1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

1988 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

← 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 678,367 483,423
Percentage 57.93% 41.28%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

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

Oklahoma 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, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot.[1] The Southeastern portion of the state resumed turning out in large numbers for the Democratic Party; in 1984 almost all its counties voted in majority for Reagan. This may be somewhat attributed to the influence of the ongoing drought and the farming crisis in the Great Plains, and of the politically volatile state of Texas, which was also changing its political orientation through the 1980s and 1990s from a Democratic area to a largely Republican one. Bush's dominance in the more populated metro Oklahoma City and Tulsa ensured a safe GOP victory. However, despite Bush and Quayle winning the state, Oklahoma swung more to the Democrats from 1984 to 1988 than any other state in the nation, swinging by 21.30 percentage points. Additionally, this remains the last time that a Democrat has won more than sixty percent of the vote in any Oklahoma county (these being Jefferson, Haskell, Hughes, Coal and Choctaw).

Bush easily won Oklahoma on election day, defeating Dukakis by a 16-point margin. Oklahoma weighed in for this election as 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average.


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  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results — Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 21, 2013.

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