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. The relatively narrow election results in West Virginia are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of the base for the Republican Party, which took place through the 1980s. Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs, spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan (called, collectively, "Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark of Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy.[2]
Dukakis ran his campaign on a socially liberal platform, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, alternatively, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan — which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas. Additionally, while the economic programs passed under Reagan, and furthered under Bush, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by some analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.[3]
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.[4]
^A faithless Democratic elector voted for Bentsen for president and Dukakis for vice president
Referencesedit
^"1988 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
^"Since 1980s, the Kindest of Tax Cuts for the Rich". The New York Times. January 18, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
^Jerry Lanson (November 6, 2008). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
^"James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector". Slate. November 9, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
October 28, 2023
1988, united, states, presidential, election, west, virginia, main, article, 1988, united, states, presidential, election, took, place, november, 1988, states, district, columbia, were, part, 1988, united, states, presidential, election, west, virginia, voters. Main article 1988 United States presidential election 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 1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia 1984 November 8 1988 1992 Nominee Michael Dukakis George H W BushParty Democratic RepublicanHome state Massachusetts TexasRunning mate Lloyd Bentsen Dan QuayleElectoral vote 5 a 0Popular vote 341 016 310 065Percentage 52 20 47 46 County Results Dukakis 50 60 60 70 70 80 Bush 50 60 60 70 70 80 President before electionRonald ReaganRepublican Elected President George H W BushRepublicanWest 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 The relatively narrow election results in West Virginia are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of the base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan called collectively Reaganomics the mid to late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability The hallmark of Reaganomics was in part the wide scale deregulation of corporate interests and tax cuts for the wealthy 2 Dukakis ran his campaign on a socially liberal platform and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection Bush alternatively ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas Additionally while the economic programs passed under Reagan and furthered under Bush may have boosted the economy for a brief period they are criticized by some analysts as setting the stage for economic troubles in the United States after 2007 such as the Great Recession 3 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 4 Contents 1 Results 1 1 Results by county 2 See also 3 Notes 4 ReferencesResults edit1988 United States presidential election in West VirginiaParty Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votesDemocratic Michael Dukakis 341 016 52 20 5Republican George H W Bush 310 065 47 46 0New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 2 230 0 34 0Democratic Lloyd Bentsen 0 0 00 1Totals 653 311 100 00 6Results by county edit 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 261Berkeley 6 313 36 84 10 761 62 80 61 0 36 4 448 25 96 17 135Boone 6 539 69 97 2 786 29 81 20 0 21 3 753 40 16 9 345Braxton 3 377 62 27 2 024 37 32 22 0 41 1 353 24 95 5 423Brooke 6 258 60 72 4 006 38 87 42 0 41 2 252 21 85 10 306Cabell 15 368 47 05 17 197 52 65 97 0 30 1 829 5 60 32 662Calhoun 1 644 53 78 1 395 45 63 18 0 59 249 8 15 3 057Clay 2 263 59 38 1 536 40 30 12 0 31 727 19 08 3 811Doddridge 955 33 54 1 880 66 03 12 0 42 925 32 49 2 847Fayette 11 009 67 94 5 143 31 74 53 0 33 5 866 36 20 16 205Gilmer 1 661 54 21 1 387 45 27 16 0 52 274 8 94 3 064Grant 893 21 62 3 215 77 85 22 0 53 2 322 56 22 4 130Greenbrier 6 091 52 87 5 395 46 83 35 0 30 696 6 04 11 521Hampshire 2 085 38 88 3 253 60 66 25 0 47 1 168 21 78 5 363Hancock 8 338 58 39 5 882 41 19 60 0 42 2 456 17 20 14 280Hardy 1 689 39 39 2 581 60 19 18 0 42 892 20 80 4 288Harrison 17 005 55 90 13 364 43 93 49 0 16 3 641 11 97 30 418Jackson 4 573 44 44 5 696 55 35 22 0 21 1 123 10 91 10 291Jefferson 4 334 44 56 5 349 55 00 43 0 44 1 015 10 44 9 726Kanawha 41 144 51 73 38 140 47 95 258 0 32 3 004 3 78 79 542Lewis 3 272 47 37 3 602 52 14 34 0 49 330 4 78 6 908Lincoln 5 049 59 20 3 457 40 53 23 0 27 1 592 18 67 8 529Logan 11 317 72 51 4 244 27 19 47 0 30 7 073 45 32 15 608Marion 14 441 60 82 9 229 38 87 72 0 30 5 212 21 95 23 742Marshall 7 903 53 47 6 793 45 96 83 0 56 1 110 7 51 14 779Mason 5 468 50 51 5 332 49 26 25 0 23 136 1 26 10 825McDowell 7 204 74 16 2 463 25 36 47 0 48 4 741 48 81 9 714Mercer 10 152 49 69 10 221 50 03 57 0 28 69 0 34 20 430Mineral 4 059 40 14 6 015 59 49 37 0 37 1 956 19 35 10 111Mingo 7 429 71 78 2 896 27 98 25 0 24 4 533 43 80 10 350Monongalia 14 178 53 83 12 091 45 91 69 0 26 2 087 7 92 26 338Monroe 2 427 46 96 2 719 52 61 22 0 43 292 5 65 5 168Morgan 1 545 33 85 3 002 65 78 17 0 37 1 457 31 92 4 564Nicholas 5 173 57 89 3 731 41 75 32 0 36 1 442 16 14 8 936Ohio 10 121 49 18 10 341 50 25 116 0 56 220 1 07 20 578Pendleton 1 595 45 53 1 901 54 27 7 0 20 306 8 74 3 503Pleasants 1 421 44 59 1 761 55 26 5 0 16 340 10 67 3 187Pocahontas 1 958 50 83 1 876 48 70 18 0 47 82 2 13 3 852Preston 4 357 42 73 5 804 56 92 35 0 34 1 447 14 19 10 196Putnam 6 640 44 74 8 163 55 00 38 0 26 1 523 10 26 14 841Raleigh 14 302 57 71 10 395 41 95 85 0 34 3 907 15 77 24 782Randolph 5 233 52 24 4 746 47 38 38 0 38 487 4 86 10 017Ritchie 1 446 33 33 2 874 66 25 18 0 41 1 428 32 92 4 338Roane 2 447 45 89 2 861 53 66 24 0 45 414 7 76 5 332Summers 3 072 57 81 2 231 41 98 11 0 21 841 15 83 5 314Taylor 2 852 50 09 2 816 49 46 26 0 46 36 0 63 5 694Tucker 1 869 52 25 1 699 47 50 9 0 25 170 4 75 3 577Tyler 1 501 38 75 2 365 61 05 8 0 21 864 22 30 3 874Upshur 3 065 38 83 4 813 60 97 16 0 20 1 748 22 14 7 894Wayne 8 621 54 65 7 123 45 15 31 0 20 1 498 9 50 5 775Webster 2 185 67 92 1 016 31 58 16 0 50 1 169 36 34 3 217Wetzel 3 928 53 44 3 381 46 00 41 0 56 547 7 44 7 350Wirt 929 44 97 1 125 54 45 12 0 58 196 9 49 2 066Wood 12 959 39 80 19 450 59 73 154 0 47 6 491 19 93 32 563Wyoming 6 138 63 38 3 516 36 31 30 0 31 2 622 27 08 9 684Totals 341 016 52 20 310 065 47 46 2 230 0 34 30 951 4 74 653 311See also editPresidency of George H W BushNotes edit A faithless Democratic elector voted for Bentsen for president and Dukakis for vice presidentReferences edit 1988 Presidential General Election Results West Virginia Dave Leip s U S Election Atlas Retrieved July 21 2013 Since 1980s the Kindest of Tax Cuts for the Rich The New York Times January 18 2012 Retrieved July 21 2013 Jerry Lanson November 6 2008 A historic victory A changed nation Now can Obama deliver Christian Science Monitor Retrieved July 21 2013 James A Michener Near Faithless Elector Slate November 9 2000 Retrieved June 20 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia amp oldid 1174193218, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
