76% 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 -9.49% 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 27.08% 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

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A faithless Democratic elector voted for Bentsen for president and Dukakis for vice president

References

  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector". Slate. November 9, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2019.