1988 United States presidential election in Nevada

Main article: 1988 United States presidential election

1988 United States presidential election in Nevada

November 8, 1988

x200px x200px Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 206,040 132,738 Percentage 58.86% 37.92%

300px County Results Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in Nevada took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Nevada voters chose 4 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Nevada 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. Bush carried Nevada with 58.86% of the vote, while Dukakis received 37.92%, a victory margin of 20.94%.

Nevada weighed in for this election as about 13% more Republican than the national average. This was also the last election in which Clark County, the most populated county in Nevada, was won by a Republican presidential candidate.

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1988 was a rather multi-partisan election for Nevada, with more than 3% of the state voting for third parties or for Nevada's "None of These Candidates" option.

This would be the last election in which a Republican presidential nominee would win heavily populated Clark County, home to the city of Las Vegas, which beginning in 1992 would become a reliably Democratic stronghold in the state. Consequently, 1988 was also the last occasion in which a Republican presidential candidate swept every county in Nevada, and the last time a Republican carried the state by a double-digit margin.

Republican victory

Bush won the election in Nevada with a solid 21 point sweep-out landslide. This is one of the final elections where Nevada can be seen as being ubiquitously Republican. The election results in Nevada are generally reflective of a nationwide political reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party, which took place through the 1980s. Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs, spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan (called, collectively, "Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark for Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy.

Dukakis ran on a socially liberal platform, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, alternatively, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan - which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas. Additionally, while the economic programs passed under Reagan, and furthered under Bush and Clinton, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United State after 2007, such as the Great Recession.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Nevada
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	206,040	58.86%	4
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	132,738	37.92%	0
	"None of These Candidates"		6,934	1.98%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	3,520	1.01%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	835	0.24%	0
Totals			350,067	100.0%	4

Results by county

County or City	George Herbert Walker Bush Republican		Michael Stanley Dukakis Democratic		No Candidate Independent		Ronald Ernest Paul Libertarian		Leonora Branch Fulani New Alliance		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Churchill County	4,578	72.86%	1,481	23.57%	155	2.47%	49	0.78%	20	0.32%	3,097	49.29%	6,283
Clark County	108,110	56.37%	78,359	40.86%	3,400	1.77%	1,535	0.80%	375	0.20%	29,751	15.51%	191,779
Douglas County	7,074	67.02%	3,107	29.44%	214	2.03%	135	1.28%	25	0.24%	3,967	37.58%	10,555
Elko County	5,722	68.35%	2,310	27.59%	220	2.63%	96	1.15%	24	0.29%	3,412	40.75%	8,372
Esmeralda County	380	68.84%	143	25.91%	16	2.90%	11	1.99%	2	0.36%	237	42.93%	552
Eureka County	413	70.96%	151	25.95%	11	1.89%	7	1.20%	0	0.00%	262	45.02%	582
Humboldt County	2,378	66.50%	1,024	28.64%	87	2.43%	65	1.82%	22	0.62%	1,354	37.86%	3,576
Lander County	1,214	70.83%	439	25.61%	35	2.04%	21	1.23%	5	0.29%	775	45.22%	1,714
Lincoln County	1,035	66.18%	466	29.80%	45	2.88%	9	0.58%	9	0.58%	569	36.38%	1,564
Lyon County	4,390	62.83%	2,301	32.93%	171	2.45%	103	1.47%	22	0.31%	2,089	29.90%	6,987
Mineral County	1,480	56.88%	978	37.59%	101	3.88%	20	0.77%	23	0.88%	502	19.29%	2,602
Nye County	3,619	64.59%	1,748	31.20%	143	2.55%	78	1.39%	15	0.27%	1,871	33.39%	5,603
Pershing County	867	62.11%	458	32.81%	48	3.44%	17	1.22%	6	0.43%	409	29.30%	1,396
Storey County	651	56.36%	432	37.40%	46	3.98%	22	1.90%	4	0.35%	219	18.96%	1,155
Washoe County	52,654	59.34%	32,902	37.08%	1,803	2.03%	1,137	1.28%	232	0.26%	19,752	22.26%	88,728
White Pine County	1,774	53.31%	1,351	40.59%	163	4.90%	20	0.60%	20	0.60%	423	12.71%	3,328
Carson City	9,701	63.44%	5,088	33.27%	276	1.80%	195	1.28%	31	0.20%	4,613	30.17%	15,291
Totals	206,040	58.86%	132,738	37.92%	6,934	1.98%	3,520	1.01%	835	0.24%	73,302	20.94%	350,067

See also

• Gulf War
• Presidency of George H. W. Bush