1988 United States presidential election in Mississippi explained

See main article: 1988 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1988 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Country:	Mississippi
Flag Image:	Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1984 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Previous Year:	1984
Next Election:	1992 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Next Year:	1992
Election Date:	November 8, 1988
Image1:	File:VP George Bush crop.jpg
Nominee1:	George H. W. Bush
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	Texas
Running Mate1:	Dan Quayle
Electoral Vote1:	7
Popular Vote1:	557,890
Percentage1:	59.89%
Nominee2:	Michael Dukakis
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Massachusetts
Running Mate2:	Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	363,921
Percentage2:	39.07%
Map Size:	305px
President
Before Election:	Ronald Reagan
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	George H. W. Bush
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

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

Mississippi was won by incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, running with U.S. Senator Dan Quayle, against Governor Michael Dukakis, running with U.S Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Notably, however, George County, in Mississippi's Pine Belt, gave former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke his largest vote share of any county in the country (about 4%). George County also gave third parties in the aggregate their largest vote share of any county in the country.^[1]

, this is the last election in which Adams County, Kemper County, Washington County, and Leflore County voted for the Republican presidential nominee; and the last in which Hinds County, the most populous in the state, gave a Republican an outright majority.^[2]

Background

Thad Cochran's victory in the 1978 election made him the first Republican elected to the United States Senate since the end of Reconstruction. However, the Democrats maintained control over all state-level offices.

Campaign

The racial composition of the Democratic primary was 55% white and 45% black. Gore won 64% of the white vote. 44% of white voters participated in the Republican primary.

Dukakis was the first presidential candidate to visit the Neshoba County Fair since Ronald Reagan during the 1980 election. 76% of white voters supported Bush while 23% supported Dukakis.

Democratic nominee Wayne Dowdy lost in the concurrent U.S. Senate election resulting in Mississippi having two Republican senators for the first time since Reconstruction. However, the Democrats controlled four of the state's five seats in the United States House of Representatives.

Harry Allen, Rhesa Barksdale, Robbie Hughes, Henry Paris, Fred Reeder, Michael Allred, and Ed Weeks were the Republican electors that cast their ballots for Bush and Quayle. Allred was selected to replace John Palmer as Palmer was unable to cast his ballot.^[3]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	George Bush	Michael Dukakis	Other / Undecided
Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy	data-sort-value="2022-09-07"	June 9–12, 1988				50%	39%	11%
Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy	data-sort-value="2022-09-07"	August 1–3, 1988				50%	43%	7%

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	557,890	59.89%	7
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	363,921	39.07%	0
	Independent	David Duke	4,232	0.45%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	3,329	0.36%	0
	Independent	Lenora Fulani	2,155	0.23%	0
Totals			931,527	100.00%	7

Results by county

County^[4]	George H.W. Bush Republican		Michael Dukakis Democratic		David Duke Independent		Ron Paul Libertarian		Leonora Fulani Independent		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		8,116		50.74%		7,732		48.34%		96		0.60%		25		0.16%		25		0.16%		384		2.40%		15,994
	Alcorn		6,641		54.88%		5,335		44.08%		38		0.31%		73		0.60%		15		0.12%		1,306		10.80%		12,102
	Amite		3,333		53.88%		2,834		45.81%		14		0.23%		5		0.08%		0		0.00%		499		8.07%		6,186
	Attala		4,524		59.87%		2,997		39.66%		21		0.28%		7		0.09%		7		0.09%		1,527		20.21%		7,556
	Benton		1,565		47.30%		1,718		51.92%		20		0.60%		3		0.09%		3		0.09%		-153		-4.62%		3,309
	Bolivar		6,105		43.34%		7,606		54.00%		101		0.72%		204		1.45%		69		0.49%		-1,501		-10.66%		14,085
	Calhoun		3,375		61.55%		2,086		38.04%		7		0.13%		11		0.20%		4		0.07%		1,289		23.51%		5,483
	Carroll		2,628		62.51%		1,560		37.11%		1		0.02%		11		0.26%		4		0.10%		1,068		25.40%		4,204
	Chickasaw		3,390		55.35%		2,713		44.29%		15		0.24%		1		0.02%		6		0.10%		677		11.06%		6,125
	Choctaw		2,297		62.98%		1,335		36.61%		10		0.27%		2		0.05%		3		0.08%		962		26.37%		3,647
	Claiborne		1,233		28.35%		3,083		70.89%		12		0.28%		6		0.14%		15		0.34%		-1,850		-42.54%		4,349
	Clarke		4,522		63.71%		2,576		36.29%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		1,946		27.42%		7,098
	Clay		3,645		48.26%		3,849		50.96%		39		0.52%		10		0.13%		10		0.13%		-204		-2.70%		7,553
	Coahoma		4,939		43.79%		6,139		54.43%		86		0.76%		76		0.67%		38		0.34%		-1,200		-10.64%		11,278
	Copiah		5,100		54.64%		4,175		44.73%		28		0.30%		23		0.25%		8		0.09%		925		9.91%		9,334
	Covington		4,005		60.38%		2,591		39.06%		24		0.36%		7		0.11%		6		0.09%		1,414		21.32%		6,633
	DeSoto		14,681		72.50%		5,449		26.91%		57		0.28%		43		0.21%		20		0.10%		9,232		45.59%		20,250
	Forrest		14,249		66.84%		6,953		32.62%		52		0.24%		38		0.18%		26		0.12%		7,296		34.22%		21,318
	Franklin		2,376		59.97%		1,563		39.45%		14		0.35%		6		0.15%		3		0.08%		813		20.52%		3,962
	George		4,545		58.40%		2,435		31.29%		328		4.21%		253		3.25%		221		2.84%		2,110		27.11%		7,782
	Greene		2,837		57.08%		1,637		32.94%		195		3.90%		187		3.74%		144		2.88%		1,200		24.14%		4,970
	Grenada		5,352		59.10%		3,683		40.67%		4		0.04%		9		0.10%		8		0.09%		1,669		18.43%		9,056
	Hancock		7,763		66.42%		3,760		32.17%		104		0.90%		31		0.27%		29		0.25%		4,003		34.25%		11,687
	Harrison		32,892		68.88%		14,439		30.24%		191		0.40%		162		0.34%		70		0.15%		18,453		38.64%		47,754
	Hinds		52,749		55.52%		41,058		43.22%		593		0.62%		315		0.33%		291		0.31%		11,691		12.30%		95,006
	Holmes		2,737		33.68%		5,350		65.84%		18		0.22%		8		0.10%		13		0.16%		-2,613		-32.16%		8,126
	Humphreys		2,018		42.98%		2,644		56.32%		12		0.26%		11		0.23%		10		0.21%		-626		-13.34%		4,695
	Issaquena		424		43.58%		511		52.52%		17		1.75%		11		1.13%		10		1.03%		-87		-8.94%		973
	Itawamba		4,535		58.95%		3,143		40.86%		7		0.09%		6		0.08%		2		0.03%		1,392		18.09%		7,693
	Jackson		29,830		73.90%		10,328		25.59%		85		0.21%		76		0.19%		45		0.11%		19,502		48.31%		40,364
	Jasper		3,368		51.25%		3,184		48.45%		8		0.12%		5		0.08%		7		0.11%		184		2.80%		6,572
	Jefferson		702		20.64%		2,693		79.18%		1		0.03%		1		0.03%		4		0.12%		-1,991		-58.54%		3,401
	Jefferson Davis		2,745		47.92%		2,948		51.47%		20		0.35%		6		0.10%		9		0.16%		-203		-3.55%		5,728
	Jones		16,764		69.07%		7,383		30.42%		65		0.27%		27		0.11%		33		0.14%		9,381		38.65%		24,272
	Kemper		2,128		50.25%		2,069		48.85%		16		0.38%		12		0.28%		10		0.24%		59		1.40%		4,235
	Lafayette		5,841		59.29%		3,967		40.27%		18		0.18%		17		0.17%		9		0.09%		1,874		19.02%		9,852
	Lamar		9,145		77.86%		2,535		21.58%		42		0.36%		13		0.11%		11		0.09%		6,610		56.28%		11,746
	Lauderdale		18,302		68.99%		7,967		30.03%		77		0.29%		138		0.52%		45		0.17%		10,335		38.96%		26,529
	Lawrence		3,682		59.17%		2,517		40.45%		12		0.19%		6		0.10%		6		0.10%		1,165		18.72%		6,223
	Leake		4,168		59.86%		2,787		40.03%		2		0.03%		3		0.04%		3		0.04%		1,381		19.83%		6,963
	Lee		13,767		66.42%		6,604		31.86%		56		0.27%		261		1.26%		40		0.19%		7,163		34.56%		20,728
	Leflore		6,409		50.95%		5,830		46.35%		129		1.03%		147		1.17%		64		0.51%		579		4.60%		12,579
	Lincoln		8,710		65.50%		4,534		34.10%		42		0.32%		5		0.04%		6		0.05%		4,176		31.40%		13,297
	Lowndes		11,258		64.96%		5,993		34.58%		29		0.17%		27		0.16%		24		0.14%		5,265		30.38%		17,331
	Madison		11,399		57.50%		8,242		41.57%		99		0.50%		41		0.21%		44		0.22%		3,157		15.93%		19,825
	Marion		7,019		61.87%		4,240		37.38%		50		0.44%		17		0.15%		18		0.16%		2,779		24.49%		11,344
	Marshall		4,668		39.72%		6,982		59.42%		47		0.40%		32		0.27%		22		0.19%		-2,314		-19.70%		11,751
	Monroe		6,447		57.70%		4,669		41.79%		33		0.30%		14		0.13%		10		0.09%		1,778		15.91%		11,173
	Montgomery		2,504		56.79%		1,893		42.93%		6		0.14%		4		0.09%		2		0.05%		611		13.86%		4,409
	Neshoba		6,363		68.08%		2,942		31.48%		19		0.20%		17		0.18%		6		0.06%		3,421		36.60%		9,347
	Newton		5,658		70.70%		2,332		29.14%		6		0.07%		5		0.06%		2		0.02%		3,326		41.56%		8,003
	Noxubee		1,870		40.38%		2,722		58.78%		17		0.37%		12		0.26%		10		0.22%		-852		-18.40%		4,631
	Oktibbeha		7,126		57.99%		5,100		41.50%		19		0.15%		22		0.18%		22		0.18%		2,026		16.49%		12,289
	Panola		5,382		50.46%		5,222		48.96%		28		0.26%		17		0.16%		16		0.15%		160		1.50%		10,665
	Pearl River		10,220		71.30%		3,939		27.48%		124		0.87%		33		0.23%		17		0.12%		6,281		43.82%		14,333
	Perry		2,983		68.62%		1,326		30.50%		27		0.62%		6		0.14%		5		0.12%		1,657		38.12%		4,347
	Pike		7,637		53.63%		6,531		45.87%		43		0.30%		18		0.13%		10		0.07%		1,106		7.76%		14,239
	Pontotoc		4,939		63.81%		2,772		35.81%		17		0.22%		11		0.14%		1		0.01%		2,167		28.00%		7,740
	Prentiss		4,348		55.09%		3,429		43.45%		43		0.54%		45		0.57%		27		0.34%		919		11.64%		7,892
	Quitman		1,832		42.11%		2,497		57.39%		10		0.23%		4		0.09%		8		0.18%		-665		-15.28%		4,351
	Rankin		22,937		78.41%		6,201		21.20%		46		0.16%		39		0.13%		31		0.11%		16,736		57.21%		29,254
	Scott		5,522		65.06%		2,939		34.63%		15		0.18%		6		0.07%		6		0.07%		2,583		30.43%		8,488
	Sharkey		1,277		43.00%		1,609		54.18%		35		1.18%		27		0.91%		22		0.74%		-332		-11.18%		2,970
	Simpson		6,151		66.69%		3,016		32.70%		25		0.27%		26		0.28%		5		0.05%		3,135		33.99%		9,223
	Smith		4,573		72.76%		1,660		26.41%		36		0.57%		13		0.21%		3		0.05%		2,913		46.35%		6,285
	Stone		3,007		66.84%		1,452		32.27%		26		0.58%		13		0.29%		1		0.02%		1,555		34.57%		4,499
	Sunflower		4,362		46.96%		4,898		52.73%		14		0.15%		12		0.13%		3		0.03%		-536		-5.77%		9,289
	Tallahatchie		2,633		47.47%		2,881		51.94%		15		0.27%		15		0.27%		3		0.05%		-248		-4.47%		5,547
	Tate		4,553		61.12%		2,872		38.56%		10		0.13%		9		0.12%		5		0.07%		1,681		22.56%		7,449
	Tippah		4,593		60.41%		2,958		38.91%		20		0.26%		15		0.20%		17		0.22%		1,635		21.50%		7,603
	Tishomingo		3,646		51.70%		3,378		47.90%		14		0.20%		12		0.17%		2		0.03%		268		3.80%		7,052
	Tunica		896		36.87%		1,510		62.14%		18		0.74%		3		0.12%		3		0.12%		-614		-25.27%		2,430
	Union		5,511		64.15%		3,044		35.43%		15		0.17%		12		0.14%		9		0.10%		2,467		28.72%		8,591
	Walthall		3,103		56.40%		2,354		42.78%		29		0.53%		11		0.20%		5		0.09%		749		13.62%		5,502
	Warren		12,507		62.01%		7,437		36.87%		79		0.39%		68		0.34%		79		0.39%		5,070		25.14%		20,170
	Washington		10,229		49.45%		10,222		49.41%		84		0.41%		87		0.42%		65		0.31%		7		0.04%		20,687
	Wayne		4,496		60.64%		2,889		38.97%		12		0.16%		12		0.16%		5		0.07%		1,607		21.67%		7,414
	Webster		3,061		66.08%		1,550		33.46%		14		0.30%		5		0.11%		2		0.04%		1,511		32.62%		4,632
	Wilkinson		1,528		36.18%		2,678		63.41%		6		0.14%		9		0.21%		2		0.05%		-1,150		-27.23%		4,223
	Winston		5,317		57.61%		3,851		41.73%		15		0.16%		28		0.30%		18		0.20%		1,466		15.88%		9,229
	Yalobusha		2,660		52.23%		2,402		47.16%		19		0.37%		7		0.14%		5		0.10%		258		5.07%		5,093
	Yazoo		5,538		48.03%		4,989		43.27%		391		3.39%		314		2.72%		298		2.58%		549		4.76%		11,530
Totals	557,890	59.89%	363,921	39.07%	4,232	0.45%	3,329	0.36%	2,155	0.23%	193,969	20.82%	931,527

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Benton
• Clay
• Issaquena
• Jefferson Davis
• Sunflower
• Tallahatchie

^{[5] [6]}

See also

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush

Works cited

• Book: Black . Earl . Earl Black (political scientist) . Black . Merle . Merle Black . The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected . . 1992 . 0674941306.
• Book: Moreland . Laurence . Steed . Robert . Baker . Tod . The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics . . 1991 . 0275931455.

Notes and References

1. Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; 1988 Presidential Election Statistics
2. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
3. News: December 19, 1988 . State's seven electoral votes are cast for Bush and Quayle . 1 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220619044049/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104019446/the-clarksdale-press-register/ . June 19, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
4. Web site: MS US President Race, November 08, 1988. Our Campaigns.
5. Web site: 1984 Presidential General Election Results - Mississippi. Dave Leip's election atlas.
6. Web site: 1988 Presidential General Election Results - Mississippi. Dave Leip's election atlas.