United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1988

United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1988
November 8, 1988

 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote 6 0
Popular vote 466,578 349,237
Percentage 56.37% 42.19%
County Results
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

 Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 8, 1988. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Arkansas voters chose six electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

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

Arkansas weighed in for this election as 6 percentage points more Republican than the national average.

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Arkansas, with nearly 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties.[1] The vast majority of the counties voted primarily Republican, including the highly populated center of Pulaski County. As of the 2016 presidential election this stands as the last election in which Pulaski County and Crittenden County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[2]

In typical form for the time, the southeastern portion of the state, including counties such as Desha and Phillips continued to turn out primarily Democratic during this election. This region is part of the Mississippi Delta and of the "Black Belt" and is characterised by dark rich soils and a large, formerly slave African-American population.

Republican victory

Bush won the election in Arkansas with a solid 14 point landslide. Arkansas continued on in this election as a component of the conservative stronghold of the Deep South. The election results in Arkansas are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of 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 for Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy.[3]

Dukakis ran 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 and Clinton, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United State after 2007, such as the Great Recession.[4]

Results

United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1988
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 466,578 56.37% 6
Democratic Michael Dukakis 349,237 42.19% 0
Independent David Duke 5,146 0.62% 0
Independent Ron Paul 3,297 0.40% 0
Independent Lenora Fulani 2,161 0.26% 0
Independent Earl Dodge 1,319 0.16% 0
Totals 827,738 100.0% 6

Results by county

George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican		 Michael Stanley Dukakis
Democratic		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
County # % # % # % # % #
Arkansas 4,007 55.61% 3,075 42.68% 123 1.71% 932 12.94% 7,205
Ashley 4,111 47.48% 4,466 51.58% 82 0.95% -355 -4.10% 8,659
Baxter 8,614 63.35% 4,808 35.36% 175 1.29% 3,806 27.99% 13,597
Benton 24,295 71.23% 9,399 27.55% 416 1.22% 14,896 43.67% 34,110
Boone 7,567 64.04% 3,998 33.84% 251 2.12% 3,569 30.20% 11,816
Bradley 2,089 48.93% 2,167 50.76% 13 0.30% -78 -1.83% 4,269
Calhoun 1,316 56.14% 1,024 43.69% 4 0.17% 292 12.46% 2,344
Carroll 4,553 62.77% 2,632 36.29% 68 0.94% 1,921 26.49% 7,253
Chicot 1,901 43.74% 2,426 55.82% 19 0.44% -525 -12.08% 4,346
Clark 3,389 41.69% 4,675 57.50% 66 0.81% -1,286 -15.82% 8,130
Clay 2,766 44.33% 3,442 55.16% 32 0.51% -676 -10.83% 6,240
Cleburne 4,932 58.85% 3,404 40.62% 45 0.54% 1,528 18.23% 8,381
Cleveland 1,462 50.75% 1,404 48.73% 15 0.52% 58 2.01% 2,881
Columbia 5,810 59.27% 3,706 37.81% 286 2.92% 2,104 21.47% 9,802
Conway 4,066 49.35% 4,134 50.18% 39 0.47% -68 -0.83% 8,239
Craighead 11,887 54.99% 9,083 42.02% 645 2.98% 2,804 12.97% 21,615
Crawford 9,092 70.85% 3,582 27.91% 158 1.23% 5,510 42.94% 12,832
Crittenden 7,441 51.73% 6,702 46.59% 241 1.68% 739 5.14% 14,384
Cross 3,186 51.29% 2,989 48.12% 37 0.60% 197 3.17% 6,212
Dallas 1,947 49.19% 1,990 50.28% 21 0.53% -43 -1.09% 3,958
Desha 2,334 42.94% 2,859 52.60% 242 4.45% -525 -9.66% 5,435
Drew 2,995 53.29% 2,578 45.87% 47 0.84% 417 7.42% 5,620
Faulkner 10,678 58.42% 7,302 39.95% 299 1.64% 3,376 18.47% 18,279
Franklin 3,588 58.93% 2,458 40.37% 43 0.71% 1,130 18.56% 6,089
Fulton 1,918 48.47% 2,018 51.00% 21 0.53% -100 -2.53% 3,957
Garland 19,281 60.93% 11,406 36.05% 955 3.02% 7,875 24.89% 31,642
Grant 2,717 55.40% 2,142 43.68% 45 0.92% 575 11.73% 4,904
Greene 5,161 50.06% 5,065 49.13% 84 0.81% 96 0.93% 10,310
Hempstead 3,938 50.49% 3,841 49.25% 20 0.26% 97 1.24% 7,799
Hot Spring 4,181 44.46% 5,090 54.12% 134 1.42% -909 -9.67% 9,405
Howard 2,510 57.87% 1,818 41.92% 9 0.21% 692 15.96% 4,337
Independence 6,637 59.22% 4,523 40.36% 48 0.43% 2,114 18.86% 11,208
Izard 2,824 51.19% 2,652 48.07% 41 0.74% 172 3.12% 5,517
Jackson 3,049 41.90% 4,199 57.71% 28 0.38% -1,150 -15.81% 7,276
Jefferson 12,520 42.08% 16,664 56.01% 568 1.91% -4,144 -13.93% 29,752
Johnson 4,046 58.29% 2,818 40.60% 77 1.11% 1,228 17.69% 6,941
Lafayette 1,860 48.95% 1,915 50.39% 25 0.66% -55 -1.45% 3,800
Lawrence 3,205 49.91% 3,179 49.51% 37 0.58% 26 0.40% 6,421
Lee 1,863 38.72% 2,878 59.81% 71 1.48% -1,015 -21.09% 4,812
Lincoln 1,557 41.04% 2,204 58.09% 33 0.87% -647 -17.05% 3,794
Little River 2,347 45.85% 2,740 53.53% 32 0.63% -393 -7.68% 5,119
Logan 2,203 62.87% 1,254 35.79% 47 1.34% 949 27.08% 3,504
Lonoke 7,215 59.68% 4,786 39.59% 89 0.74% 2,429 20.09% 12,090
Madison 3,067 58.72% 2,106 40.32% 50 0.96% 961 18.40% 5,223
Marion 2,993 57.80% 2,033 39.26% 152 2.94% 960 18.54% 5,178
Miller 7,110 56.30% 5,437 43.05% 82 0.65% 1,673 13.25% 12,629
Mississippi 7,841 52.67% 6,759 45.40% 288 1.93% 1,082 7.27% 14,888
Monroe 1,862 46.88% 2,052 51.66% 58 1.46% -190 -4.78% 3,972
Montgomery 1,752 55.99% 1,362 43.53% 15 0.48% 390 12.46% 3,129
Nevada 1,714 49.55% 1,732 50.07% 13 0.38% -18 -0.52% 3,459
Newton 2,504 62.00% 1,489 36.87% 46 1.14% 1,015 25.13% 4,039
Ouachita 6,297 52.29% 5,229 43.42% 517 4.29% 1,068 8.87% 12,043
Perry 1,627 52.01% 1,470 46.99% 31 0.99% 157 5.02% 3,128
Phillips 3,892 39.47% 5,580 56.59% 389 3.94% -1,688 -17.12% 9,861
Pike 2,105 55.44% 1,681 44.27% 11 0.29% 424 11.17% 3,797
Poinsett 3,644 48.16% 3,873 51.19% 49 0.65% -229 -3.03% 7,566
Polk 4,099 62.15% 2,390 36.24% 106 1.61% 1,709 25.91% 6,595
Pope 10,084 66.68% 4,941 32.67% 98 0.65% 5,143 34.01% 15,123
Prairie 1,947 53.25% 1,688 46.17% 21 0.57% 259 7.08% 3,656
Pulaski 70,562 54.98% 55,857 43.53% 1,914 1.49% 14,705 11.46% 128,333
Randolph 2,560 47.25% 2,781 51.33% 77 1.42% -221 -4.08% 5,418
St. Francis 4,298 47.86% 4,656 51.85% 26 0.29% -358 -3.99% 8,980
Saline 12,353 58.89% 8,436 40.22% 188 0.90% 3,917 18.67% 20,977
Scott 2,507 58.82% 1,707 40.05% 48 1.13% 800 18.77% 4,262
Searcy 2,743 66.21% 1,340 32.34% 60 1.45% 1,403 33.86% 4,143
Sebastian 24,426 70.94% 9,684 28.13% 322 0.94% 14,742 42.81% 34,432
Sevier 2,254 52.09% 2,037 47.08% 36 0.83% 217 5.02% 4,327
Sharp 3,623 54.79% 2,955 44.69% 34 0.51% 668 10.10% 6,612
Stone 2,186 55.17% 1,728 43.61% 48 1.21% 458 11.56% 3,962
Union 10,581 61.32% 5,931 34.37% 744 4.31% 4,650 26.95% 17,256
Van Buren 3,562 57.37% 2,607 41.99% 40 0.64% 955 15.38% 6,209
Washington 23,601 64.38% 12,557 34.25% 500 1.36% 11,044 30.13% 36,658
White 11,094 60.84% 6,957 38.15% 183 1.00% 4,137 22.69% 18,234
Woodruff 1,097 36.16% 1,924 63.41% 13 0.43% -827 -27.26% 3,034
Yell 3,535 55.84% 2,763 43.64% 33 0.52% 772 12.19% 6,331
Totals466,57856.37%349,23742.19%11,9231.44%117,34114.18%827,738

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1988 Presidential General Election Results — Arkansas". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ↑ "Since 1980s, the Kindest of Tax Cuts for the Rich". The New York Times. 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  4. ↑ Jerry Lanson (2008-11-06). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
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