1988 United States presidential election in Ohio
1988 United States presidential election in Ohio
County Results Township Results
Bush
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%
Dukakis
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%
The 1988 United States presidential election in Ohio 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 23 electors to the Electoral College , which selected the president and vice president .
Ohio 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 .
Ohio weighed in for this election as 3% more Republican than the national average. This is the first election since 1924 in which Ohio did not vote the same way as Wisconsin , something that would reoccur in 2000 , 2004 , and 2020 .
The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Ohio, with more than 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties.[ 1] Most counties in the state turned out more for Bush than Dukakis. Two notable exceptions to this trend were Cleveland 's Cuyahoga County , and residents of several counties on the Eastern border with Pennsylvania , who voted largely for Dukakis. This was the last occasion until 2016 that Erie County , Montgomery County and Portage County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[ 2]
Bush won the election in Ohio with 55.00% of the vote to Dukakis's 44.15%, for a margin of 10.85%, the last time a presidential candidate won the state by double digits until 2024 .
Results
1988 United States presidential election in Ohio
Party
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
George H. W. Bush
2,416,549
55.00%
23
Democratic
Michael Dukakis
1,939,629
44.15%
0
Not Designated
Lenora Fulani
12,017
0.27%
0
Not Designated
Ron Paul
11,989
0.27%
0
Not Designated
Lyndon LaRouche
7,733
0.18%
0
Not Designated
Edward Winn
5,432
0.12%
0
Write-Ins
216
>0.01%
0
Not Designated
Larry Holmes
134
>0.01%
0
Totals
4,393,699
100.0%
23
Results by county
County
George H.W. Bush Republican
Michael Dukakis Democratic
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Adams
5,916
60.71%
3,740
38.38%
88
0.91%
2,176
22.33%
9,744
Allen
31,021
68.97%
13,727
30.52%
227
0.51%
17,294
38.45%
44,975
Ashland
12,726
67.19%
6,072
32.06%
141
0.75%
6,654
35.13%
18,939
Ashtabula
17,654
45.79%
20,536
53.26%
366
0.95%
-2,882
-7.47%
38,556
Athens
9,314
45.92%
10,795
53.23%
172
0.85%
-1,481
-7.31%
20,281
Auglaize
13,562
73.39%
4,756
25.74%
161
0.87%
8,806
47.65%
18,479
Belmont
12,214
38.20%
19,515
61.04%
244
0.76%
-7,301
-22.84%
31,973
Brown
7,539
59.37%
5,047
39.75%
112
0.88%
2,492
19.62%
12,698
Butler
75,725
68.71%
33,770
30.64%
713
0.65%
41,955
38.07%
110,208
Carroll
6,179
56.20%
4,667
42.45%
148
1.35%
1,512
13.75%
10,994
Champaign
8,995
67.29%
4,272
31.96%
101
0.75%
4,723
35.33%
13,368
Clark
32,729
57.92%
23,247
41.14%
527
0.94%
9,482
16.78%
56,503
Clermont
37,417
70.49%
15,352
28.92%
316
0.59%
22,065
41.57%
53,085
Clinton
8,856
69.74%
3,746
29.50%
97
0.76%
5,110
40.24%
12,699
Columbiana
21,175
49.08%
21,581
50.03%
384
0.89%
-406
-0.95%
43,140
Coshocton
8,282
57.09%
6,020
41.50%
204
1.41%
2,262
15.59%
14,506
Crawford
12,472
66.70%
6,018
32.18%
210
1.12%
6,454
34.52%
18,700
Cuyahoga
242,439
40.33%
353,401
58.79%
5,277
0.88%
-110,962
-18.46%
601,117
Darke
14,914
67.93%
6,851
31.21%
189
0.86%
8,063
36.72%
21,954
Defiance
9,566
63.13%
5,448
35.95%
139
0.92%
4,118
27.18%
15,153
Delaware
20,693
72.61%
7,590
26.63%
215
0.76%
13,103
45.98%
28,498
Erie
16,670
51.77%
15,097
46.89%
431
1.34%
1,573
4.88%
32,198
Fairfield
29,208
69.46%
12,504
29.74%
339
0.80%
16,704
39.72%
42,051
Fayette
6,186
69.72%
2,623
29.56%
64
0.72%
3,563
40.16%
8,873
Franklin
226,265
59.96%
147,585
39.11%
3,507
0.93%
78,680
20.85%
377,357
Fulton
10,230
66.31%
5,076
32.90%
122
0.79%
5,154
33.41%
15,428
Gallia
7,399
59.92%
4,834
39.14%
116
0.94%
2,565
20.78%
12,349
Geauga
22,339
64.55%
11,874
34.31%
395
1.14%
10,465
30.24%
34,608
Greene
34,432
65.14%
18,025
34.10%
399
0.76%
16,407
31.04%
52,856
Guernsey
8,507
58.42%
5,926
40.69%
130
0.89%
2,581
17.73%
14,563
Hamilton
227,004
61.29%
140,354
37.89%
3,026
0.82%
86,650
23.40%
370,384
Hancock
19,896
71.97%
7,435
26.90%
312
1.13%
12,461
45.07%
27,643
Hardin
7,291
62.82%
4,145
35.71%
170
1.47%
3,146
27.11%
11,606
Harrison
3,298
45.48%
3,881
53.52%
73
1.00%
-583
-8.04%
7,252
Henry
8,618
69.12%
3,764
30.19%
86
0.69%
4,854
38.93%
12,468
Highland
8,776
66.60%
4,278
32.46%
124
0.94%
4,498
34.14%
13,178
Hocking
5,426
58.70%
3,706
40.10%
111
1.20%
1,720
18.60%
9,243
Holmes
5,064
69.22%
2,179
29.78%
73
1.00%
2,885
39.44%
7,316
Huron
12,633
61.20%
7,794
37.76%
215
1.04%
4,839
23.44%
20,642
Jackson
6,671
59.21%
4,505
39.98%
91
0.81%
2,166
19.23%
11,267
Jefferson
14,141
38.73%
22,095
60.52%
273
0.75%
-7,954
-21.79%
36,509
Knox
12,180
63.44%
6,882
35.84%
138
0.72%
5,298
27.60%
19,200
Lake
52,963
56.63%
39,667
42.41%
894
0.96%
13,296
14.22%
93,524
Lawrence
12,937
52.23%
11,628
46.95%
203
0.82%
1,309
5.28%
24,768
Licking
34,540
66.72%
16,793
32.44%
434
0.84%
17,747
34.28%
51,767
Logan
11,099
70.71%
4,484
28.57%
114
0.72%
6,615
42.14%
15,697
Lorain
50,410
47.14%
55,600
52.00%
916
0.86%
-5,190
-4.86%
106,926
Lucas
83,788
45.27%
99,755
53.89%
1,552
0.84%
-15,967
-8.62%
185,095
Madison
8,303
70.26%
3,421
28.95%
93
0.79%
4,882
41.31%
11,817
Mahoning
43,722
36.40%
75,524
62.87%
880
0.73%
-31,802
-26.47%
120,126
Marion
14,864
60.13%
9,596
38.82%
258
1.05%
5,268
21.31%
24,718
Medina
29,962
60.08%
19,505
39.11%
407
0.81%
10,457
20.97%
49,874
Meigs
5,486
59.14%
3,699
39.88%
91
0.98%
1,787
19.26%
9,276
Mercer
11,162
68.54%
4,978
30.57%
146
0.89%
6,184
37.97%
16,286
Miami
24,915
68.38%
11,138
30.57%
381
1.05%
13,777
37.81%
36,434
Monroe
2,557
37.20%
4,269
62.10%
48
0.70%
-1,712
-24.90%
6,874
Montgomery
131,596
57.48%
95,737
41.82%
1,610
0.70%
35,859
15.66%
228,943
Morgan
3,713
63.37%
2,085
35.59%
61
1.04%
1,628
27.78%
5,859
Morrow
7,130
66.26%
3,515
32.67%
115
1.07%
3,615
33.59%
10,760
Muskingum
19,736
62.31%
11,691
36.91%
247
0.78%
8,045
25.40%
31,674
Noble
3,155
59.44%
2,079
39.17%
74
1.39%
1,076
20.27%
5,308
Ottawa
9,352
53.39%
8,038
45.89%
127
0.72%
1,314
7.50%
17,517
Paulding
5,381
62.78%
3,114
36.33%
76
0.89%
2,267
26.45%
8,571
Perry
6,602
56.28%
5,011
42.72%
118
1.00%
1,591
13.56%
11,731
Pickaway
10,796
68.36%
4,905
31.06%
93
0.58%
5,891
37.30%
15,794
Pike
5,611
51.39%
5,191
47.54%
117
1.07%
420
3.85%
10,919
Portage
26,334
50.18%
25,607
48.79%
539
1.03%
727
1.39%
52,480
Preble
10,297
66.95%
4,937
32.10%
147
0.95%
5,360
34.85%
15,381
Putnam
11,183
73.09%
4,004
26.17%
114
0.74%
7,179
46.92%
15,301
Richland
30,047
60.04%
19,617
39.20%
383
0.76%
10,430
20.84%
50,047
Ross
14,563
60.39%
9,271
38.45%
279
1.16%
5,292
21.94%
24,113
Sandusky
14,203
58.61%
9,709
40.07%
320
1.32%
4,494
18.54%
24,232
Scioto
16,029
52.11%
14,442
46.95%
289
0.94%
1,587
5.16%
30,760
Seneca
13,704
58.49%
9,504
40.56%
222
0.95%
4,200
17.93%
23,430
Shelby
12,198
70.00%
5,065
29.07%
162
0.93%
7,133
40.93%
17,425
Stark
87,087
55.08%
69,639
44.05%
1,370
0.87%
17,448
11.03%
158,096
Summit
101,155
46.92%
112,612
52.23%
1,822
0.85%
-11,457
-5.31%
215,589
Trumbull
38,815
39.51%
58,674
59.72%
761
0.77%
-19,859
-20.21%
98,250
Tuscarawas
17,145
54.28%
14,185
44.90%
259
0.82%
2,960
9.38%
31,589
Union
8,846
73.28%
3,130
25.93%
95
0.79%
5,716
47.35%
12,071
Van Wert
9,410
70.56%
3,848
28.85%
78
0.59%
5,562
41.71%
13,336
Vinton
2,652
52.19%
2,385
46.94%
44
0.87%
267
5.25%
5,081
Warren
31,419
73.38%
11,145
26.03%
254
0.59%
20,274
47.35%
42,818
Washington
14,767
59.27%
9,967
40.00%
182
0.73%
4,800
19.27%
24,916
Wayne
22,320
61.64%
13,571
37.48%
317
0.88%
8,749
24.16%
36,208
Williams
10,782
69.18%
4,666
29.94%
137
0.88%
6,116
39.24%
15,585
Wood
26,013
57.89%
18,579
41.35%
341
0.76%
7,434
16.54%
44,933
Wyandot
6,178
66.87%
2,936
31.78%
125
1.35%
3,242
35.09%
9,239
Totals
2,416,549
55.00%
1,939,629
44.15%
37,521
0.85%
476,920
10.85%
4,393,699
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
See also
References