1988 United States presidential election in Nebraska
November 8, 1988
 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote 5 0
Popular vote 398,447 259,646
Percentage 60.15% 39.20%
County Results
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

 Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

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

Nebraska 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 won Nebraska by a powerful 21% margin. His 60.15% vote share made it his seventh-best state in the nation, and one of only seven where he exceeded 60% of the vote. Even in this drought-influenced election, Nebraska remained largely immune to any significant softening of the Republican vote, as occurred in nearby, generally solidly Republican states at the time such as South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, and Kansas.

The election was very partisan, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot.[1] As has been typical ever since the 1950s, nearly every county in Nebraska turned out a majority for the Republican Party. However, by carrying Saline County, which had long been the most Democratic county in the state, plus Dakota County and Thurston County in the northeast with their substantial Hispanic and Native American populations, Dukakis became the first Democrat to win any of Nebraska’s counties since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and the two northeastern counties went Democratic for the first time since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.[2]

Nebraska weighed in for this election as 7% more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 United States presidential election, this remains the last time that Nebraska has voted under a winner-take-all system in a presidential election; it would start allocating its electoral votes by congressional district in 1992.[3]

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 398,447 60.15% 5
Democratic Michael Dukakis 259,646 39.20% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 2,536 0.38% 0
New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 1,743 0.26% 0
Totals 662,372 100.0% 5

Results by county

County[4] George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican		 Michael Stanley Dukakis
Democratic		 Ronald Ernest Paul
Libertarian		 Leonora Branch Fulani
New Alliance		 Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 8,073 65.59% 4,156 33.77% 49 0.40% 30 0.24% 3,917 31.82% 12,308
Antelope 2,626 73.78% 933 26.22% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,693 47.57% 3,559
Arthur 210 78.07% 58 21.56% 1 0.37% 0 0.00% 152 56.51% 269
Banner 361 75.68% 112 23.48% 2 0.42% 2 0.42% 249 52.20% 477
Blaine 338 82.24% 72 17.52% 1 0.24% 0 0.00% 266 64.72% 411
Boone 2,160 68.57% 976 30.98% 8 0.25% 6 0.19% 1,184 37.59% 3,150
Box Butte 3,253 56.42% 2,468 42.80% 28 0.49% 17 0.29% 785 13.61% 5,766
Boyd 967 65.92% 480 32.72% 16 1.09% 4 0.27% 487 33.20% 1,467
Brown 1,336 74.93% 435 24.40% 9 0.50% 3 0.17% 901 50.53% 1,783
Buffalo 9,981 67.31% 4,702 31.71% 100 0.67% 45 0.30% 5,279 35.60% 14,828
Burt 2,050 58.06% 1,458 41.29% 15 0.42% 8 0.23% 592 16.77% 3,531
Butler 2,086 54.62% 1,715 44.91% 11 0.29% 7 0.18% 371 9.71% 3,819
Cass 4,664 55.61% 3,677 43.84% 24 0.29% 22 0.26% 987 11.77% 8,387
Cedar 2,462 58.09% 1,759 41.51% 13 0.31% 4 0.09% 703 16.59% 4,238
Chase 1,446 69.45% 597 28.67% 31 1.49% 8 0.38% 849 40.78% 2,082
Cherry 2,240 77.35% 642 22.17% 10 0.35% 4 0.14% 1,598 55.18% 2,896
Cheyenne 2,862 67.77% 1,333 31.57% 20 0.47% 8 0.19% 1,529 36.21% 4,223
Clay 2,352 67.78% 1,097 31.61% 15 0.43% 6 0.17% 1,255 36.17% 3,470
Colfax 2,329 59.75% 1,542 39.56% 20 0.51% 7 0.18% 787 20.19% 3,898
Cuming 3,208 71.75% 1,239 27.71% 14 0.31% 10 0.22% 1,969 44.04% 4,471
Custer 4,203 73.40% 1,496 26.13% 7 0.12% 20 0.35% 2,707 47.28% 5,726
Dakota 2,744 48.17% 2,942 51.64% 5 0.09% 6 0.11% -198 -3.48% 5,697
Dawes 2,621 69.50% 1,123 29.78% 16 0.42% 11 0.29% 1,498 39.72% 3,771
Dawson 5,529 71.30% 2,184 28.16% 22 0.28% 20 0.26% 3,345 43.13% 7,755
Deuel 769 71.20% 302 27.96% 5 0.46% 4 0.37% 467 43.24% 1,080
Dixon 1,802 60.53% 1,166 39.17% 5 0.17% 4 0.13% 636 21.36% 2,977
Dodge 8,417 57.66% 6,116 41.90% 42 0.29% 22 0.15% 2,301 15.76% 14,597
Douglas 99,916 56.27% 76,541 43.11% 562 0.32% 546 0.31% 23,375 13.16% 177,565
Dundy 828 70.29% 333 28.27% 12 1.02% 5 0.42% 495 42.02% 1,178
Fillmore 1,955 57.20% 1,435 41.98% 20 0.59% 8 0.23% 520 15.21% 3,418
Franklin 1,294 62.06% 768 36.83% 15 0.72% 8 0.38% 526 25.23% 2,085
Frontier 1,057 72.45% 384 26.32% 15 1.03% 3 0.21% 673 46.13% 1,459
Furnas 1,830 69.19% 791 29.91% 16 0.60% 8 0.30% 1,039 39.28% 2,645
Gage 5,115 55.68% 4,008 43.63% 44 0.48% 19 0.21% 1,107 12.05% 9,186
Garden 986 72.39% 366 26.87% 5 0.37% 5 0.37% 620 45.52% 1,362
Garfield 803 75.97% 234 22.14% 17 1.61% 3 0.28% 569 53.83% 1,057
Gosper 694 67.12% 331 32.01% 5 0.48% 4 0.39% 363 35.11% 1,034
Grant 301 76.79% 89 22.70% 1 0.26% 1 0.26% 212 54.08% 392
Greeley 763 53.06% 670 46.59% 4 0.28% 1 0.07% 93 6.47% 1,438
Hall 12,062 63.41% 6,853 36.02% 32 0.17% 76 0.40% 5,209 27.38% 19,023
Hamilton 3,022 69.73% 1,289 29.74% 16 0.37% 7 0.16% 1,733 39.99% 4,334
Harlan 1,403 65.13% 725 33.66% 16 0.74% 10 0.46% 678 31.48% 2,154
Hayes 512 75.07% 160 23.46% 6 0.88% 4 0.59% 352 51.61% 682
Hitchcock 1,132 69.45% 480 29.45% 13 0.80% 5 0.31% 652 40.00% 1,630
Holt 4,081 74.66% 1,327 24.28% 43 0.79% 15 0.27% 2,754 50.38% 5,466
Hooker 378 80.25% 91 19.32% 1 0.21% 1 0.21% 287 60.93% 471
Howard 1,526 55.63% 1,186 43.24% 21 0.77% 10 0.36% 340 12.40% 2,743
Jefferson 2,471 57.16% 1,819 42.08% 23 0.53% 10 0.23% 652 15.08% 4,323
Johnson 1,182 50.17% 1,164 49.41% 7 0.30% 3 0.13% 18 0.76% 2,356
Kearney 2,121 65.99% 1,056 32.86% 29 0.90% 8 0.25% 1,065 33.14% 3,214
Keith 2,886 72.31% 1,075 26.94% 24 0.60% 6 0.15% 1,811 45.38% 3,991
Keya Paha 446 74.96% 145 24.37% 4 0.67% 0 0.00% 301 50.59% 595
Kimball 1,321 69.89% 540 28.57% 17 0.90% 12 0.63% 781 41.32% 1,890
Knox 2,644 63.76% 1,477 35.62% 17 0.41% 9 0.22% 1,167 28.14% 4,147
Lancaster 44,744 49.87% 44,396 49.48% 333 0.37% 250 0.28% 348 0.39% 89,723
Lincoln 8,425 57.57% 6,118 41.81% 72 0.49% 19 0.13% 2,307 15.76% 14,634
Logan 373 79.70% 93 19.87% 1 0.21% 1 0.21% 280 59.83% 468
Loup 295 73.75% 98 24.50% 4 1.00% 3 0.75% 197 49.25% 400
Madison 9,137 76.30% 2,779 23.21% 44 0.37% 15 0.13% 6,358 53.09% 11,975
McPherson 229 78.42% 60 20.55% 2 0.68% 1 0.34% 169 57.88% 292
Merrick 2,376 66.15% 1,192 33.18% 15 0.42% 9 0.25% 1,184 32.96% 3,592
Morrill 1,556 66.75% 754 32.35% 14 0.60% 7 0.30% 802 34.41% 2,331
Nance 1,185 59.55% 794 39.90% 9 0.45% 2 0.10% 391 19.65% 1,990
Nemaha 2,295 60.60% 1,457 38.47% 25 0.66% 10 0.26% 838 22.13% 3,787
Nuckolls 1,750 60.53% 1,114 38.53% 14 0.48% 13 0.45% 636 22.00% 2,891
Otoe 3,724 58.50% 2,616 41.09% 21 0.33% 5 0.08% 1,108 17.40% 6,366
Pawnee 975 55.46% 767 43.63% 9 0.51% 7 0.40% 208 11.83% 1,758
Perkins 1,118 69.70% 468 29.18% 15 0.94% 3 0.19% 650 40.52% 1,604
Phelps 3,316 75.59% 1,047 23.87% 15 0.34% 9 0.21% 2,269 51.72% 4,387
Pierce 2,474 72.79% 914 26.89% 7 0.21% 4 0.12% 1,560 45.90% 3,399
Platte 9,040 72.93% 3,285 26.50% 47 0.38% 24 0.19% 5,755 46.43% 12,396
Polk 1,769 64.94% 944 34.65% 7 0.26% 4 0.15% 825 30.29% 2,724
Red Willow 3,331 68.19% 1,511 30.93% 27 0.55% 16 0.33% 1,820 37.26% 4,885
Richardson 2,703 58.02% 1,926 41.34% 18 0.39% 12 0.26% 777 16.68% 4,659
Rock 757 79.10% 198 20.69% 1 0.10% 1 0.10% 559 58.41% 957
Saline 2,355 42.75% 3,125 56.73% 10 0.18% 19 0.34% -770 -13.98% 5,509
Sarpy 20,192 64.54% 10,947 34.99% 83 0.27% 63 0.20% 9,245 29.55% 31,285
Saunders 4,459 55.46% 3,526 43.86% 34 0.42% 21 0.26% 933 11.60% 8,040
Scotts Bluff 8,613 65.39% 4,464 33.89% 33 0.25% 61 0.46% 4,149 31.50% 13,171
Seward 3,472 55.89% 2,690 43.30% 29 0.47% 21 0.34% 782 12.59% 6,212
Sheridan 2,251 77.67% 612 21.12% 25 0.86% 10 0.35% 1,639 56.56% 2,898
Sherman 915 51.67% 839 47.37% 15 0.85% 2 0.11% 76 4.29% 1,771
Sioux 568 74.05% 194 25.29% 4 0.52% 1 0.13% 374 48.76% 767
Stanton 1,711 72.50% 639 27.08% 6 0.25% 4 0.17% 1,072 45.42% 2,360
Thayer 1,981 59.56% 1,322 39.75% 14 0.42% 9 0.27% 659 19.81% 3,326
Thomas 383 82.19% 81 17.38% 1 0.21% 1 0.21% 302 64.81% 466
Thurston 1,105 47.22% 1,225 52.35% 5 0.21% 5 0.21% -120 -5.13% 2,340
Valley 1,604 64.08% 873 34.88% 21 0.84% 5 0.20% 731 29.20% 2,503
Washington 4,587 63.80% 2,567 35.70% 25 0.35% 11 0.15% 2,020 28.09% 7,190
Wayne 2,473 68.43% 1,111 30.74% 17 0.47% 13 0.36% 1,362 37.69% 3,614
Webster 1,314 59.03% 891 40.03% 13 0.58% 8 0.36% 423 19.00% 2,226
Wheeler 309 67.91% 141 30.99% 4 0.88% 1 0.22% 168 36.92% 455
York 4,765 72.78% 1,751 26.75% 25 0.38% 6 0.09% 3,014 46.04% 6,547
Totals398,44760.15%259,64639.20%2,5360.38%1,7430.26%138,80120.96%662,372

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Bush's largely socially conservative rhetoric garnered him much support among social-conservatives nationwide. Seen here at campaign rally in Omaha, Nebraska.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1988 Presidential General Election Results – Nebraska". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 252-255 ISBN 0786422173
  3. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Solly, Meilan. "Why Do Maine and Nebraska Split Their Electoral Votes?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  4. ↑ "NE US President Race, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.
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