1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut

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1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote 8 0
Popular vote 750,241 676,584
Percentage 51.98% 46.87%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut 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 eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Connecticut voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, by a margin of 5.10%. Bush took 51.98% of the vote to Dukakis's 46.87%. This result nonetheless made Connecticut 2.7% more Democratic than the nation-at-large.

Although Dukakis won only Hartford County, he took 47-49% of the vote in 5 other counties, making it a close race statewide. He came much closer to winning the state than Walter Mondale, who had lost the state by over 20 points four years earlier. Dukakis's gains reflected liberal New England's drift as a whole toward the Democratic Party, as the Republican Party became increasingly conservative and oriented toward the South. This would be the last time that a Republican presidential candidate would win Connecticut's electoral votes, as the state has gone Democratic in every election since, and also one of the last times that a Republican won a statewide federal election there.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which the counties of New Haven, New London, Middlesex and Tolland voted for the Republican candidate.

Results[edit]

1988 United States presidential election in Connecticut[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 750,241 51.98% 8
Democratic Michael Dukakis 676,584 46.87% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 14,071 0.97% 0
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 2,491 0.17% 0
No party William A. Marra (Write-in) 7 0.00% 0
Totals 1,443,394 100.00% 8
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 58%/80%

Results by county[edit]

County George H.W. Bush
Republican
Michael Dukakis
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Fairfield 221,316 59.04% 149,630 39.91% 3,932 1.05% 71,686 19.13% 374,878
Hartford 173,031 45.95% 199,857 53.08% 3,648 0.97% -26,826 -7.13% 376,536
Litchfield 44,637 55.97% 34,227 42.91% 893 1.12% 10,410 13.06% 79,757
Middlesex 34,682 50.01% 33,946 48.95% 716 1.04% 736 1.06% 69,344
New Haven 174,251 50.90% 163,153 47.66% 4,957 1.44% 11,098 3.24% 342,361
New London 52,681 51.22% 48,882 47.53% 1,288 1.25% 3,799 3.69% 102,851
Tolland 28,375 50.80% 26,884 48.13% 602 1.07% 1,491 2.67% 55,861
Windham 21,268 50.88% 20,005 47.86% 526 1.26% 1,263 3.02% 41,799
Totals 750,241 51.98% 676,584 46.87% 16,569 1.15% 73,657 5.11% 1,443,394

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results - Connecticut". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 7, 2013.