United States presidential election in Idaho, 1988

United States presidential election in Idaho, 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 4 0
Popular vote 253,881 147,272
Percentage 62.08% 36.01%
County Results
  Dukakis—60-70%
  Dukakis—50-60%
  Dukakis—<50%
  Bush—<50%
  Bush—50-60%
  Bush—60-70%
  Bush—70-80%
  Bush—80-90%
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

 Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Idaho voters chose 4 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Idaho 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.

Idaho weighed in for this election as eighteen percentage points more Republican than the national average and with 62.08% of the popular vote, Idaho would be the third most Republican state in the nation behind Utah and New Hampshire[1].

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Idaho, with over 98 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four parties appearing on the ballot.[2] Most counties in Idaho voted in majority for Bush, and indeed Madison County was Bush’s second-strongest county nationwide, only 0.29 percent below the famous Unionist Republican bastion of Jackson County in Kentucky.[3] In the middle North portion of the state, a band of counties including Nez Perce and Clearwater counties, voted in majority for Dukakis, making him the first Democrat to carry any of Idaho’s counties since 1976. As of the 2016 presidential election, this is the last election in which Blaine County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[4]

Republican victory

Bush won the election in Idaho with one of his strongest margins nationwide: a triumphant 26 point sweep-out landslide. While Idaho has voted for the Republican Party in every single presidential election since 1952 (except for 1964), the election results in Idaho are also reflective of a nationwide political 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 1980's 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.[5]

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.[6]

Results

United States presidential election in Idaho, 1988
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 253,881 62.08% 4
Democratic Michael Dukakis 147,272 36.01% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 5,313 1.30% 0
New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 2,502 0.61% 0
Totals 408,968 100.00% 4

Results by county

George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican		 Michael Dukakis
Democratic		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
County # % # % # % # % #
Ada 54,951 62.92% 30,525 34.95% 1,858 2.13% 24,426 27.97% 87,334
Adams 1,107 61.53% 643 35.74% 49 2.72% 464 25.79% 1,799
Bannock 14,986 52.40% 13,074 45.71% 541 1.89% 1,912 6.69% 28,601
Bear Lake 2,084 69.93% 867 29.09% 29 0.97% 1,217 40.84% 2,980
Benewah 1,650 50.96% 1,518 46.88% 70 2.16% 132 4.08% 3,238
Bingham 10,131 68.89% 4,346 29.55% 228 1.55% 5,785 39.34% 14,705
Blaine 3,130 54.39% 2,498 43.41% 127 2.21% 632 10.98% 5,755
Boise 1,044 61.05% 620 36.26% 46 2.69% 424 24.80% 1,710
Bonner 5,721 49.94% 5,555 48.49% 179 1.56% 166 1.45% 11,455
Bonneville 22,613 75.01% 7,032 23.33% 502 1.67% 15,581 51.68% 30,147
Boundary 1,800 56.21% 1,336 41.72% 66 2.06% 464 14.49% 3,202
Butte 899 62.26% 521 36.08% 24 1.66% 378 26.18% 1,444
Camas 288 65.90% 136 31.12% 13 2.97% 152 34.78% 437
Canyon 21,426 66.14% 10,207 31.51% 763 2.36% 11,219 34.63% 32,396
Caribou 2,239 71.22% 867 27.58% 38 1.21% 1,372 43.64% 3,144
Cassia 5,345 73.34% 1,833 25.15% 110 1.51% 3,512 48.19% 7,288
Clark 281 66.75% 133 31.59% 7 1.66% 148 35.15% 421
Clearwater 1,659 45.87% 1,861 51.45% 97 2.68% -202 -5.58% 3,617
Custer 1,253 66.09% 616 32.49% 27 1.42% 637 33.60% 1,896
Elmore 3,756 63.46% 2,078 35.11% 85 1.44% 1,678 28.35% 5,919
Franklin 2,992 77.29% 806 20.82% 73 1.89% 2,186 56.47% 3,871
Fremont 3,401 73.11% 1,178 25.32% 73 1.57% 2,223 47.79% 4,652
Gem 2,926 56.90% 2,064 40.14% 152 2.96% 862 16.76% 5,142
Gooding 2,908 59.64% 1,872 38.39% 96 1.97% 1,036 21.25% 4,876
Idaho 3,541 60.31% 2,198 37.44% 132 2.25% 1,343 22.88% 5,871
Jefferson 5,295 79.64% 1,198 18.02% 156 2.35% 4,097 61.62% 6,649
Jerome 3,830 64.32% 1,985 33.33% 140 2.35% 1,845 30.98% 5,955
Kootenai 15,093 55.63% 11,621 42.83% 416 1.53% 3,472 12.80% 27,130
Latah 6,367 48.47% 6,544 49.82% 225 1.71% -177 -1.35% 13,136
Lemhi 2,378 66.24% 1,157 32.23% 55 1.53% 1,221 34.01% 3,590
Lewis 786 48.76% 807 50.06% 19 1.18% -21 -1.30% 1,612
Lincoln 918 60.20% 574 37.64% 33 2.16% 344 22.56% 1,525
Madison 6,197 84.87% 1,009 13.82% 96 1.31% 5,188 71.05% 7,302
Minidoka 4,623 65.73% 2,290 32.56% 120 1.71% 2,333 33.17% 7,033
Nez Perce 7,027 46.78% 7,754 51.62% 239 1.59% -727 -4.84% 15,020
Oneida 1,269 70.11% 508 28.07% 33 1.82% 761 42.04% 1,810
Owyhee 1,707 64.81% 848 32.19% 79 3.00% 859 32.61% 2,634
Payette 3,786 65.17% 1,900 32.71% 123 2.12% 1,886 32.47% 5,809
Power 1,838 61.66% 1,095 36.73% 48 1.61% 743 24.92% 2,981
Shoshone 2,134 38.20% 3,379 60.49% 73 1.31% -1,245 -22.29% 5,586
Teton 982 64.31% 531 34.77% 14 0.92% 451 29.54% 1,527
Twin Falls 13,243 63.87% 7,078 34.14% 413 1.99% 6,165 29.73% 20,734
Valley 1,897 59.37% 1,251 39.15% 47 1.47% 646 20.22% 3,195
Washington 2,380 61.98% 1,359 35.39% 101 2.63% 1,021 26.59% 3,840
Totals253,88162.08%147,27236.01%7,8151.91%106,60926.07%408,968

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1988 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  2. ↑ "1988 Presidential General Election Results - Idaho". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  3. ↑ Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1988 Presidential Election Statistics
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  5. ↑ "Since 1980s, the Kindest of Tax Cuts for the Rich". The New York Times. 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  6. ↑ 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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