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| Turnout |  71%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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The1988 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 8, 1988.[2] All fifty states andthe District of Columbia, were part of the1988 United States presidential election. Florida voters chose twenty-one electors to theElectoral College, which selected thepresident andvice president.
Florida was won by incumbent Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, running with U.S SenatorDan Quayle, against GovernorMichael Dukakis, running with U.S. SenatorLloyd Bentsen. This was Bush's fifth strongest state in the 1988 election afterUtah,New Hampshire,Idaho andSouth Carolina.[3]
Bush won every county in the state, with the exception of North Florida's majority-blackGadsden County, which voted for Dukakis. This was the last time until2008 thatOrange County voted for the national winner.
Until2024, this was the last timeMiami-Dade County (then known simply as Dade County) voted for a Republican candidate or any candidate won the state by double digits. As of 2024, this is also the last election in whichBroward County,Palm Beach County,Alachua County, orLeon County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.
TheRepublican presidential nominee had won Florida in seven of the nine presidential elections since1952. By the 1980s the Republicans had also won the governorship and enough seats in the state legislature to maintain a veto. From 1979 to 1986, the percentage of voters affiliated with theDemocratic Party fell from 45% to 32% while the Republicans rose from 26% to 38%.[4] Florida was one of the states that designated the second Tuesday of March as the date for their presidential primary as a part ofSuper Tuesday.[5]
Five of the seven Republican members of theU.S. House of Representatives from Florida endorsedGeorge H. W. Bush in 1987, and GovernorBob Martinez served as his national co-chair. Bush won all but three counties in the primary, with the remainder being won byPat Robertson;[6] 45% of white voters participated in the Republican primary.[7]
Florida was one of the southern Super Tuesday states thatMichael Dukakis focused on as he could receive the support of Hispanics and northerners.[8] His campaign had twenty paid staffers in the state during the primary, but later reduced the number to ten during the general campaign[9] and were transferred to Illinois.[10] Dukakis won 53% of the white vote.[11] The racial composition of the primary was 82% white, 18% black, and 1% Hispanic. White people raised outside the state made up 56% of the electorate, the highest in any southern state.[12]
| Candidate | Vote received | |
|---|---|---|
| # | % | |
| George H.W. Bush | 559,397 | 62.1% |
| Bob Dole | 191,494 | 21.3% |
| Pat Robertson | 95,037 | 10.6% |
| Jack Kemp | 41,762 | 4.6% |
| Pete Du Pont | 6,718 | 0.7% |
| Alexander M. Haig, Jr. | 5,849 | 0.6% |
| Total | 900,257 | 100% |
| Candidate | Vote received | |
|---|---|---|
| # | % | |
| Michael Dukakis | 520,948 | 40.9% |
| Jesse Jackson | 254,825 | 20.0% |
| Dick Gephart | 182,809 | 14.4% |
| Al Gore | 161,116 | 12.7% |
| Undecided | 79,407 | 6.2% |
| Gary Hart | 36,291 | 2.9% |
| Paul Simon | 27,592 | 2.2% |
| Bruce Babbitt | 10,277 | 0.8% |
| Total | 1,273,265 | 100% |
Florida gave Bush his second highest-percentage amount of support in the south, only behindSouth Carolina,[15] and the fifth-highest nationally. Exit polls conducted byNBC showed that Bush received 64% of the vote from Hispanics aged 18 to 34 and 55% from Hispanics over 65.[16] Among white voters, 67% supported Bush while 33% supported Dukakis.[17][18]
The Republicans won the concurrentU.S. Senate election and increased their share of the U.S. House delegate to nine Republicans against ten Democrats. RepresentativeJames W. Grant joined the Republicans in 1989, giving them a majority of the U.S. House delegation.[19]
| United States presidential election in Florida, 1988 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | George H. W. Bush | 2,618,885 | 60.87% | 21 | |
| Democratic | Michael Dukakis | 1,656,701 | 38.51% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Ron Paul | 19,796 | 0.46% | 0 | |
| New Alliance Party | Lenora Fulani | 6,655 | 0.15% | 0 | |
| Write-Ins | 276 | 0.01% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 4,302,313 | 100.0% | 21 | ||
| County | George H.W. Bush Republican | Michael Dukakis Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alachua | 30,153 | 50.08% | 29,396 | 48.82% | 664 | 1.10% | 757 | 1.26% | 60,213 |
| Baker | 3,418 | 71.49% | 1,355 | 28.34% | 8 | 0.17% | 2,063 | 43.15% | 4,781 |
| Bay | 31,796 | 72.51% | 11,603 | 26.46% | 452 | 1.03% | 20,193 | 46.05% | 43,851 |
| Bradford | 4,221 | 63.61% | 2,386 | 35.96% | 29 | 0.44% | 1,835 | 27.65% | 6,636 |
| Brevard | 104,854 | 70.30% | 43,004 | 28.83% | 1,301 | 0.87% | 61,850 | 41.47% | 149,159 |
| Broward | 220,316 | 50.00% | 218,274 | 49.54% | 2,015 | 0.46% | 2,042 | 0.46% | 440,605 |
| Calhoun | 2,422 | 64.01% | 1,329 | 35.12% | 33 | 0.87% | 1,093 | 28.89% | 3,784 |
| Charlotte | 28,893 | 63.98% | 15,974 | 35.37% | 292 | 0.65% | 12,919 | 28.61% | 45,159 |
| Citrus | 21,072 | 62.95% | 12,184 | 36.40% | 218 | 0.65% | 8,888 | 26.55% | 33,474 |
| Clay | 25,942 | 76.67% | 7,773 | 22.97% | 122 | 0.36% | 18,169 | 53.70% | 33,837 |
| Collier | 38,920 | 74.87% | 12,769 | 24.57% | 291 | 0.56% | 26,151 | 50.30% | 51,980 |
| Columbia | 7,761 | 65.13% | 4,073 | 34.18% | 82 | 0.69% | 3,688 | 30.95% | 11,916 |
| Dade | 270,937 | 55.26% | 216,970 | 44.26% | 2,358 | 0.48% | 53,967 | 11.00% | 490,265 |
| DeSoto | 4,243 | 65.64% | 2,181 | 33.74% | 40 | 0.62% | 2,062 | 31.90% | 6,464 |
| Dixie | 2,031 | 59.79% | 1,366 | 40.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 665 | 19.58% | 3,397 |
| Duval | 128,081 | 62.79% | 74,894 | 36.72% | 1,004 | 0.49% | 53,187 | 26.07% | 203,979 |
| Escambia | 64,959 | 68.05% | 29,977 | 31.40% | 524 | 0.55% | 34,982 | 36.65% | 95,460 |
| Flagler | 6,504 | 60.32% | 4,244 | 39.36% | 34 | 0.32% | 2,260 | 20.96% | 10,782 |
| Franklin | 1,913 | 58.52% | 1,283 | 39.25% | 73 | 2.23% | 630 | 19.27% | 3,269 |
| Gadsden | 5,992 | 47.64% | 6,372 | 50.66% | 213 | 1.69% | -380 | -3.02% | 12,577 |
| Gilchrist | 1,855 | 61.59% | 1,137 | 37.75% | 20 | 0.66% | 718 | 23.84% | 3,012 |
| Glades | 1,547 | 59.66% | 1,034 | 39.88% | 12 | 0.46% | 513 | 19.78% | 2,593 |
| Gulf | 3,042 | 62.44% | 1,688 | 34.65% | 142 | 2.91% | 1,354 | 27.79% | 4,872 |
| Hamilton | 2,062 | 60.72% | 1,318 | 38.81% | 16 | 0.47% | 744 | 21.91% | 3,396 |
| Hardee | 3,640 | 66.96% | 1,688 | 31.05% | 108 | 1.99% | 1,952 | 35.91% | 5,436 |
| Hendry | 3,965 | 65.70% | 2,036 | 33.74% | 34 | 0.56% | 1,929 | 31.96% | 6,035 |
| Hernando | 21,195 | 57.50% | 15,437 | 41.88% | 231 | 0.63% | 5,758 | 15.62% | 36,863 |
| Highlands | 16,723 | 67.05% | 8,091 | 32.44% | 127 | 0.51% | 8,632 | 34.61% | 24,941 |
| Hillsborough | 150,151 | 59.89% | 99,014 | 39.49% | 1,551 | 0.62% | 51,137 | 20.40% | 250,716 |
| Holmes | 4,225 | 71.61% | 1,639 | 27.78% | 36 | 0.61% | 2,586 | 43.83% | 5,900 |
| Indian River | 24,630 | 69.71% | 10,451 | 29.58% | 252 | 0.71% | 14,179 | 40.13% | 35,333 |
| Jackson | 8,405 | 62.20% | 5,008 | 37.06% | 100 | 0.74% | 3,397 | 25.14% | 13,513 |
| Jefferson | 2,326 | 52.89% | 2,055 | 46.73% | 17 | 0.39% | 271 | 6.16% | 4,398 |
| Lafayette | 1,451 | 66.41% | 722 | 33.04% | 12 | 0.55% | 729 | 33.37% | 2,185 |
| Lake | 37,327 | 68.40% | 16,766 | 30.72% | 479 | 0.88% | 20,561 | 37.68% | 54,572 |
| Lee | 87,303 | 67.71% | 40,725 | 31.59% | 908 | 0.70% | 46,578 | 36.12% | 128,936 |
| Leon | 36,055 | 51.39% | 33,472 | 47.71% | 631 | 0.90% | 2,583 | 3.68% | 70,158 |
| Levy | 5,253 | 59.75% | 3,434 | 39.06% | 104 | 1.18% | 1,819 | 20.69% | 8,791 |
| Liberty | 1,421 | 65.27% | 709 | 32.57% | 47 | 2.16% | 712 | 32.70% | 2,177 |
| Madison | 2,563 | 56.59% | 1,951 | 43.08% | 15 | 0.33% | 612 | 13.51% | 4,529 |
| Manatee | 51,187 | 65.53% | 26,624 | 34.08% | 302 | 0.39% | 24,563 | 31.45% | 78,113 |
| Marion | 41,501 | 66.38% | 20,685 | 33.09% | 334 | 0.53% | 20,816 | 33.29% | 62,520 |
| Martin | 31,279 | 72.60% | 11,488 | 26.66% | 316 | 0.73% | 19,791 | 45.94% | 43,083 |
| Monroe | 15,928 | 60.32% | 10,157 | 38.47% | 320 | 1.21% | 5,771 | 21.85% | 26,405 |
| Nassau | 8,374 | 66.59% | 4,143 | 32.95% | 58 | 0.46% | 4,231 | 33.64% | 12,575 |
| Okaloosa | 40,389 | 80.04% | 9,753 | 19.33% | 320 | 0.63% | 30,636 | 60.71% | 50,462 |
| Okeechobee | 4,736 | 60.79% | 3,007 | 38.60% | 48 | 0.62% | 1,729 | 22.19% | 7,791 |
| Orange | 117,237 | 67.86% | 54,023 | 31.27% | 1,510 | 0.87% | 63,214 | 36.59% | 172,770 |
| Osceola | 21,355 | 68.05% | 9,812 | 31.27% | 214 | 0.68% | 11,543 | 36.78% | 31,381 |
| Palm Beach | 181,495 | 55.47% | 144,199 | 44.07% | 1,523 | 0.47% | 37,296 | 11.40% | 327,217 |
| Pasco | 63,820 | 55.59% | 50,385 | 43.89% | 598 | 0.52% | 13,435 | 11.70% | 114,803 |
| Pinellas | 211,049 | 57.76% | 152,420 | 41.72% | 1,901 | 0.52% | 58,629 | 16.04% | 365,370 |
| Polk | 77,104 | 66.45% | 38,249 | 32.96% | 687 | 0.59% | 38,855 | 33.49% | 116,040 |
| Putnam | 11,624 | 57.24% | 8,575 | 42.23% | 108 | 0.53% | 3,049 | 15.01% | 20,307 |
| St. Johns | 19,228 | 70.14% | 8,029 | 29.29% | 158 | 0.58% | 11,199 | 40.85% | 27,415 |
| St. Lucie | 32,319 | 64.54% | 17,446 | 34.84% | 314 | 0.63% | 14,873 | 29.70% | 50,079 |
| Santa Rosa | 18,973 | 77.85% | 5,254 | 21.56% | 143 | 0.59% | 13,719 | 56.29% | 24,370 |
| Sarasota | 84,602 | 66.40% | 42,099 | 33.04% | 708 | 0.56% | 42,503 | 33.36% | 127,409 |
| Seminole | 60,401 | 72.20% | 22,635 | 27.06% | 622 | 0.74% | 37,766 | 45.14% | 83,658 |
| Sumter | 5,936 | 59.98% | 3,900 | 39.41% | 60 | 0.61% | 2,036 | 20.57% | 9,896 |
| Suwannee | 5,863 | 64.27% | 3,129 | 34.30% | 130 | 1.43% | 2,734 | 29.97% | 9,122 |
| Taylor | 4,057 | 69.06% | 1,763 | 30.01% | 55 | 0.94% | 2,294 | 39.05% | 5,875 |
| Union | 1,644 | 69.99% | 691 | 29.42% | 14 | 0.60% | 953 | 40.57% | 2,349 |
| Volusia | 74,195 | 56.56% | 55,469 | 42.28% | 1,518 | 1.16% | 18,726 | 14.28% | 131,182 |
| Wakulla | 3,158 | 65.72% | 1,605 | 33.40% | 42 | 0.87% | 1,553 | 32.32% | 4,805 |
| Walton | 7,490 | 69.30% | 3,235 | 29.93% | 83 | 0.77% | 4,255 | 39.37% | 10,808 |
| Washington | 4,374 | 66.64% | 2,144 | 32.66% | 46 | 0.70% | 2,230 | 33.98% | 6,564 |
| Totals | 2,618,885 | 60.87% | 1,656,701 | 38.51% | 26,727 | 0.62% | 962,184 | 22.36% | 4,302,313 |
Bush carried 18 of the 19 congressional districts.
| District[20] | Bush | Dukakis |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 73.2% | 26.8% |
| 2nd | 59.7% | 40.3% |
| 3rd | 60% | 40% |
| 4th | 64.1% | 35.9% |
| 5th | 69% | 31% |
| 6th | 61.1% | 38.9% |
| 7th | 58.3% | 41.7% |
| 8th | 56% | 44% |
| 9th | 60.5% | 39.5% |
| 10th | 66.4% | 33.6% |
| 11th | 71% | 29% |
| 12th | 64.6% | 35.4% |
| 13th | 68% | 32% |
| 14th | 53.1% | 46.9% |
| 15th | 53.3% | 46.7% |
| 16th | 55.6% | 44.4% |
| 17th | 40.9% | 59.1% |
| 18th | 58% | 42% |
| 19th | 58.9% | 41.1% |
State and district results of the1988 U.S. presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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