1988 United States presidential election in Colorado

The 1988 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1988 United States presidential election in Colorado

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
 
Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Massachusetts
Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen
Electoral vote 8 0
Popular vote 728,177 621,453
Percentage 53.06% 45.28%

County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Colorado voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, by a margin of 7.78%. Bush took 53.06% of the vote to Dukakis' 45.28%. While the Republicans held onto Colorado's eight electoral votes, Bush's 53–45 win over Dukakis represented a vastly diminished margin compared to 1984, when Ronald Reagan had won the state in a 63–35 landslide over Walter Mondale. Unlike in the several preceding elections, Colorado voted roughly in line with the nation overall, which Bush won by 7.72%. Dukakis made substantial inroads by improving on Mondale's vote share in the city of Denver by over 10% (getting the highest vote share of any nominee in the city since Lyndon Johnson in 1964), becoming the first Democrat since 1964 (and only the second since 1936) to carry Boulder County, and comfortably reclaiming Pitkin County, which had supported McGovern in 1972 but had gone on to vote Republican in the next three elections.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Summit County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[1] Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Boulder or Saguache Counties since William Howard Taft in 1908.

Results

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1988 United States presidential election in Colorado[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 728,177 53.06% 8
Democratic Michael Dukakis 621,453 45.28% 0
CO Libertarian Ron Paul 15,482 1.13% 0
CO Prohibition Earl Dodge 4,604 0.34% 0
New Alliance Lenora Fulani 2,539 0.19% 0
No party David Duke (Write-in) 139 0.01% 0
Totals 1,372,394 100.00% 8

Results by county

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County George H.W. Bush[3]
Republican
Michael Dukakis[3]
Democratic
Various candidates[3]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Adams 43,163 45.87% 49,464 52.57% 1,467 1.56% -6,301 -6.70% 94,094
Alamosa 2,567 53.70% 2,146 44.90% 67 1.40% 421 8.80% 4,780
Arapahoe 95,926 60.24% 61,113 38.38% 2,206 1.38% 34,813 21.86% 159,245
Archuleta 1,440 63.66% 795 35.15% 27 1.19% 645 28.51% 2,262
Baca 1,670 65.34% 851 33.29% 35 1.37% 819 32.05% 2,556
Bent 1,032 47.62% 1,088 50.21% 47 2.17% -56 -2.59% 2,167
Boulder 48,174 44.93% 57,265 53.41% 1,784 1.66% -9,091 -8.48% 107,223
Chaffee 3,080 53.90% 2,548 44.59% 86 1.51% 532 9.31% 5,714
Cheyenne 760 64.08% 399 33.64% 27 2.28% 361 30.44% 1,186
Clear Creek 1,820 50.11% 1,698 46.75% 114 3.14% 122 3.36% 3,632
Conejos 1,445 41.92% 1,976 57.33% 26 0.75% -531 -15.41% 3,447
Costilla 454 28.72% 1,120 70.84% 7 0.44% -666 -42.12% 1,581
Crowley 862 57.47% 630 42.00% 8 0.53% 232 15.47% 1,500
Custer 753 69.46% 310 28.60% 21 1.94% 443 40.86% 1,084
Delta 5,449 59.59% 3,521 38.51% 174 1.90% 1,928 21.08% 9,144
Denver 77,753 37.13% 127,173 60.72% 4,504 2.15% -49,420 -23.59% 209,430
Dolores 488 66.67% 230 31.42% 14 1.91% 258 35.25% 732
Douglas 17,035 69.96% 6,931 28.46% 384 1.58% 10,104 41.50% 24,350
Eagle 4,366 55.91% 3,314 42.44% 129 1.65% 1,052 13.47% 7,809
El Paso 96,965 70.03% 39,995 28.88% 1,506 1.09% 56,970 41.15% 138,466
Elbert 2,805 63.06% 1,566 35.21% 77 1.73% 1,239 27.85% 4,448
Fremont 7,623 58.24% 5,278 40.33% 187 1.43% 2,345 17.91% 13,088
Garfield 6,358 57.21% 4,620 41.57% 136 1.22% 1,738 15.64% 11,114
Gilpin 728 45.79% 804 50.57% 58 3.64% -76 -4.78% 1,590
Grand 2,306 60.08% 1,451 37.81% 81 2.11% 855 22.27% 3,838
Gunnison 2,520 55.72% 1,897 41.94% 106 2.34% 623 13.78% 4,523
Hinsdale 295 72.48% 111 27.27% 1 0.25% 184 45.21% 407
Huerfano 1,079 36.32% 1,876 63.14% 16 0.54% -797 -26.82% 2,971
Jackson 584 65.54% 294 33.00% 13 1.46% 290 32.54% 891
Jefferson 110,820 56.39% 81,824 41.64% 3,867 1.97% 28,996 14.75% 196,511
Kiowa 645 61.25% 398 37.80% 10 0.95% 247 23.45% 1,053
Kit Carson 2,262 64.41% 1,196 34.05% 54 1.54% 1,066 30.36% 3,512
La Plata 7,714 57.73% 5,443 40.73% 205 1.54% 2,271 17.00% 13,362
Lake 969 38.10% 1,516 59.61% 58 2.29% -547 -21.51% 2,543
Larimer 45,967 55.34% 35,703 42.98% 1,396 1.68% 10,264 12.36% 83,066
Las Animas 2,162 34.15% 4,075 64.37% 94 1.48% -1,913 -30.22% 6,331
Lincoln 1,356 60.29% 874 38.86% 19 0.85% 482 21.43% 2,249
Logan 4,485 56.24% 3,382 42.41% 108 1.35% 1,103 13.83% 7,975
Mesa 22,150 59.62% 14,372 38.68% 633 1.70% 7,778 20.94% 37,155
Mineral 217 55.08% 174 44.16% 3 0.76% 43 10.92% 394
Moffat 2,757 61.01% 1,634 36.16% 128 2.83% 1,123 24.85% 4,519
Montezuma 4,208 64.23% 2,233 34.09% 110 1.68% 1,975 30.14% 6,551
Montrose 6,012 60.16% 3,748 37.51% 233 2.33% 2,264 22.65% 9,993
Morgan 4,795 55.24% 3,728 42.95% 157 1.81% 1,067 12.29% 8,680
Otero 4,265 51.39% 3,910 47.11% 124 1.50% 355 4.28% 8,299
Ouray 814 63.89% 439 34.46% 21 1.65% 375 29.43% 1,274
Park 1,909 56.87% 1,343 40.01% 105 3.12% 566 16.86% 3,357
Phillips 1,317 57.81% 923 40.52% 38 1.67% 394 17.29% 2,278
Pitkin 2,801 44.28% 3,420 54.06% 105 1.66% -619 -9.78% 6,326
Prowers 2,978 56.34% 2,207 41.75% 101 1.91% 771 14.59% 5,286
Pueblo 20,119 37.73% 32,788 61.50% 411 0.77% -12,669 -23.77% 53,318
Rio Blanco 1,821 68.41% 803 30.17% 38 1.42% 1,018 38.24% 2,662
Rio Grande 2,626 62.01% 1,545 36.48% 64 1.51% 1,081 25.53% 4,235
Routt 3,264 51.65% 2,922 46.24% 133 2.11% 342 5.41% 6,319
Saguache 945 46.94% 1,033 51.32% 35 1.74% -88 -4.38% 2,013
San Juan 210 50.36% 192 46.04% 15 3.60% 18 4.32% 417
San Miguel 798 43.39% 961 52.26% 80 4.35% -163 -8.87% 1,839
Sedgwick 921 59.61% 611 39.55% 13 0.84% 310 20.06% 1,545
Summit 2,893 51.44% 2,595 46.14% 136 2.42% 298 5.30% 5,624
Teller 3,760 68.36% 1,656 30.11% 84 1.53% 2,104 38.25% 5,500
Washington 1,707 62.87% 958 35.29% 50 1.84% 749 27.58% 2,715
Weld 26,497 55.42% 20,548 42.98% 762 1.60% 5,949 12.44% 47,807
Yuma 2,513 56.93% 1,835 41.57% 66 1.50% 678 15.36% 4,414
Total 728,177 53.06% 621,453 45.28% 22,764 1.66% 106,724 7.78% 1,372,394

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

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  1. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  2. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results - Colorado". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Our Campaigns; CO US President, November 08, 1988