1988 United States presidential election in Wisconsin explained

See main article: article and 1988 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1988 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Country:	Wisconsin
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1984 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Previous Year:	1984
Next Election:	1992 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Next Year:	1992
Election Date:	November 8, 1988
Image1:	File:Dukakis campaign portrait 3x4.jpg
Nominee1:	Michael Dukakis
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Massachusetts
Running Mate1:	Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral Vote1:	11
Popular Vote1:	1,126,794
Percentage1:	51.41%
Nominee2:	George H. W. Bush
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Texas
Running Mate2:	Dan Quayle
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	1,047,499
Percentage2:	47.80%
Map Size:	310px
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 Wisconsin 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 11 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

Wisconsin was won by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis who was running against incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas. Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as Vice President, and Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle. Dukakis won the election in Wisconsin with a four point margin. The state has since consistently voted for the Democratic Party, until the narrow victory of Republican Donald Trump in 2016.

The election was very partisan, with over 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Republican or Democratic parties, although five additional candidates were on the ballot.^[1] Dukakis and Bush almost evenly split Wisconsin's seventy-two counties – Dukakis won 37 and Bush won 35. Dukakis won the large urban counties containing Madison (Dane County), Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha, alongside almost entirely Native American Menominee County and the heavily unionized Scandinavian-American counties of the northwest. Bush won the suburban "WOW counties" and the more conservative, historically German Catholic, counties of the rural eastern half of the state.^[2] Over the state as a whole, Dukakis did best, as usual, in Menominee County, and Bush did best in Ozaukee County.

Results

1988 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Michael Stanley Dukakis	1,126,794	51.41%	11
	Republican	George Herbert Walker Bush	1,047,499	47.80%	0
	Independent	Ron Paul	5,157	0.24%	0
	Independent	David Duke	3,056	0.14%	0
	Independent	James Warren	2,574	0.12%	0
	Independent	Lyndon LaRouche	2,302	0.11%	0
	Write-ins		2,273	0.10%	0
	Independent	Lenora Fulani	1,953	0.09%	0
Totals			2,191,608	100.0%	11

Results by county

County	Michael Dukakis Democratic		George H.W. Bush Republican		Ron Paul Independent		David Duke Independent		Margin		Total votes cast
	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"			data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%
	Adams		3,598		52.27%		3,258		47.33%		8		0.12%		19		0.28%		340		4.94%		6,883
	Ashland		4,526		60.49%		2,926		39.11%		10		0.13%		20		0.27%		1,600		21.38%		7,482
	Barron		8,951		50.94%		8,527		48.53%		45		0.26%		47		0.27%		424		2.41%		17,570
	Bayfield		4,323		57.96%		3,095		41.50%		12		0.16%		28		0.38%		1,228		16.46%		7,458
	Brown		41,788		48.62%		43,625		50.75%		196		0.23%		344		0.40%		-1,837		-2.13%		85,953
	Buffalo		3,481		55.14%		2,783		44.08%		23		0.36%		26		0.41%		698		11.06%		6,313
	Burnett		3,537		54.71%		2,884		44.61%		11		0.17%		33		0.51%		653		10.10%		6,465
	Calumet		6,481		44.06%		8,107		55.12%		21		0.14%		99		0.67%		-1,626		-11.06%		14,708
	Chippewa		11,447		53.61%		9,757		45.69%		53		0.25%		97		0.45%		1,690		7.92%		21,354
	Clark		6,642		50.95%		6,296		48.30%		19		0.15%		79		0.61%		346		2.65%		13,036
	Columbia		9,132		46.28%		10,475		53.09%		45		0.23%		78		0.40%		-1,343		-6.81%		19,730
	Crawford		3,608		52.34%		3,238		46.98%		22		0.32%		25		0.36%		370		5.36%		6,893
	Dane		105,414		59.92%		69,143		39.30%		543		0.31%		834		0.47%		36,271		20.62%		175,934
	Dodge		12,663		42.31%		17,003		56.81%		66		0.22%		195		0.65%		-4,340		-14.50%		29,927
	Door		5,425		43.67%		6,907		55.60%		20		0.16%		70		0.56%		-1,482		-11.93%		12,422
	Douglas		13,907		68.01%		6,440		31.49%		34		0.17%		68		0.33%		7,467		36.52%		20,449
	Dunn		9,205		55.47%		7,273		43.83%		37		0.22%		79		0.48%		1,932		11.64%		16,594
	Eau Claire		21,150		54.20%		17,664		45.27%		60		0.15%		149		0.38%		3,486		8.93%		39,023
	Florence		1,018		47.53%		1,106		51.63%		4		0.19%		14		0.65%		-88		-4.10%		2,142
	Fond du Lac		15,887		41.62%		21,985		57.59%		86		0.23%		217		0.57%		-6,098		-15.97%		38,175
	Forest		2,142		53.43%		1,845		46.02%		4		0.10%		18		0.45%		297		7.41%		4,009
	Grant		9,421		48.12%		10,049		51.32%		44		0.22%		66		0.34%		-628		-3.20%		19,580
	Green		5,153		43.27%		6,636		55.73%		41		0.34%		78		0.66%		-1,483		-12.46%		11,908
	Green Lake		3,033		36.55%		5,205		62.72%		21		0.25%		40		0.48%		-2,172		-26.17%		8,299
	Iowa		4,268		49.93%		4,240		49.60%		13		0.15%		27		0.32%		28		0.33%		8,548
	Iron		2,090		56.26%		1,599		43.04%		5		0.13%		21		0.57%		491		13.22%		3,715
	Jackson		3,924		52.20%		3,555		47.29%		11		0.15%		27		0.36%		369		4.91%		7,517
	Jefferson		11,816		44.86%		14,309		54.32%		74		0.28%		143		0.54%		-2,493		-9.46%		26,342
	Juneau		3,734		43.11%		4,869		56.21%		18		0.21%		41		0.47%		-1,135		-13.10%		8,662
	Kenosha		30,089		57.72%		21,661		41.55%		120		0.23%		259		0.50%		8,428		16.17%		52,129
	Kewaunee		4,786		52.14%		4,330		47.17%		8		0.09%		55		0.60%		456		4.97%		9,179
	La Crosse		22,204		50.39%		21,548		48.90%		100		0.23%		214		0.49%		656		1.49%		44,066
	Lafayette		3,521		48.70%		3,665		50.69%		15		0.21%		29		0.40%		-144		-1.99%		7,230
	Langlade		4,254		46.31%		4,884		53.17%		16		0.17%		32		0.35%		-630		-6.86%		9,186
	Lincoln		5,819		52.06%		5,257		47.03%		33		0.30%		69		0.62%		562		5.03%		11,178
	Manitowoc		19,680		54.69%		16,020		44.52%		63		0.18%		224		0.62%		3,660		10.17%		35,987
	Marathon		24,658		49.79%		24,482		49.44%		125		0.25%		256		0.52%		176		0.35%		49,521
	Marinette		8,030		45.20%		9,637		54.25%		26		0.15%		71		0.40%		-1,607		-9.05%		17,764
	Marquette		2,463		44.24%		3,059		54.95%		15		0.27%		30		0.54%		-596		-10.71%		5,567
	Menominee		1,028		72.55%		381		26.89%		0		0.00%		8		0.56%		647		45.66%		1,417
	Milwaukee		268,287		61.04%		168,363		38.30%		1,082		0.25%		1,813		0.41%		99,924		22.74%		439,545
	Monroe		6,437		47.38%		7,073		52.06%		29		0.21%		46		0.34%		-636		-4.68%		13,585
	Oconto		6,549		47.75%		7,084		51.65%		23		0.17%		60		0.44%		-535		-3.90%		13,716
	Oneida		7,414		47.31%		8,130		51.88%		55		0.35%		71		0.45%		-716		-4.57%		15,670
	Outagamie		27,771		45.32%		33,113		54.04%		103		0.17%		291		0.47%		-5,342		-8.72%		61,278
	Ozaukee		12,661		35.35%		22,899		63.94%		107		0.30%		145		0.40%		-10,238		-28.59%		35,812
	Pepin		1,906		58.68%		1,311		40.36%		8		0.25%		23		0.71%		595		18.32%		3,248
	Pierce		8,659		58.55%		6,045		40.87%		33		0.22%		52		0.35%		2,614		17.68%		14,789
	Polk		8,981		56.22%		6,866		42.98%		43		0.27%		85		0.53%		2,115		13.24%		15,975
	Portage		16,317		57.18%		12,057		42.25%		48		0.17%		113		0.40%		4,260		14.93%		28,535
	Price		3,987		53.18%		3,450		46.02%		12		0.16%		48		0.64%		537		7.16%		7,497
	Racine		39,631		51.72%		36,342		47.42%		213		0.28%		445		0.58%		3,289		4.30%		76,631
	Richland		3,643		47.26%		4,026		52.23%		16		0.21%		23		0.30%		-383		-4.97%		7,708
	Rock		29,576		50.83%		28,178		48.43%		158		0.27%		276		0.47%		1,398		2.40%		58,188
	Rusk		3,888		55.51%		3,063		43.73%		18		0.26%		35		0.50%		825		11.78%		7,004
	Sauk		8,324		44.54%		10,225		54.72%		35		0.19%		103		0.55%		-1,901		-10.18%		18,687
	Sawyer		3,231		49.43%		3,260		49.88%		20		0.31%		25		0.38%		-29		-0.45%		6,536
	Shawano		6,587		43.78%		8,362		55.57%		21		0.14%		77		0.51%		-1,775		-11.79%		15,047
	Sheboygan		23,429		49.66%		23,471		49.75%		86		0.18%		191		0.40%		-42		-0.09%		47,177
	St. Croix		11,392		52.90%		9,960		46.25%		62		0.29%		119		0.55%		1,432		6.65%		21,533
	Taylor		3,785		46.73%		4,254		52.52%		15		0.19%		46		0.57%		-469		-5.79%		8,100
	Trempealeau		6,212		55.59%		4,902		43.87%		16		0.14%		45		0.40%		1,310		11.72%		11,175
	Vernon		5,754		51.94%		5,226		47.17%		35		0.32%		63		0.57%		528		4.77%		11,078
	Vilas		3,781		38.89%		5,842		60.09%		21		0.22%		78		0.80%		-2,061		-21.20%		9,722
	Walworth		12,203		39.77%		18,259		59.50%		91		0.30%		132		0.43%		-6,056		-19.73%		30,685
	Washburn		3,393		52.15%		3,074		47.25%		13		0.20%		26		0.40%		319		4.90%		6,506
	Washington		15,907		39.24%		24,328		60.01%		109		0.27%		195		0.48%		-8,421		-20.77%		40,539
	Waukesha		57,598		38.68%		90,467		60.76%		402		0.27%		426		0.29%		-32,869		-22.08%		148,893
	Waupaca		7,078		37.74%		11,559		61.62%		30		0.16%		90		0.48%		-4,481		-23.88%		18,757
	Waushara		3,535		41.33%		4,953		57.91%		18		0.21%		47		0.55%		-1,418		-16.58%		8,553
	Winnebago		28,508		44.54%		35,085		54.82%		119		0.19%		294		0.46%		-6,577		-10.28%		64,006
	Wood		16,074		48.93%		16,549		50.38%		52		0.16%		173		0.53%		-475		-1.45%		32,848
Totals	1,126,794	51.41%	1,047,499	47.80%	5,157	0.24%	3,056	0.14%	79,295	3.61%	2,191,608

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Adams
• Barron
• Buffalo
• Burnett
• Chippewa
• Clark
• Crawford
• Dunn
• Eau Claire
• Forest
• Iowa
• Jackson
• Kewaunee
• La Crosse
• Lincoln
• Marathon
• Pierce
• Polk
• Price
• Racine
• Rock
• Rusk
• St. Croix
• Trempealeau
• Vernon
• Washburn

Analysis

Wisconsin weighed in for this election as 12 points more Democratic than the national average., this is the last election in which Green County voted for a Republican presidential candidate,^[3] and the last time that the state would vote to the left of neighboring Michigan or Illinois. This would be the most recent election when the Democratic candidate won Wisconsin while losing Illinois at the same time, and the last time they voted differently until 2016.

It was also the first time since 1960 that Wisconsin would back the losing candidate in a presidential election.^[4] It was also the first time since 1848 that the state would back a losing Democrat in a presidential election, and the first time ever that the state would back a Democrat while a Republican won the presidency. This was the first time since 1924 that a Republican won without the state.

See also

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush
• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1988 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2013-07-21.
2. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
3. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
4. Web site: Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Wisconsin. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.