1988 U.S. presidential election

United States presidential election, 1988

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
All 538 electoral votes of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	50.2% 3.1 pp
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 426 111 States carried 40 10 + DC Popular vote 48,886,097 41,809,074 Percentage 53.4% 45.6%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Quayle, blue denotes those won by Dukakis/Bentsen, light blue is the electoral vote for Bentsen/Dukakis by a West Virginia faithless elector. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

Ronald Reagan
Republican

George H. W. Bush
Republican

The United States presidential election of 1988 was the 51st quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1988. Incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, the Republican nominee, defeated Democratic Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts. The 1988 election is the only election since 1948 in which either major party won a third straight presidential election.

Incumbent President Ronald Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term, due to term limits established by the 22nd Amendment. With the support of incumbent Ronald Reagan, Bush entered the 1988 Republican primaries as the front-runner. He defeated Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson to win the Republican presidential nomination, and selected Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. Dukakis emerged as the victor of the 1988 Democratic primaries after Democratic leaders such as Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy withdrew or declined to run. Dukakis selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas – who had coincidentally defeated Bush in a U.S. Senate race 18 years earlier – as his running mate.