United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 1988

Main article: United States presidential election, 1988

United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 1988

November 8, 1988

200x200px Nominee George H.W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 281,537 163,696 Percentage 62.49% 36.33%

County Results   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in New Hampshire 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 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

New Hampshire voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, by a landslide margin of 26.16%. Bush took 62.49% of the vote to Dukakis's 36.33%.

Compared to the rest of liberal New England, New Hampshire historically had a strong fiscal conservative streak to its politics, and Bush's pledge not to raise taxes played well to the state's anti-tax electorate. This election would prove to be the GOP's high point in New Hampshire, as the state gave Bush his second strongest win in the nation, behind only Utah.

In the following years, the state would drift to the left, on economic issues and especially on social issues. As the Republican Party moved to embrace the Christian right and became increasingly Southern, the GOP would suffer a rapid decline in its fortunes in New Hampshire. Despite the scale of Bush's victory in 1988, the state would flip to Democrat Bill Clinton just four years later in 1992, and the state has been Democratic-leaning ever since.

This was the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate won a majority of the vote in New Hampshire, although his son George W. Bush would eke out a narrow 48-47 plurality in 2000. The state has voted Democratic in every other election since.

Results

United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	281,537	62.49%	4
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	163,696	36.33%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	4,502	1.00%	0
	New Alliance	Lenora Fulani	790	0.18%	0
Totals			450,525	100.00%	4
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					55%/69%