1988 United States presidential election in Idaho

1988 United States presidential election in Idaho

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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 Bush   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Dukakis   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

Elections in Idaho
Federal government Presidential elections 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Republican 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate elections 1890 1895 1897 1901 1902 1903 1907 1909 1913 1913 sp 1914 1918 1918 sp 1920 1924 1926 1928 sp 1930 1932 1936 1938 1940 sp 1942 1944 1946 sp 1948 1950 1950 sp 1954 1956 1960 1962 sp 1962 1966 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020 2022 2026 2028 U.S. House of Representatives elections 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
State government General elections 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Gubernatorial elections 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Lieutenant gubernatorial elections 2022 Secretary of State elections 2022 Attorney General elections 2022 Senate elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 House of Representatives elections 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 *2024
Ballot measures Ballot measures 1994 Proposition 1 2006 Amendment 2 Proposition 2 2018 Proposition 1 Proposition 2
Boise Mayoral elections 2015 2019 2023
Meridian Mayoral elections 2015 2019 2023
v t e

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. State voters chose four 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. The election was very partisan for Idaho, with over 98% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four parties appearing on the ballot.^[1] All but one county gave either Dukakis or Bush an outright majority; the exception was Bonner County, which gave Bush a very narrow plurality. Bush's best county was Madison County, which gave him 84.87% of its vote—Bush's second-strongest county performance in the nation after the famous Unionist Republican bastion of Jackson County in Kentucky.^[2] Dukakis' best county was Shoshone County, where he received 60.49% of the vote.

Idaho weighed in for this election as 18% more Republican than the national average and with 62.08% of the popular vote. As a result, Idaho became the third-most Republican state in the nation, behind Utah and New Hampshire.^[3] Bush won Idaho by a powerful 26.1% margin; his 62.1% vote share made it his third-best state in the nation, after Utah and New Hampshire. The Mountain West as a whole had begun trending Republican from 1952 on, after having been a swing region that was critical to Democratic victories when they did occur between 1896 and 1948.^[4] However, the realignment was particularly pronounced in Idaho; in 1964, a mere 16 years after having backed Truman over Dewey, Idaho came within less than 2% of voting for Barry Goldwater, far closer than any other state in the region apart from Goldwater's native Arizona and indeed far closer than any other Johnson state anywhere apart from Florida.

In 1988, an election influenced by the 1980s farm crisis, several Mountain States (most notably Colorado and Montana) were shakier than usual in their support for the Republican ticket, but Idaho remained not only in the Republican column, but far more Republican than the nation overall. Bush dominated almost all of rural Idaho, and also scored strong wins in the population centers of Ada County (Boise), Canyon County (Nampa), Bonneville County (Idaho Falls), and Twin Falls County (Twin Falls), in all of which he exceeded 60% of the vote. He also won, albeit less powerfully, the other two of Idaho's six largest counties, Bannock (Pocatello) and Kootenai (Coeur d'Alene). However, Dukakis did manage to carry a cluster of counties in North Idaho, centered on the Silver Valley, a region historically dominated by mining.

Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Latah County since William McKinley in 1896. As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Blaine County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.^[5]