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| Turnout | 62.19%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results Congressional District Results
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The1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 8, 1988, and was part of the1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
North Carolina voted for the Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, running with U.S SenatorDan Quayle, against GovernorMichael Dukakis, running with U.S. SenatorLloyd Bentsen.[2]
With the exception ofJimmy Carter's victory in North Carolina in1976, the state had voted for theRepublican presidential nominee in every election since1968. Republican membership in theUnited States House of Representatives from North Carolina peaked in elections held concurrently with the presidential elections and shrank in the following midterms.Jesse Helms's victory in the1972 senatorial election made him the state's first Republican senator in the 20th century andJohn Porter East was elected to the state's other seat in1980, but lost in the1986 election.[3] Republican identification among voters in the state rose from 27% to 37% between 1968 and 1986 while identification among Democrats fell from 68% to 58%.[4]
Al Gore won 51% of the white vote while Dukakis won 30%.[5] The racial composition of the Democratic primary was 71% white and 29% black,[6] and 36% of white voters participated in the Republican primary.[7]
North Carolina was one of the southern states thatMichael Dukakis's campaign viewed as winnable. TheNorth Carolina Democratic Party used $500,000 from the national party to hire over 100 workers and organize phone banks in every county, which contacted over 200,000 households. TheNorth Carolina Republican Party received $700,000 from the national party, but only hired ten workers and instead used the money to conduct polling and hire mailing organizations.[8]
George H. W. Bush campaign in the state three times, andDan Quayle, Dukakis, andLloyd Bentsen each came twice.[9] Among white voters, 68% supported Bush while 32% supported Dukakis.[10][11]
| 1988 United States presidential election in North Carolina[12] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | George H. W. Bush | 1,237,258 | 57.97% | 13 | |
| Democratic | Michael Dukakis | 890,167 | 41.71% | 0 | |
| New Alliance | Lenora Fulani | 5,682 | 0.27% | 0 | |
| Write-in | Ron Paul | 1,263 | 0.06% | 0 | |
| Invalid or blank votes | — | ||||
| Totals | 2,134,370 | 100.00% | 13 | ||
| Voter turnout | — | ||||
| County[13] | George H.W. Bush Republican | Michael Dukakis Democratic | Lenora Fulani New Alliance | Ron Paul Write-in | Margin | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alamance | 24,131 | 65.48% | 12,642 | 34.31% | 69 | 0.19% | 9 | 0.02% | 11,489 | 31.17% | 36,851 |
| Alexander | 7,968 | 65.56% | 4,148 | 34.13% | 33 | 0.27% | 5 | 0.04% | 3,820 | 31.43% | 12,154 |
| Alleghany | 2,174 | 50.98% | 2,087 | 48.94% | 3 | 0.07% | 0 | 0.00% | 87 | 2.04% | 4,264 |
| Anson | 2,782 | 36.45% | 4,831 | 63.29% | 20 | 0.26% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,049 | -26.84% | 7,633 |
| Ashe | 6,019 | 59.69% | 4,034 | 40.01% | 17 | 0.17% | 13 | 0.13% | 1,985 | 19.68% | 10,083 |
| Avery | 4,277 | 75.33% | 1,367 | 24.08% | 22 | 0.39% | 12 | 0.21% | 2,910 | 51.25% | 5,678 |
| Beaufort | 8,190 | 60.35% | 5,352 | 39.44% | 28 | 0.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,838 | 20.91% | 13,570 |
| Bertie | 2,145 | 36.24% | 3,762 | 63.56% | 12 | 0.20% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,617 | -27.32% | 5,919 |
| Bladen | 3,770 | 42.77% | 5,031 | 57.08% | 13 | 0.15% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,261 | -14.31% | 8,814 |
| Brunswick | 10,007 | 55.78% | 7,881 | 43.93% | 32 | 0.18% | 19 | 0.11% | 2,126 | 11.85% | 17,938 |
| Buncombe | 36,828 | 57.55% | 26,964 | 42.14% | 185 | 0.29% | 15 | 0.02% | 9,864 | 15.41% | 63,992 |
| Burke | 15,933 | 59.41% | 10,848 | 40.45% | 26 | 0.10% | 12 | 0.04% | 5,085 | 18.96% | 26,819 |
| Cabarrus | 22,524 | 67.75% | 10,686 | 32.14% | 26 | 0.08% | 12 | 0.04% | 11,838 | 35.61% | 33,248 |
| Caldwell | 15,176 | 65.78% | 7,862 | 34.08% | 33 | 0.14% | 0 | 0.00% | 7,314 | 31.70% | 23,071 |
| Camden | 1,144 | 50.87% | 1,081 | 48.07% | 24 | 1.07% | 0 | 0.00% | 63 | 2.80% | 2,249 |
| Carteret | 11,076 | 61.55% | 6,859 | 38.12% | 51 | 0.28% | 8 | 0.04% | 4,217 | 23.43% | 17,994 |
| Caswell | 3,299 | 43.93% | 4,189 | 55.79% | 20 | 0.27% | 1 | 0.01% | -890 | -11.86% | 7,509 |
| Catawba | 28,872 | 69.01% | 12,922 | 30.89% | 44 | 0.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 15,950 | 38.12% | 41,838 |
| Chatham | 6,999 | 47.81% | 7,600 | 51.92% | 27 | 0.18% | 13 | 0.09% | -601 | -4.11% | 14,639 |
| Cherokee | 4,557 | 63.78% | 2,567 | 35.93% | 21 | 0.29% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,990 | 27.85% | 7,145 |
| Chowan | 1,884 | 51.56% | 1,756 | 48.06% | 14 | 0.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 128 | 3.50% | 3,654 |
| Clay | 2,174 | 62.47% | 1,289 | 37.04% | 13 | 0.37% | 4 | 0.11% | 885 | 25.43% | 3,480 |
| Cleveland | 14,039 | 57.54% | 10,321 | 42.30% | 28 | 0.11% | 9 | 0.04% | 3,718 | 15.24% | 24,397 |
| Columbus | 6,659 | 41.93% | 9,172 | 57.75% | 51 | 0.32% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,513 | -15.82% | 15,882 |
| Craven | 12,057 | 62.10% | 7,313 | 37.66% | 46 | 0.24% | 1 | 0.01% | 4,744 | 24.44% | 19,417 |
| Cumberland | 27,057 | 53.07% | 23,789 | 46.66% | 121 | 0.24% | 12 | 0.02% | 3,268 | 6.41% | 50,979 |
| Currituck | 2,443 | 60.98% | 1,555 | 38.82% | 5 | 0.12% | 3 | 0.07% | 888 | 22.16% | 4,006 |
| Dare | 5,234 | 64.85% | 2,806 | 34.77% | 29 | 0.36% | 2 | 0.02% | 2,428 | 30.08% | 8,071 |
| Davidson | 28,374 | 68.11% | 13,215 | 31.72% | 70 | 0.17% | 3 | 0.01% | 15,159 | 36.39% | 41,662 |
| Davie | 7,988 | 71.37% | 3,166 | 28.29% | 38 | 0.34% | 0 | 0.00% | 4,822 | 43.08% | 11,192 |
| Duplin | 5,774 | 49.24% | 5,945 | 50.70% | 7 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | -171 | -1.46% | 11,726 |
| Durham | 29,928 | 45.43% | 35,441 | 53.79% | 478 | 0.73% | 36 | 0.05% | -5,513 | -8.36% | 65,883 |
| Edgecombe | 6,831 | 42.92% | 9,044 | 56.82% | 31 | 0.19% | 10 | 0.06% | -2,213 | -13.90% | 15,916 |
| Forsyth | 57,688 | 59.02% | 39,726 | 40.65% | 302 | 0.31% | 19 | 0.02% | 17,962 | 18.37% | 97,735 |
| Franklin | 5,499 | 50.17% | 5,438 | 49.62% | 22 | 0.20% | 1 | 0.01% | 61 | 0.55% | 10,960 |
| Gaston | 34,775 | 70.32% | 14,582 | 29.49% | 87 | 0.18% | 7 | 0.01% | 20,193 | 40.83% | 49,451 |
| Gates | 1,451 | 41.64% | 2,024 | 58.08% | 10 | 0.29% | 0 | 0.00% | -573 | -16.44% | 3,485 |
| Graham | 2,091 | 61.16% | 1,313 | 38.40% | 15 | 0.44% | 0 | 0.00% | 778 | 22.76% | 3,419 |
| Granville | 4,880 | 46.75% | 5,280 | 50.58% | 274 | 2.62% | 5 | 0.05% | -400 | -3.83% | 10,439 |
| Greene | 2,498 | 47.69% | 2,729 | 52.10% | 11 | 0.21% | 0 | 0.00% | -231 | -4.41% | 5,238 |
| Guilford | 66,060 | 56.35% | 50,351 | 42.95% | 276 | 0.24% | 545 | 0.46% | 15,709 | 13.40% | 117,232 |
| Halifax | 7,462 | 46.03% | 8,726 | 53.83% | 23 | 0.14% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,264 | -7.80% | 16,211 |
| Harnett | 9,749 | 57.25% | 7,259 | 42.63% | 21 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,490 | 14.62% | 17,029 |
| Haywood | 8,957 | 49.68% | 9,010 | 49.98% | 48 | 0.27% | 13 | 0.07% | -53 | -0.30% | 18,028 |
| Henderson | 19,711 | 67.68% | 9,338 | 32.06% | 58 | 0.20% | 18 | 0.06% | 10,373 | 35.62% | 29,125 |
| Hertford | 2,977 | 37.54% | 4,943 | 62.33% | 9 | 0.11% | 1 | 0.01% | -1,966 | -24.79% | 7,930 |
| Hoke | 2,020 | 37.88% | 3,281 | 61.52% | 32 | 0.60% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,261 | -23.64% | 5,333 |
| Hyde | 940 | 41.52% | 1,316 | 58.13% | 8 | 0.35% | 0 | 0.00% | -376 | -16.61% | 2,264 |
| Iredell | 21,536 | 67.02% | 10,530 | 32.77% | 62 | 0.19% | 7 | 0.02% | 11,006 | 34.25% | 32,135 |
| Jackson | 5,166 | 51.03% | 4,933 | 48.73% | 24 | 0.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 233 | 2.30% | 10,123 |
| Johnston | 15,563 | 63.97% | 8,717 | 35.83% | 35 | 0.14% | 14 | 0.06% | 6,846 | 28.14% | 24,329 |
| Jones | 1,649 | 45.78% | 1,946 | 54.03% | 7 | 0.19% | 0 | 0.00% | -297 | -8.25% | 3,602 |
| Lee | 7,104 | 62.47% | 4,231 | 37.21% | 34 | 0.30% | 2 | 0.02% | 2,873 | 25.26% | 11,371 |
| Lenoir | 10,669 | 58.13% | 7,649 | 41.68% | 34 | 0.19% | 1 | 0.01% | 3,020 | 16.45% | 18,353 |
| Lincoln | 11,651 | 64.26% | 6,444 | 35.54% | 32 | 0.18% | 3 | 0.02% | 5,207 | 28.72% | 18,130 |
| Macon | 6,026 | 61.39% | 3,773 | 38.44% | 13 | 0.13% | 4 | 0.04% | 2,253 | 22.95% | 9,816 |
| Madison | 3,453 | 53.07% | 3,033 | 46.62% | 20 | 0.31% | 0 | 0.00% | 420 | 6.45% | 6,506 |
| Martin | 3,149 | 46.61% | 3,598 | 53.26% | 7 | 0.10% | 2 | 0.03% | -449 | -6.65% | 6,756 |
| McDowell | 6,526 | 59.34% | 4,449 | 40.46% | 22 | 0.20% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,077 | 18.88% | 10,997 |
| Mecklenburg | 106,236 | 59.42% | 71,907 | 40.22% | 619 | 0.35% | 34 | 0.02% | 34,329 | 19.20% | 178,796 |
| Mitchell | 4,620 | 76.82% | 1,377 | 22.90% | 17 | 0.28% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,243 | 53.92% | 6,014 |
| Montgomery | 4,504 | 52.80% | 3,995 | 46.83% | 31 | 0.36% | 0 | 0.00% | 509 | 5.97% | 8,530 |
| Moore | 14,543 | 65.37% | 7,642 | 34.35% | 27 | 0.12% | 36 | 0.16% | 6,901 | 31.02% | 22,248 |
| Nash | 15,906 | 64.34% | 8,740 | 35.35% | 32 | 0.13% | 44 | 0.18% | 7,166 | 28.99% | 24,722 |
| New Hanover | 23,807 | 60.56% | 15,401 | 39.18% | 82 | 0.21% | 23 | 0.06% | 8,406 | 21.38% | 39,313 |
| Northampton | 2,415 | 34.34% | 4,599 | 65.39% | 19 | 0.27% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,184 | -31.05% | 7,033 |
| Onslow | 12,253 | 62.87% | 7,162 | 36.75% | 71 | 0.36% | 2 | 0.01% | 5,091 | 26.12% | 19,488 |
| Orange | 14,503 | 39.13% | 22,326 | 60.23% | 131 | 0.35% | 107 | 0.29% | -7,823 | -21.10% | 37,067 |
| Pamlico | 2,297 | 50.98% | 2,188 | 48.56% | 21 | 0.47% | 0 | 0.00% | 109 | 2.42% | 4,506 |
| Pasquotank | 4,006 | 50.76% | 3,860 | 48.91% | 25 | 0.32% | 1 | 0.01% | 146 | 1.85% | 7,892 |
| Pender | 4,926 | 52.84% | 4,377 | 46.95% | 13 | 0.14% | 7 | 0.08% | 549 | 5.89% | 9,323 |
| Perquimans | 1,781 | 53.32% | 1,543 | 46.20% | 14 | 0.42% | 2 | 0.06% | 238 | 7.12% | 3,340 |
| Person | 4,832 | 56.00% | 3,777 | 43.78% | 17 | 0.20% | 2 | 0.02% | 1,055 | 12.22% | 8,628 |
| Pitt | 18,245 | 55.08% | 14,777 | 44.61% | 72 | 0.22% | 33 | 0.10% | 3,468 | 10.47% | 33,127 |
| Polk | 3,874 | 60.31% | 2,534 | 39.45% | 13 | 0.20% | 2 | 0.03% | 1,340 | 20.86% | 6,423 |
| Randolph | 23,881 | 73.32% | 8,641 | 26.53% | 49 | 0.15% | 0 | 0.00% | 15,240 | 46.79% | 32,571 |
| Richmond | 5,073 | 41.39% | 7,151 | 58.34% | 26 | 0.21% | 7 | 0.06% | -2,078 | -16.95% | 12,257 |
| Robeson | 9,908 | 36.70% | 16,988 | 62.92% | 104 | 0.39% | 0 | 0.00% | -7,080 | -26.22% | 27,000 |
| Rockingham | 14,591 | 55.77% | 11,551 | 44.15% | 21 | 0.08% | 1 | 0.00% | 3,040 | 11.62% | 26,164 |
| Rowan | 23,192 | 65.48% | 12,127 | 34.24% | 96 | 0.27% | 1 | 0.00% | 11,065 | 31.24% | 35,416 |
| Rutherford | 10,337 | 59.73% | 6,926 | 40.02% | 43 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,411 | 19.71% | 17,306 |
| Sampson | 8,524 | 51.49% | 8,009 | 48.38% | 22 | 0.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 515 | 3.11% | 16,555 |
| Scotland | 3,199 | 45.16% | 3,865 | 54.56% | 20 | 0.28% | 0 | 0.00% | -666 | -9.40% | 7,084 |
| Stanly | 11,885 | 64.13% | 6,627 | 35.76% | 17 | 0.09% | 3 | 0.02% | 5,258 | 28.37% | 18,532 |
| Stokes | 8,661 | 61.81% | 5,319 | 37.96% | 27 | 0.19% | 5 | 0.04% | 3,342 | 23.85% | 14,012 |
| Surry | 11,393 | 61.06% | 7,245 | 38.83% | 22 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 4,148 | 22.23% | 18,660 |
| Swain | 1,795 | 49.52% | 1,821 | 50.23% | 9 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | -26 | -0.71% | 3,625 |
| Transylvania | 7,009 | 61.86% | 4,280 | 37.78% | 19 | 0.17% | 22 | 0.19% | 2,729 | 24.08% | 11,330 |
| Tyrrell | 637 | 44.70% | 785 | 55.09% | 3 | 0.21% | 0 | 0.00% | -148 | -10.39% | 1,425 |
| Union | 17,015 | 65.71% | 8,820 | 34.06% | 46 | 0.18% | 15 | 0.06% | 8,195 | 31.65% | 25,896 |
| Vance | 5,625 | 49.88% | 5,631 | 49.94% | 18 | 0.16% | 2 | 0.02% | -6 | -0.06% | 11,276 |
| Wake | 81,613 | 56.87% | 61,352 | 42.75% | 482 | 0.34% | 57 | 0.04% | 20,261 | 14.12% | 143,504 |
| Warren | 2,163 | 33.64% | 4,249 | 66.09% | 17 | 0.26% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,086 | -32.45% | 6,429 |
| Washington | 2,186 | 43.69% | 2,806 | 56.08% | 11 | 0.22% | 1 | 0.02% | -620 | -12.39% | 5,004 |
| Watauga | 8,662 | 58.59% | 6,048 | 40.91% | 57 | 0.39% | 18 | 0.12% | 2,614 | 17.68% | 14,785 |
| Wayne | 15,292 | 62.48% | 9,135 | 37.33% | 47 | 0.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 6,157 | 25.15% | 24,474 |
| Wilkes | 15,231 | 67.65% | 7,230 | 32.11% | 53 | 0.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 8,001 | 35.54% | 22,514 |
| Wilson | 10,997 | 57.11% | 8,214 | 42.65% | 40 | 0.21% | 6 | 0.03% | 2,783 | 14.46% | 19,257 |
| Yadkin | 7,918 | 71.10% | 3,195 | 28.69% | 24 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 4,723 | 42.41% | 11,137 |
| Yancey | 4,160 | 52.00% | 3,803 | 47.54% | 37 | 0.46% | 0 | 0.00% | 357 | 4.46% | 8,000 |
| Totals | 1,237,258 | 57.97% | 890,167 | 41.71% | 5,682 | 0.27% | 1,263 | 0.06% | 347,091 | 16.26% | 2,134,370 |
Bush carried 10 of the 11 congressional districts, including seven held by Democrats.
| District[14] | Bush | Dukakis |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 53.9% | 46.1% |
| 2nd | 49.7% | 50.3% |
| 3rd | 57.7% | 42.3% |
| 4th | 55.7% | 44.3% |
| 5th | 60.3% | 39.7% |
| 6th | 60.9% | 39.1% |
| 7th | 51.4% | 48.3% |
| 8th | 61.9% | 38.1% |
| 9th | 61.2% | 38.8% |
| 10th | 65.5% | 35.5% |
| 11th | 59.4% | 40.6% |
| The 1988 presidential vote by demographic subgroup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic subgroup | Dukakis | Bush | % of total vote | |||
| Total vote | 42 | 58 | 100 | |||
| Party | ||||||
| Republican | 94 | |||||
| Independent | 70 | |||||
| Democratic | 18 | |||||
| Ideology | ||||||
| Liberals | 27 | |||||
| Moderates | 49 | |||||
| Conservatives | 83 | |||||
| Gender | ||||||
| Men | 63 | |||||
| Women | 53 | |||||
| Race | ||||||
| White | 68 | |||||
| Black | 8 | |||||
| Occupation | ||||||
| Blue collar | 60 | |||||
| White collar | 63 | |||||
| Professional | 61 | |||||
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school graduate | 51 | |||||
| High school graduate | 64 | |||||
| College | 60 | |||||
| Graduate/professional work | 52 | |||||
| Age | ||||||
| 18–24 years old | 65 | |||||
| 25–49 years old | 59 | |||||
| 50–64 years old | 56 | |||||
| 65 and older | 52 | |||||
| Family income | ||||||
| Under $20,000 | 42 | |||||
| $20,000–50,000 | 61 | |||||
| Over $50,000 | 68 | |||||
| Religion | ||||||
| Protestant | 65 | |||||
| Catholic | 48 | |||||
Source:NBC exit poll (2,516 surveyed) andCBS News exit poll (1,503 surveyed)[15]
State and district results of the1988 U.S. presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
|  | |
