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 County results State House district results
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The1988 United States presidential election in Delaware took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the1988 United States presidential election in which all50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated. State voters chose three electors to represent them in theElectoral College, which selected thepresident andvice president, via a popular vote pitting incumbentRepublicanVice PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush and his running mate,U.S. Senator fromIndianaDan Quayle, againstDemocratic challengerMassachusettsGovernorMichael Dukakis and his running mate, U.S. Senator fromTexasLloyd Bentsen.
Also on the ballot wereLibertarian Party nominee,U.S. Representative from TexasRon Paul and his running mateAlaska State RepresentativeAndre Marrou. Theleft-wingNew Alliance Party nominated activist and psychologistLenora Fulani and her running mate,life coach Joyce Dattner.
Vice President Bush won Delaware by 12.4%, making the Blue Hen state about 4.7% more Republican than the nation—a substantial shift compared to1984, when Delaware was only about 1% more Republican than the nation. Like Reagan, Bush performed strongly in Delaware's two southernmost counties,Sussex andKent, both of which gave him over 60% of the vote. However, he carried Delaware's northernmost and by far most populous county,New Castle County, by 7.8%, almost exactly the same as his national margin of victory (whereas Reagan had carried it in 1984 by a few points less than his national margin).
In 1988, Delaware was a bellwether state, due to the strong contrast between the industrial city ofWilmington in the north of the state and rural poultry farms in the south.[1] 1988 was the eleventh election in a row in which Delaware voted for the national winner. However, despite New Castle County trending Republican in 1988, it would become powerfully and reliably Democratic from1992 on, making Delaware part of theBlue Wall. As of2024, this remains the last election in which either New Castle County or the state of Delaware has voted for the Republican nominee.
The presidential election of 1988 was a verypartisan election for Delaware, with nearly 99.5% of the electorate voting for either theDemocratic orRepublican parties, and only 4 political parties on the ballot, statewide.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George H. W. Bush | 139,639 | 55.88% | |
| Democratic | Michael Dukakis | 108,647 | 43.48% | |
| Libertarian | Ron Paul | 1,162 | 0.47% | |
| New Alliance | Lenora Fulani | 443 | 0.18% | |
| Total votes | 249,891 | 100.00% | ||
| County[3] | George H. W. Bush Republican | Michael Dukakis Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Kent | 19,923 | 60.17% | 12,996 | 39.25% | 194 | 0.58% | 6,927 | 20.92% | 33,113 |
| New Castle | 92,587 | 53.52% | 79,147 | 45.75% | 1,269 | 0.73% | 13,440 | 7.77% | 173,003 |
| Sussex | 27,129 | 61.97% | 16,504 | 37.70% | 142 | 0.33% | 10,625 | 24.27% | 43,775 |
| Totals | 139,639 | 55.88% | 108,647 | 43.48% | 1,605 | 0.64% | 30,992 | 12.40% | 249,891 |
