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1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey

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1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey

← 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 16 0
Popular vote 1,743,192 1,320,352
Percentage 56.24% 42.60%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. New Jersey was won by incumbent Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who was running against Democratic Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle while Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush carried New Jersey with 56.24% of the vote, while Dukakis received 42.60% a 13.64% margin of victory.[1] New Jersey weighed in for this election as almost 6% points more Republican than the national average. Bush won 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties, with Dukakis only winning the heavily Democratic counties of Mercer, Essex, and Hudson.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that New Jersey would vote Republican in a presidential election, as well as the last time that the Republican nominee has carried the following counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Middlesex, and Union.[2] All of these counties would become reliably Democratic in every election that has followed, as northern suburban voters shifted away from the GOP in the 1990s.

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for New Jersey, with more than 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, though a total of 11 parties did appear on the ballot.[3] Bush won the election in New Jersey with a strong 13.6-point margin.

Results

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1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 1,743,192 56.24% 16
Democratic Michael Dukakis 1,320,352 42.60% 0
Peace and Freedom Party Herbert Lewin 9,953 0.32% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 8,421 0.27% 0
New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 5,139 0.17% 0
Progressive Eugene McCarthy 3,454 0.11% 0
Socialist Willa Kenoyer 2,587 0.08% 0
America First David Duke 2,446 0.08% 0
Socialist Workers Party James Warren 2,298 0.07% 0
Workers World Larry Holmes 1,020 0.03% 0
Socialist Equality Party Edward Winn 691 0.02% 0
Totals 3,099,553 100.0% 16
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 52%/77%

Results by county

[edit]
County George H.W. Bush
Republican
Michael Dukakis
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Atlantic 44,748 56.33% 34,047 42.86% 647 0.81% 10,701 13.47% 79,442
Bergen 226,885 58.19% 160,655 41.20% 2,393 0.61% 66,230 16.99% 389,933
Burlington 87,416 58.30% 61,140 40.77% 1,393 0.93% 26,276 17.53% 149,949
Camden 100,072 51.98% 90,704 47.12% 1,739 0.90% 9,368 4.86% 192,515
Cape May 28,738 65.14% 15,105 34.24% 274 0.62% 13,633 30.90% 44,117
Cumberland 26,024 53.83% 21,869 45.23% 456 0.94% 4,155 8.60% 48,349
Essex 111,491 40.25% 156,098 56.36% 9,378 3.39% -44,607 -16.11% 276,967
Gloucester 51,708 58.68% 35,479 40.26% 930 1.06% 16,229 18.42% 88,117
Hudson 84,334 45.72% 98,507 53.40% 1,622 0.88% -14,173 -7.68% 184,463
Hunterdon 31,907 69.09% 13,758 29.79% 517 1.12% 18,149 39.30% 46,182
Mercer 65,384 48.31% 68,712 50.77% 1,249 0.92% -3,328 -2.46% 135,345
Middlesex 143,422 54.30% 117,149 44.35% 3,548 1.34% 26,273 9.95% 264,119
Monmouth 147,320 61.14% 91,844 38.12% 1,793 0.74% 55,476 23.02% 240,957
Morris 127,420 68.05% 58,721 31.36% 1,108 0.59% 68,699 36.69% 187,249
Ocean 124,587 65.38% 64,474 33.83% 1,497 0.79% 60,113 31.55% 190,558
Passaic 88,070 55.91% 66,254 42.06% 3,189 2.02% 21,816 13.85% 157,513
Salem 15,240 59.52% 9,956 38.88% 410 1.60% 5,284 20.64% 25,606
Somerset 67,658 63.71% 37,406 35.22% 1,129 1.06% 30,252 28.49% 106,193
Sussex 36,086 71.94% 13,676 27.26% 398 0.79% 22,410 44.68% 50,160
Union 112,967 54.27% 93,158 44.75% 2,028 0.97% 19,809 9.52% 208,153
Warren 21,715 64.50% 11,640 34.57% 311 0.92% 10,075 29.93% 33,666
Totals 1,743,192 56.24% 1,320,352 42.60% 36,009 1.16% 422,840 13.64% 3,099,553

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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By congressional district

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Bush won 12 of 14 congressional districts, including six that elected Democrats.[5]

District Dukakis Bush Representative
1st 47.5% 52.5% James Florio
2nd 41.2% 58.8% William J. Hughes
3rd 37.5% 62.5% James J. Howard
Frank Pallone
4th 44.2% 55.8% Chris Smith
5th 33.3% 66.7% Marge Roukema
6th 46.7% 53.3% Bernard J. Dwyer
7th 40.7% 59.3% Matthew J. Rinaldo
8th 45.5% 54.5% Robert A. Roe
9th 46.4% 53.6% Robert Torricelli
10th 74.3% 19.7% Peter Rodino
Donald M. Payne
11th 35.2% 64.8% Dean Gallo
12th 37.7% 62.3% Jim Courter
13th 38.2% 61.8% Jim Saxton
14th 55.1% 44.9% Frank Guarini
International policy with the buckling Soviet Union was a critical component of the political landscape in the late 1980s. Vice President Bush can be seen here standing with the United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, on the New York waterfront, 1988.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  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. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - NJ US President - Nov 08, 1988".
  5. ^ "1988 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District". Western Washington University. Retrieved March 21, 2022.