1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Main|1988 United States presidential election}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
| country = Massachusetts
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1984 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
| previous_year = 1984
| next_election = 1992 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
| next_year = 1992
| election_date = November 8, 1988
| image_size = x200px
| image1 = File:Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg
| nominee1 = Michael Dukakis
| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
| home_state1 = Massachusetts
| running_mate1 = Lloyd Bentsen
| electoral_vote1 = 13
| popular_vote1 = 1,401,406
| percentage1 = 53.23%
| image2 = File:VP George Bush crop.jpg
| nominee2 = George H. W. Bush
| party2 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state2 = Texas
| running_mate2 = Dan Quayle
| electoral_vote2 = 0
| popular_vote2 = 1,194,644
| percentage2 = 45.38%
| map_image = {{switcher
|County Results
|File:1988 Presidential Election in Massachusetts by Municipality.svg
|Municipality Results
|default=1
}}
| map_size = 401px
| map_caption =
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Dukakis
{{legend|#b9d7ff|40–50%}}
{{legend|#86b6f2|50–60%}}
{{legend|#4389e3|60–70%}}
{{legend|#1666CB|70-80%}}
{{col-2}}
Bush
{{legend|#f2b3be|40–50%}}
{{legend|#e27f90|50–60%}}
{{legend|#CC2F4A|60-70%}}
{{col-end}}
| title = President
| before_election = Ronald Reagan
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = George H. W. Bush
| after_party = Republican Party (United States)
}}
{{Elections in Massachusetts sidebar}}
The 1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts 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 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Massachusetts voted for Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, the state's governor, over Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush. The Commonwealth was both candidates' birth state and 1988 was the most recent cycle in which both major party candidates have shared a birth state.
Dukakis, the sitting governor of Massachusetts, won his home state with 53.23% of the vote to Bush's 45.38%, a 7.85% margin of victory. This made it one of ten states (plus the District of Columbia) to vote for Dukakis, even though Bush won a convincing electoral victory nationwide. Massachusetts was a solid 16% more Democratic than the national average in 1988. Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960. Although it was already a Democratic-leaning state, this would be the last time that Republicans would be at all competitive in Massachusetts. Not only has it continued to vote Democratic in every presidential election that followed, but no Republican since has broken 40% in Massachusetts, or even won a single county or congressional district in the state.
This was also the last time that a Republican presidential nominee won any of the state's 14 counties, namely Barnstable, Plymouth, and Worcester Counties. Dukakis won 11 counties in Massachusetts to Bush's three. Dukakis's strongest county was Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston, where he took 64.02% of the vote. Bush's strongest county win was suburban Plymouth County, where he took 54.62% of the vote; however, Bush became the first Republican president to win the White House without carrying Franklin County and Nantucket County. Since favorite son presidential nominee John F. Kennedy won the presidency in 1960, Dukakis became the first of three major party nominees from Massachusetts to lose a presidential race. John Kerry (U.S. senator) and Mitt Romney (former governor) lost the 2004 and 2012 presidential elections, respectively.
As of 2020, this was the last time that the cities of Amesbury, Attleboro, Beverly, Braintree, Brockton, Franklin, Leominster, Marlborough, and Methuen and the towns of Abington, Alford, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Bedford, Bernardston, Bolton, Boxborough, Buckland, Burlington, Canton, Carlisle, Charlemont, Chelmsford, Clinton, Cummington, Danvers, Dedham, Dennis, Erving, Essex Gosnold, Grafton, Groton, Hancock, Harvard, Harwich, Hawley, Holbrook, Holliston, Hopedale, Hudson, Ipswich, Littleton, Longmeadow, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mansfield, Marblehead, Marion, Mattapoisett, Medway, Milton, Mount Washington, Needham, New Ashford, New Salem, Newbury, Northborough, Norton, Peru, Petersham, Plymouth, Reading, Savoy, Sheffield, Shelburne, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Southampton, Stow, Sudbury, Wakefield, Wellesley, West Newbury, Westborough, Westford, Westhampton, Weston, Winchester, Windsor, and Yarmouth voted Republican.
Results
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| colspan="6" | 1988 United States presidential election in Massachusetts{{cite web |url=http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1988&fips=25&f=0&off=0&elect=0 |title=1988 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts|access-date=2013-02-07 |publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}} |
|---|
| colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party
! style="width: 17em" |Candidate ! style="width: 5em" |Votes ! style="width: 7em" |Percentage ! style="width: 5em" |Electoral votes |
| style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Democratic | align="right" | 1,401,406 | align="right" | 53.23% | align="right" | 13 |
| style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Republican | align="right" | 1,194,644 | align="right" | 45.38% | align="right" | 0 |
| style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Libertarian | Ron Paul | align="right" | 24,251 | align="right" | 0.92% | align="right" | 0 |
| style="background-color:#FF00FF; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | New Alliance | align="right" | 9,561 | align="right" | 0.36% | align="right" | 0 |
| style="background-color:#FFFFFF; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Write-ins | align="right" | 2,910 | align="right" | 0.11% | align="right" | 0 |
| style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Prohibition (Write-in) | align="right" | 18 | align="right" | 0.00% | align="right" | 0 |
| style="background-color:#EC5050; width: 3px" |
| style="width: 130px" | Socialist (Write-in) | align="right" | 15 | align="right" | 0.00% | align="right" | 0 |
| bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| colspan="3" align="right" | Totals | align="right" | 2,632,805 | align="right" | 100.00% | align="right" | 13 |
| bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| colspan="5" align="right" | Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | colspan="1" align="right" | 58%/80% |
=Results by congressional district=
Dukakis won 9 of 11 congressional districts, including the 1st district, which simultaneously elected Republican Silvio O. Conte to the House of Representatives. Bush won the 3rd and 5th districts, which simultaneously elected Democrats to the House.
| class=wikitable
! District ! Bush ! Dukakis ! Representative |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|1|1st}} | 41% | 58% | {{party shading/Republican}}|Silvio O. Conte |
| align=center
! rowspan=2 {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|2|2nd}} | rowspan=2|47% | rowspan=2|52% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Edward Boland |
| align=center
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|Richard Neal |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Republican}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|3|3rd}} | 50% | 49% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Joseph D. Early |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|4|4th}} | 42% | 57% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Barney Frank |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Republican}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|5|5th}} | 51% | 47% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Chester G. Atkins |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|6|6th}} | 48% | 50% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Nicholas Mavroules |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|7|7th}} | 45% | 53% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Ed Markey |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|8|8th}} | 33% | 66% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Joseph P. Kennedy II |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|9|9th}} | 45% | 54% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Joe Moakley |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|10|10th}} | 48% | 51% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Gerry Studds |
| align=center
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|{{ushr|Massachusetts|11|11th}} | 47% | 51% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|Brian J. Donnelly |
=Results by county=
| width="60%" class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| County
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Michael Dukakis ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| George H.W. Bush ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Various candidates ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Margin ! style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| Total votes cast | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| # ! style="text-align:center;" data-sort-type="number"| % | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Republican}}| Barnstable | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 48,747 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 48.81% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 49,676 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 49.74% | {{party shading/Others}}| 1,449 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.45% | {{party shading/Republican}}| -929 | {{party shading/Republican}}| -0.93% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 99,872 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Berkshire | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 38,208 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 60.78% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 24,125 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 38.38% | {{party shading/Others}}| 526 | {{party shading/Others}}| 0.84% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 14,083 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 22.40% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 62,859 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Bristol | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 107,854 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 55.73% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 83,797 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 43.30% | {{party shading/Others}}| 1,879 | {{party shading/Others}}| 0.97% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 24,057 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 12.43% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 193,530 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Dukes | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 4,495 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 63.99% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 2,441 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 34.75% | {{party shading/Others}}| 89 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.26% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 2,054 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 29.24% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 7,025 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Essex | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 151,816 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 49.69% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 148,614 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 48.65% | {{party shading/Others}}| 5,070 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.66% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 3,202 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 1.04% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 305,500 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Franklin | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 19,310 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 58.30% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 13,475 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 40.68% | {{party shading/Others}}| 338 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.02% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 5,835 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 17.62% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 33,123 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Hampden | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 97,332 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 56.13% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 74,872 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 43.17% | {{party shading/Others}}| 1,216 | {{party shading/Others}}| 0.70% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 22,460 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 12.96% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 173,420 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Hampshire | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 39,834 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 61.36% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 24,331 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 37.48% | {{party shading/Others}}| 750 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.16% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 15,503 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 23.88% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 64,915 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Middlesex | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 361,563 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 54.57% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 290,352 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 43.82% | {{party shading/Others}}| 10,713 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.61% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 71,211 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 10.75% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 662,628 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Nantucket | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 2,209 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 59.21% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 1,469 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 39.37% | {{party shading/Others}}| 53 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.42% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 740 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 19.84% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 3,731 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Norfolk | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 160,289 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 50.88% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 150,306 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 47.71% | {{party shading/Others}}| 4,461 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.41% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 9,983 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 3.17% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 315,056 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Republican}}| Plymouth | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 84,587 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 43.72% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 105,684 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 54.62% | {{party shading/Others}}| 3,209 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.66% | {{party shading/Republican}}| -21,097 | {{party shading/Republican}}| -10.90% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 193,480 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Democratic}}| Suffolk | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 143,677 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 64.02% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 77,137 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 34.37% | {{party shading/Others}}| 3,596 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.61% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 66,540 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 29.65% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 224,410 | |||||||||
| style="text-align:center;"
| {{party shading/Republican}}| Worcester | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 141,485 | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 48.25% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 148,365 | {{party shading/Republican}}| 50.59% | {{party shading/Others}}| 3,406 | {{party shading/Others}}| 1.16% | {{party shading/Republican}}| -6,880 | {{party shading/Republican}}| -2.34% | {{party shading/Republican}}| 293,256 | |||||||||
| Totals | 1,401,415 | 53.23% | 1,194,635 | 45.37% | 36,755 | 1.40% | 206,780 | 7.86% | 2,632,805 |
== Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic ==
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Federal elections in Massachusetts footer}}
{{State results of the 1988 U.S. presidential election}}