1988 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania Turnout 77.2%[ 1] County Results Municipality Results Bush
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
Dukakis
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%
Tie
40-50%
No Vote/Data
The 1988 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8, 1988, and was part of the 1988 United States presidential election . Voters chose 25 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president .
Pennsylvania voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush , over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis . Bush won Pennsylvania by a narrow margin of 2.31%, which made it about 5.5% more Democratic than the nation. This was the last election where Pennsylvania would be carried by a Republican presidential candidate until 2016 and the last to date in which a Republican would win a majority of the statewide vote until 2024 .
Northampton and Luzerne counties, both statewide bellwethers, would also not vote Republican again until 2016; meanwhile, Bucks County would not do so again until 2024.[ 2] This is the last time that Erie County voted for the statewide loser. This was also the first election since 1932 where Pennsylvania did not vote the same as neighboring New York , another phenomenon that would not occur again until 2016 and 2024.
Candidate Votes Percent George H. W. Bush 687,323 78.95% Bob Dole 103,763 11.92% Pat Robertson 79,463 9.13% Totals 870,549 Turnout: 38.18%
Candidate Votes Percent Michael Dukakis 1,002,480 66.49% Jesse Jackson 411,260 27.28% Al Gore 44,542 2.95% Others 49,408 3.28% Totals 1,507,690 Turnout: 52.93%
1988 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania[ 3] Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes Republican George H. W. Bush 2,300,087 50.70% 25 Democratic Michael Dukakis 2,194,944 48.39% 0 Consumer Eugene McCarthy 19,158 0.42% 0 Libertarian Ron Paul 12,051 0.27% 0 New Alliance Lenora Fulani 4,379 0.10% 0 America First David Duke 3,444 0.08% 0 Workers' League Edward Winn 2,188 0.05% 0 Totals 4,536,251 100.00% 25
County George H.W. Bush Republican Michael Dukakis Democratic Various candidates Other parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Adams 15,650 64.92% 8,299 34.43% 156 0.65% 7,351 30.49% 24,105 Allegheny 231,137 39.43% 348,814 59.51% 6,200 1.06% -117,677 -20.08% 586,151 Armstrong 11,509 44.81% 13,892 54.09% 282 1.10% -2,383 -9.28% 25,683 Beaver 25,764 33.69% 50,327 65.81% 378 0.49% -24,563 -32.12% 76,469 Bedford 11,123 65.55% 5,754 33.91% 92 0.54% 5,369 31.64% 16,969 Berks 70,153 62.39% 41,040 36.50% 1,251 1.11% 29,113 25.89% 112,444 Blair 25,623 61.50% 15,588 37.42% 451 1.08% 10,035 24.08% 41,662 Bradford 13,568 66.72% 6,635 32.63% 134 0.66% 6,933 34.09% 20,337 Bucks 127,563 59.99% 82,472 38.78% 2,605 1.23% 45,091 21.21% 212,640 Butler 27,777 54.82% 22,341 44.09% 549 1.08% 5,436 10.73% 50,667 Cambria 25,626 39.70% 38,517 59.67% 409 0.63% -12,891 -19.97% 64,552 Cameron 1,731 65.20% 901 33.94% 23 0.87% 830 31.26% 2,655 Carbon 10,232 52.35% 9,104 46.57% 211 1.08% 1,128 5.78% 19,547 Centre 23,875 56.14% 18,357 43.17% 295 0.69% 5,518 12.97% 42,527 Chester 93,522 67.00% 44,853 32.13% 1,210 0.87% 48,669 34.87% 139,585 Clarion 8,026 58.37% 5,616 40.84% 109 0.79% 2,410 17.53% 13,751 Clearfield 14,296 53.52% 12,235 45.80% 182 0.68% 2,061 7.72% 26,713 Clinton 5,735 49.38% 5,759 49.59% 119 1.02% -24 -0.21% 11,613 Columbia 12,114 60.51% 7,767 38.79% 140 0.70% 4,347 21.72% 20,021 Crawford 17,249 56.32% 13,021 42.51% 358 1.17% 4,228 13.81% 30,628 Cumberland 47,292 65.29% 24,613 33.98% 528 0.73% 22,679 31.31% 72,433 Dauphin 48,917 57.77% 35,079 41.43% 681 0.80% 13,838 16.34% 84,677 Delaware 147,656 59.95% 96,144 39.03% 2,505 1.02% 51,512 20.92% 246,305 Elk 6,737 52.86% 5,879 46.13% 128 1.00% 858 6.73% 12,744 Erie 48,306 46.76% 53,913 52.19% 1,081 1.05% -5,607 -5.43% 103,300 Fayette 16,915 33.60% 33,098 65.74% 336 0.67% -16,183 -32.14% 50,349 Forest 1,159 56.13% 895 43.34% 11 0.53% 264 12.79% 2,065 Franklin 27,086 68.32% 12,368 31.20% 190 0.48% 14,718 37.12% 39,644 Fulton 3,086 66.42% 1,532 32.97% 28 0.60% 1,554 33.45% 4,646 Greene 4,879 34.62% 9,126 64.75% 90 0.64% -4,247 -30.13% 14,095 Huntingdon 8,800 64.56% 4,752 34.86% 79 0.58% 4,048 29.70% 13,631 Indiana 14,983 47.21% 16,514 52.03% 242 0.76% -1,531 -4.82% 31,739 Jefferson 9,743 60.48% 6,235 38.71% 131 0.81% 3,508 21.77% 16,109 Juniata 4,881 62.87% 2,834 36.50% 49 0.63% 2,047 26.37% 7,764 Lackawanna 42,083 47.42% 45,591 51.38% 1,067 1.20% -3,508 -3.96% 88,741 Lancaster 96,979 70.77% 38,982 28.45% 1,068 0.78% 57,997 42.32% 137,029 Lawrence 15,829 41.76% 21,884 57.74% 191 0.50% -6,055 -15.98% 37,904 Lebanon 24,415 66.69% 11,912 32.54% 281 0.77% 12,503 34.15% 36,608 Lehigh 56,363 56.30% 42,801 42.76% 943 0.94% 13,562 13.54% 100,107 Luzerne 59,059 50.01% 58,553 49.58% 480 0.41% 506 0.43% 118,092 Lycoming 24,792 64.00% 13,528 34.92% 415 1.07% 11,264 29.08% 38,735 McKean 9,323 63.22% 5,300 35.94% 124 0.84% 4,023 27.28% 14,747 Mercer 21,301 46.43% 24,278 52.92% 301 0.66% -2,977 -6.49% 45,880 Mifflin 8,170 62.49% 4,790 36.63% 115 0.88% 3,380 25.86% 13,075 Monroe 17,185 62.79% 9,859 36.02% 327 1.19% 7,326 26.77% 27,371 Montgomery 170,294 60.20% 109,834 38.83% 2,742 0.97% 60,460 21.37% 282,870 Montour 3,617 63.50% 2,031 35.66% 48 0.84% 1,586 27.84% 5,696 Northampton 42,748 51.52% 39,264 47.32% 966 1.16% 3,484 4.20% 82,978 Northumberland 20,207 58.07% 14,255 40.96% 338 0.97% 5,952 17.11% 34,800 Perry 8,545 68.18% 3,910 31.20% 78 0.62% 4,635 36.98% 12,533 Philadelphia 219,053 32.45% 449,566 66.60% 6,358 0.94% -230,513 -34.15% 674,977 Pike 6,659 67.15% 3,097 31.23% 161 1.62% 3,562 35.92% 9,917 Potter 4,432 67.23% 2,119 32.15% 41 0.62% 2,313 35.08% 6,592 Schuylkill 32,666 56.47% 24,797 42.87% 379 0.66% 7,869 13.60% 57,842 Snyder 9,054 76.87% 2,658 22.57% 67 0.57% 6,396 54.30% 11,779 Somerset 16,809 54.63% 13,815 44.90% 144 0.47% 2,994 9.73% 30,768 Sullivan 1,808 61.88% 1,091 37.34% 23 0.79% 717 24.54% 2,922 Susquehanna 9,077 64.58% 4,871 34.65% 108 0.77% 4,206 29.93% 14,056 Tioga 9,471 66.00% 4,807 33.50% 72 0.50% 4,664 32.50% 14,350 Union 7,912 71.05% 3,163 28.40% 61 0.55% 4,749 42.65% 11,136 Venango 11,468 56.60% 8,624 42.56% 171 0.84% 2,844 14.04% 20,263 Warren 8,991 56.21% 6,790 42.45% 214 1.34% 2,201 13.76% 15,995 Washington 28,651 37.43% 47,527 62.08% 375 0.49% -18,876 -24.65% 76,553 Wayne 9,926 71.61% 3,775 27.23% 161 1.16% 6,151 44.38% 13,862 Westmoreland 61,472 44.13% 76,710 55.07% 1,108 0.80% -15,238 -10.94% 139,290 Wyoming 6,607 69.94% 2,797 29.61% 43 0.46% 3,810 40.33% 9,447 York 72,408 65.16% 37,691 33.92% 1,017 0.92% 34,717 31.24% 111,116 Totals 2,300,087 50.70% 2,194,944 48.39% 41,220 0.91% 105,143 2.31% 4,536,251
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic [ edit ] As of the 2020 presidential election[update] , this is the last election in which Lehigh County or the Greater Philadelphia suburban counties of Montgomery and Delaware have voted Republican at the presidential level.[ 2] Bush became the only Republican to date to win the White House without carrying Indiana County , and the only one to do so without carrying Clinton County since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 . Bucks County would not vote Republican again until 2024.