1988 United States presidential election in Florida
Introduction The '''1988 United States presidential election in Florida''' took place on November 8, 1988.All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Florida voters chose twenty-one electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.Florida 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. This was Bush's fifth strongest state in the 1988 election after Utah, New Hampshire, Idaho and South Carolina.Bush won every county in the state, with the exception for North Florida’s majority-black Gadsden County, which voted for Dukakis. , this is the last election in which Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Alachua County, and Leon County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.
Background The Republican presidential nominee had won Florida in seven of the nine presidential elections since 1952.By the 1980s the Republicans had also won the governorship and enough seats in the state legislature to maintain a veto. From 1979 to 1986, the percentage of voters affiliated with the Democratic Party fell from 45% to 32% while the Republicans rose from 26% to 38%. Florida was one of the states that designated the second Tuesday of March as the date for their presidential primary as a part of Super Tuesday.
Primaries Five of the seven Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida endorsed George H. W. Bush in 1987, and Governor Bob Martinez served as his national co-chair. Bush won all but three counties in the primary, with the remainder being won by Pat Robertson. 45% of white voters participated in the Republican primary.Florida was one of the southern Super Tuesday states that Michael Dukakis focused on as he could receive the support of Hispanics and northerners. His campaign had twenty paid staffers in the state during the primary, but later reduced the number to ten during the general campaign and were transferred to Illinois. Dukakis won 53% of the white vote. The racial composition of the primary was 82% white, 18% black, and 1% Hispanic. 56% of the electorate were white people raised outside of the state, the highest in any southern state.
Campaign Florida gave Bush his second highest-percentage amount of support in the south, only behind South Carolina, and the fifth-highest nationally. Exit polls conducted by NBC showed that Bush received 64% of the vote from Hispanics aged 18 to 34 and 55% from Hispanics over 65.67% of white voters supported Bush while 33% supported Dukakis.The Republicans won the concurrent U.S. Senate election and increased their share of the U.S. House delegate to nine Republicans against ten Democrats. Representative James W. Grant joined the Republicans in 1989, giving them a majority of the U.S. House delegation.
Results  United States presidential election in Florida, 1988PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes '''Republican''' '''George H. W. Bush''' '''2,618,885'''	 '''60.87%''' '''21''' Democratic Michael Dukakis 1,656,701 38.51% 0 Libertarian Ron Paul 19,796 	 0.46% 0 New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 6,655 	 0.15% 0 Write-Ins 276 0.01% 0 '''Totals''' '''4,302,313''' '''100.0%''' '''21'''===Results by county=== County George Herbert Walker BushRepublican Michael Stanley DukakisDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Alachua '''30,153''' '''50.08%''' 29,396 48.82% 664 1.10% 757 1.26% 60,213 Baker '''3,418''' '''71.49%''' 1,355 28.34% 8 0.17% 2,063 43.15% 4,781 Bay '''31,796''' '''72.51%''' 11,603 26.46% 452 1.03% 20,193 46.05% 43,851 Bradford '''4,221''' '''63.61%''' 2,386 35.96% 29 0.44% 1,835 27.65% 6,636 Brevard '''104,854''' '''70.30%''' 43,004 28.83% 1,301 0.87% 61,850 41.47% 149,159 Broward '''220,316''' '''50.00%''' 218,274 49.54% 2,015 0.46% 2,042 0.46% 440,605 Calhoun '''2,422''' '''64.01%''' 1,329 35.12% 33 0.87% 1,093 28.88% 3,784 Charlotte '''28,893''' '''63.98%''' 15,974 35.37% 292 0.65% 12,919 28.61% 45,159 Citrus '''21,072''' '''62.95%''' 12,184 36.40% 218 0.65% 8,888 26.55% 33,474 Clay '''25,942''' '''76.67%''' 7,773 22.97% 122 0.36% 18,169 53.70% 33,837 Collier '''38,920''' '''74.87%''' 12,769 24.57% 291 0.56% 26,151 50.31% 51,980 Columbia '''7,761''' '''65.13%''' 4,073 34.18% 82 0.69% 3,688 30.95% 11,916 DeSoto '''4,243''' '''65.64%''' 2,181 33.74% 40 0.62% 2,062 31.90% 6,464 Dixie '''2,031''' '''59.79%''' 1,366 40.21% 0 0.00% 665 19.58% 3,397 Duval '''128,081''' '''62.79%''' 74,894 36.72% 1,004 0.49% 53,187 26.07% 203,979 Escambia '''64,959''' '''68.05%''' 29,977 31.40% 524 0.55% 34,982 36.65% 95,460 Flagler '''6,504''' '''60.32%''' 4,244 39.36% 34 0.32% 2,260 20.96% 10,782 Franklin '''1,913''' '''58.52%''' 1,283 39.25% 73 2.23% 630 19.27% 3,269 Gadsden 5,992 47.64% '''6,372''' '''50.66%''' 213 1.69% -380 -3.02% 12,577 Gilchrist '''1,855''' '''61.59%''' 1,137 37.75% 20 0.66% 718 23.84% 3,012 Glades '''1,547''' '''59.66%''' 1,034 39.88% 12 0.46% 513 19.78% 2,593 Gulf '''3,042''' '''62.44%''' 1,688 34.65% 142 2.91% 1,354 27.79% 4,872 Hamilton '''2,062''' '''60.72%''' 1,318 38.81% 16 0.47% 744 21.91% 3,396 Hardee '''3,640''' '''66.96%''' 1,688 31.05% 108 1.99% 1,952 35.91% 5,436 Hendry '''3,965''' '''65.70%''' 2,036 33.74% 34 0.56% 1,929 31.96% 6,035 Hernando '''21,195''' '''57.50%''' 15,437 41.88% 231 0.63% 5,758 15.62% 36,863 Highlands '''16,723''' '''67.05%''' 8,091 32.44% 127 0.51% 8,632 34.61% 24,941 Hillsborough '''150,151''' '''59.89%''' 99,014 39.49% 1,551 0.62% 51,137 20.40% 250,716 Holmes '''4,225''' '''71.61%''' 1,639 27.78% 36 0.61% 2,586 43.83% 5,900 Indian River '''24,630''' '''69.71%''' 10,451 29.58% 252 0.71% 14,179 40.13% 35,333 Jackson '''8,405''' '''62.20%''' 5,008 37.06% 100 0.74% 3,397 25.14% 13,513 Jefferson '''2,326''' '''52.89%''' 2,055 46.73% 17 0.39% 271 6.16% 4,398 Lafayette '''1,451''' '''66.41%''' 722 33.04% 12 0.55% 729 33.36% 2,185 Lake '''37,327''' '''68.40%''' 16,766 30.72% 479 0.88% 20,561 37.68% 54,572 Lee '''87,303''' '''67.71%''' 40,725 31.59% 908 0.70% 46,578 36.12% 128,936 Leon '''36,055''' '''51.39%''' 33,472 47.71% 631 0.90% 2,583 3.68% 70,158 Levy '''5,253''' '''59.75%''' 3,434 39.06% 104 1.18% 1,819 20.69% 8,791 Liberty '''1,421''' '''65.27%''' 709 32.57% 47 2.16% 712 32.71% 2,177 Madison '''2,563''' '''56.59%''' 1,951 43.08% 15 0.33% 612 13.51% 4,529 Manatee '''51,187''' '''65.53%''' 26,624 34.08% 302 0.39% 24,563 31.45% 78,113 Marion '''41,501''' '''66.38%''' 20,685 33.09% 334 0.53% 20,816 33.29% 62,520 Martin '''31,279''' '''72.60%''' 11,488 26.66% 316 0.73% 19,791 45.94% 43,083 Miami-Dade '''270,937''' '''55.26%''' 216,970 44.26% 2,358 0.48% 53,967 11.0% 490,265 Monroe '''15,928''' '''60.32%''' 10,157 38.47% 320 1.21% 5,771 21.86% 26,405 Nassau '''8,374''' '''66.59%''' 4,143 32.95% 58 0.46% 4,231 33.65% 12,575 Okaloosa '''40,389''' '''80.04%''' 9,753 19.33% 320 0.63% 30,636 60.71% 50,462 Okeechobee '''4,736''' '''60.79%''' 3,007 38.60% 48 0.62% 1,729 22.19% 7,791 Orange '''117,237''' '''67.86%''' 54,023 31.27% 1,510 0.87% 63,214 36.59% 172,770 Osceola '''21,355''' '''68.05%''' 9,812 31.27% 214 0.68% 11,543 36.78% 31,381 Palm Beach '''181,495''' '''55.47%''' 144,199 44.07% 1,523 0.47% 37,296 11.40% 327,217 Pasco '''63,820''' '''55.59%''' 50,385 43.89% 598 0.52% 13,435 11.70% 114,803 Pinellas '''211,049''' '''57.76%''' 152,420 41.72% 1,901 0.52% 58,629 16.05% 365,370 Polk '''77,104''' '''66.45%''' 38,249 32.96% 687 0.59% 38,855 33.48% 116,040 Putnam '''11,624''' '''57.24%''' 8,575 42.23% 108 0.53% 3,049 15.01% 20,307 St. Johns '''19,228''' '''70.14%''' 8,029 29.29% 158 0.58% 11,199 40.85% 27,415 St. Lucie '''32,319''' '''64.54%''' 17,446 34.84% 314 0.63% 14,873 29.70% 50,079 Santa Rosa '''18,973''' '''77.85%''' 5,254 21.56% 143 0.59% 13,719 56.29% 24,370 Sarasota '''84,602''' '''66.40%''' 42,099 33.04% 708 0.56% 42,503 33.36% 127,409 Seminole '''60,401''' '''72.20%''' 22,635 27.06% 622 0.74% 37,766 45.14% 83,658 Sumter '''5,936''' '''59.98%''' 3,900 39.41% 60 0.61% 2,036 20.57% 9,896 Suwannee '''5,863''' '''64.27%''' 3,129 34.30% 130 1.43% 2,734 29.97% 9,122 Taylor '''4,057''' '''69.06%''' 1,763 30.01% 55 0.94% 2,294 39.05% 5,875 Union '''1,644''' '''69.99%''' 691 29.42% 14 0.60% 953 40.57% 2,349 Volusia '''74,195''' '''56.56%''' 55,469 42.28% 1,518 1.16% 18,726 14.27% 131,182 Wakulla '''3,158''' '''65.72%''' 1,605 33.40% 42 0.87% 1,553 32.32% 4,805 Walton '''7,490''' '''69.30%''' 3,235 29.93% 83 0.77% 4,255 39.37% 10,808 Washington '''4,374''' '''66.64%''' 2,144 32.66% 46 0.70% 2,230 33.97% 6,564Totals2,618,88560.87%1,656,70138.51%26,7270.62%962,18422.36%4,302,313
See also * Presidency of George H. W. Bush
References
Works cited * *