1988 United States presidential election in Montana

The 1988 United States presidential election in Montana took place on November 8, 1988, and was part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the last election when Montana had four electoral votes: the continuing depopulation of the Great Plains would cause the state to revert to an at-large congressional district for 1992. Montana regained a second congressional district, and therefore a fourth electoral vote, in 2022.

1988 United States presidential election in Montana

← 1984 November 8, 1988 (1988-11-08) 1992 →
 
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 190,412 168,936
Percentage 52.07% 46.20%

County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Montana voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.

Bush won by a margin of 5.87%, much less than usual in this typically solid Republican state, largely due to the persistent drought and Farm crisis on the Great Plains, a result making Montana 1.93% more Democratic than the national average. Since 1916 this is the solitary election when Blaine County, one of the most consistent bellwether counties in the nation, has supported a losing presidential candidate; Bush is thus the only Republican to win the White House without carrying this county.[1] It is also the last time Montana has voted more Democratic than the nation at-large and one of only three since 1952 (along with 1956 and 1972),[2] and the last occasion northwestern Lincoln County has supported a Democratic Presidential nominee.[3] Thus, Iowa (with four counties), Texas (with three), and Montana (with one) are the only states containing counties that Dukakis (as of 2020) was the last Democrat to carry.

Bush became the first-ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Rosebud County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Lewis and Clark County since William Howard Taft in 1908, and the first to do so without carrying Missoula County since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. This is the last time that Montana has voted more Democratic than Maine.

Results

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1988 United States presidential election in Montana[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 190,412 52.07% 4
Democratic Michael Dukakis 168,936 46.20% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 5,047 1.38% 0
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 1,279 0.35% 0
Totals 365,674 100.00% 4

Results by county

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County George H.W. Bush
Republican
Michael Dukakis
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Beaverhead 2,668 66.73% 1,274 31.87% 56 1.40% 1,394 34.86% 3,998
Big Horn 1,711 42.95% 2,233 56.05% 40 1.00% -522 -13.10% 3,984
Blaine 1,402 48.15% 1,460 50.14% 50 1.72% -58 -1.99% 2,912
Broadwater 1,054 62.63% 592 35.18% 37 2.20% 462 27.45% 1,683
Carbon 2,360 52.80% 2,039 45.62% 71 1.59% 321 7.18% 4,470
Carter 686 72.82% 242 25.69% 14 1.49% 444 47.13% 942
Cascade 15,946 49.64% 15,718 48.93% 460 1.43% 228 0.71% 32,124
Chouteau 1,980 61.51% 1,166 36.22% 73 2.27% 814 25.29% 3,219
Custer 3,007 55.05% 2,343 42.90% 112 2.05% 664 12.15% 5,462
Daniels 802 57.49% 571 40.93% 22 1.58% 231 16.56% 1,395
Dawson 2,658 54.40% 2,120 43.39% 108 2.21% 538 11.01% 4,886
Deer Lodge 1,168 26.51% 3,185 72.29% 53 1.20% -2,017 -45.78% 4,406
Fallon 1,002 61.25% 612 37.41% 22 1.34% 390 23.84% 1,636
Fergus 3,948 64.55% 2,052 33.55% 116 1.90% 1,896 31.00% 6,116
Flathead 14,461 57.33% 10,202 40.44% 562 2.23% 4,259 16.89% 25,225
Gallatin 13,214 56.94% 9,527 41.06% 464 2.00% 3,687 15.88% 23,205
Garfield 631 74.15% 196 23.03% 24 2.82% 435 51.12% 851
Glacier 1,728 43.16% 2,151 53.72% 125 3.12% -423 -10.56% 4,004
Golden Valley 335 61.69% 203 37.38% 5 0.92% 132 24.31% 543
Granite 789 59.50% 511 38.54% 26 1.96% 278 20.96% 1,326
Hill 3,467 44.50% 4,219 54.15% 105 1.35% -752 -9.65% 7,791
Jefferson 2,007 52.31% 1,746 45.50% 84 2.19% 261 6.81% 3,837
Judith Basin 902 59.50% 590 38.92% 24 1.58% 312 20.58% 1,516
Lake 4,883 53.37% 4,109 44.91% 158 1.73% 774 8.46% 9,150
Lewis and Clark 10,946 46.91% 11,932 51.14% 456 1.95% -986 -4.23% 23,334
Liberty 771 63.82% 418 34.60% 19 1.57% 353 29.22% 1,208
Lincoln 3,500 47.98% 3,601 49.37% 193 2.65% -101 -1.39% 7,294
McCone 814 58.18% 567 40.53% 18 1.29% 247 17.65% 1,399
Madison 2,045 68.62% 878 29.46% 57 1.91% 1,167 39.16% 2,980
Meagher 656 65.01% 337 33.40% 16 1.59% 319 31.61% 1,009
Mineral 616 43.14% 789 55.25% 23 1.61% -173 -12.11% 1,428
Missoula 15,965 44.76% 19,178 53.77% 526 1.47% -3,213 -9.01% 35,669
Musselshell 1,280 58.08% 898 40.74% 26 1.18% 382 17.34% 2,204
Park 3,823 59.13% 2,526 39.07% 116 1.79% 1,297 20.06% 6,465
Petroleum 204 67.55% 91 30.13% 7 2.32% 113 37.42% 302
Phillips 1,462 60.26% 905 37.30% 59 2.43% 557 22.96% 2,426
Pondera 1,795 57.64% 1,245 39.98% 74 2.38% 550 17.66% 3,114
Powder River 815 66.15% 395 32.06% 22 1.79% 420 34.09% 1,232
Powell 1,574 56.31% 1,174 42.00% 47 1.68% 400 14.31% 2,795
Prairie 541 60.11% 343 38.11% 16 1.78% 198 22.00% 900
Ravalli 7,418 59.39% 4,763 38.13% 309 2.47% 2,655 21.26% 12,490
Richland 2,628 57.81% 1,824 40.12% 94 2.07% 804 17.69% 4,546
Roosevelt 1,957 47.52% 2,083 50.58% 78 1.89% -126 -3.06% 4,118
Rosebud 1,822 48.05% 1,869 49.29% 101 2.66% -47 -1.24% 3,792
Sanders 2,152 51.24% 1,959 46.64% 89 2.12% 193 4.60% 4,200
Sheridan 1,381 49.98% 1,354 49.00% 28 1.01% 27 0.98% 2,763
Silver Bow 5,043 30.22% 11,422 68.45% 222 1.33% -6,379 -38.23% 16,687
Stillwater 1,920 56.82% 1,407 41.64% 52 1.54% 513 15.18% 3,379
Sweet Grass 1,242 71.67% 462 26.66% 29 1.67% 780 45.01% 1,733
Teton 1,876 57.83% 1,303 40.17% 65 2.00% 573 17.66% 3,244
Toole 1,505 57.14% 1,070 40.62% 59 2.24% 435 16.52% 2,634
Treasure 291 54.29% 231 43.10% 14 2.61% 60 11.19% 536
Valley 2,467 52.42% 2,163 45.96% 76 1.61% 304 6.46% 4,706
Wheatland 667 59.03% 443 39.20% 20 1.77% 224 19.83% 1,130
Wibaux 358 56.92% 258 41.02% 13 2.07% 100 15.90% 629
Yellowstone 28,069 55.42% 21,987 43.41% 591 1.17% 6,082 12.01% 50,647
Totals 190,412 52.07% 168,936 46.20% 6,326 1.73% 21,476 5.87% 365,674

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Political Graveyard; Blaine County, Montana
  2. ^ Counting the Votes; Montana
  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. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results – Montana". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved March 17, 2018.