November 8th, 1988: Election Night Results
PRESIDENT GEORGE HW BUSH EASILY WINS FIRST FULL FOUR-YEAR TERM
*President Bush garners 431 Electoral Votes in landslide victory.
*Carries 41 out of 51 states.
*GOPers keeps control of the White House for another four more years.
*Dems expanding majorities in US House of Representatives & United States Senate.
Incumbent President George HW Bush won in a landslide victory defeating MA Governor Michael Dukakis (D). According to the final tallies, Bush garnered 53% of the nationwide vote to Dukakis' 45%. The incumbent President carried 41 out of 51 states including Puerto Rico, while Governor Dukakis only managed to carry just 10 states. The country sought to build on the promises & philosophy of then-President Ronald Reagan's policies & philosophy. Bush, who brought up his long experience including foreign affairs as well as in public life & offered the nation the chance of continuing the conservative direction which Reagan had compellingly outlined.
Although Americans elected Bush as their President for his first full four-year term in his own right, they didn't give him the overwhelming mandate that several of his predecessors had enjoyed. The Dems increased their majorities in both the US House of Representatives & United States Senate.
1988 Presidential Election
President George HW Bush (R-TX)/United States Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN): 48,886,597 (53.5%)✔
431 Electoral Votes
Governor Michael Dukakis (D-MA)/United States Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX): 41,872,896 (45.6%)
111 Electoral Votes (+DC)
1988 US House of Representatives Elections:
262 Dems (+2)
43,673,683 (53.73%): Dem Hold
175 GOPers
37,209,225 (45 5%)
1988 United States Senate Elections:
57 Dems (+1: pickups in NV, NE, VA, CT)
35,373,383 (52.7%): Dem Hold.
45 GOPers (pickups in MS, MT, FL)
31,383,651 (46.5%)