1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia explained

See main article: article and 1988 United States presidential election.

The 1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose six electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

West Virginia was won by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis who was running against incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas. Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as Vice President, and Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.

West Virginia weighed in for this election as 13 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. As of 2020, this is the last time a Republican presidential candidate won the presidency without winning West Virginia. The 1988 election cycle is also the last time that West Virginia did not vote for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Kentucky.

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for West Virginia, with over 99% of the electorate voting for either the Republican or Democratic parties, and only three candidates appearing on the ballot.^[1] Dukakis won the election in West Virginia with a 5-point margin.

A rare event in any United States presidential election, West Virginia was home to a faithless elector in the election of 1988. During the assembly of the electoral college, one elector from West Virginia, Margarette Leach, cast her vote for the Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen as president, and Dukakis as the vice president. She did this in order to draw attention to the lack of accountability for electors under the Electoral College system.^[2]

Results

1988 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	341,016	52.20%	5
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	310,065	47.46%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	2,230	0.34%	0
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen	0	0.00%	1
Totals			653,311	100.00%	6

Results by county

County	Michael Dukakis Democratic		George H.W. Bush Republican		Lenora Fulani New Alliance		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Barbour		3,221		51.45%		3,023		48.28%		17		0.27%		198		3.17%		6,261
	Berkeley		6,313		36.84%		10,761		62.80%		61		0.36%		-4,448		-25.96%		17,135
	Boone		6,539		69.97%		2,786		29.81%		20		0.21%		3,753		40.16%		9,345
	Braxton		3,377		62.27%		2,024		37.32%		22		0.41%		1,353		24.95%		5,423
	Brooke		6,258		60.72%		4,006		38.87%		42		0.41%		2,252		21.85%		10,306
	Cabell		15,368		47.05%		17,197		52.65%		97		0.30%		-1,829		-5.60%		32,662
	Calhoun		1,644		53.78%		1,395		45.63%		18		0.59%		249		8.15%		3,057
	Clay		2,263		59.38%		1,536		40.30%		12		0.31%		727		19.08%		3,811
	Doddridge		955		33.54%		1,880		66.03%		12		0.42%		-925		-32.49%		2,847
	Fayette		11,009		67.94%		5,143		31.74%		53		0.33%		5,866		36.20%		16,205
	Gilmer		1,661		54.21%		1,387		45.27%		16		0.52%		274		8.94%		3,064
	Grant		893		21.62%		3,215		77.85%		22		0.53%		-2,322		-56.23%		4,130
	Greenbrier		6,091		52.87%		5,395		46.83%		35		0.30%		696		6.04%		11,521
	Hampshire		2,085		38.88%		3,253		60.66%		25		0.47%		-1,168		-21.78%		5,363
	Hancock		8,338		58.39%		5,882		41.19%		60		0.42%		2,456		17.20%		14,280
	Hardy		1,689		39.39%		2,581		60.19%		18		0.42%		-892		-20.80%		4,288
	Harrison		17,005		55.90%		13,364		43.93%		49		0.16%		3,641		11.97%		30,418
	Jackson		4,573		44.44%		5,696		55.35%		22		0.21%		-1,123		-10.91%		10,291
	Jefferson		4,334		44.56%		5,349		55.00%		43		0.44%		-1,015		-10.44%		9,726
	Kanawha		41,144		51.73%		38,140		47.95%		258		0.32%		3,004		3.78%		79,542
	Lewis		3,272		47.37%		3,602		52.14%		34		0.49%		-330		-4.77%		6,908
	Lincoln		5,049		59.20%		3,457		40.53%		23		0.27%		1,592		18.67%		8,529
	Logan		11,317		72.51%		4,244		27.19%		47		0.30%		7,073		45.32%		15,608
	Marion		14,441		60.82%		9,229		38.87%		72		0.30%		5,212		21.95%		23,742
	Marshall		7,903		53.47%		6,793		45.96%		83		0.56%		1,110		7.51%		14,779
	Mason		5,468		50.51%		5,332		49.26%		25		0.23%		136		1.25%		10,825
	McDowell		7,204		74.16%		2,463		25.36%		47		0.48%		4,741		48.80%		9,714
	Mercer		10,152		49.69%		10,221		50.03%		57		0.28%		-69		-0.34%		20,430
	Mineral		4,059		40.14%		6,015		59.49%		37		0.37%		-1,956		-19.35%		10,111
	Mingo		7,429		71.78%		2,896		27.98%		25		0.24%		4,533		43.80%		10,350
	Monongalia		14,178		53.83%		12,091		45.91%		69		0.26%		2,087		7.92%		26,338
	Monroe		2,427		46.96%		2,719		52.61%		22		0.43%		-292		-5.65%		5,168
	Morgan		1,545		33.85%		3,002		65.78%		17		0.37%		-1,457		-31.93%		4,564
	Nicholas		5,173		57.89%		3,731		41.75%		32		0.36%		1,442		16.14%		8,936
	Ohio		10,121		49.18%		10,341		50.25%		116		0.56%		-220		-1.07%		20,578
	Pendleton		1,595		45.53%		1,901		54.27%		7		0.20%		-306		-8.74%		3,503
	Pleasants		1,421		44.59%		1,761		55.26%		5		0.16%		-340		-10.67%		3,187
	Pocahontas		1,958		50.83%		1,876		48.70%		18		0.47%		82		2.13%		3,852
	Preston		4,357		42.73%		5,804		56.92%		35		0.34%		-1,447		-14.19%		10,196
	Putnam		6,640		44.74%		8,163		55.00%		38		0.26%		-1,523		-10.26%		14,841
	Raleigh		14,302		57.71%		10,395		41.95%		85		0.34%		3,907		15.76%		24,782
	Randolph		5,233		52.24%		4,746		47.38%		38		0.38%		487		4.86%		10,017
	Ritchie		1,446		33.33%		2,874		66.25%		18		0.41%		-1,428		-32.92%		4,338
	Roane		2,447		45.89%		2,861		53.66%		24		0.45%		-414		-7.77%		5,332
	Summers		3,072		57.81%		2,231		41.98%		11		0.21%		841		15.83%		5,314
	Taylor		2,852		50.09%		2,816		49.46%		26		0.46%		36		0.63%		5,694
	Tucker		1,869		52.25%		1,699		47.50%		9		0.25%		170		4.75%		3,577
	Tyler		1,501		38.75%		2,365		61.05%		8		0.21%		-864		-22.30%		3,874
	Upshur		3,065		38.83%		4,813		60.97%		16		0.20%		-1,748		-22.14%		7,894
	Wayne		8,621		54.65%		7,123		45.15%		31		0.20%		1,498		9.50%		5,775
	Webster		2,185		67.92%		1,016		31.58%		16		0.50%		1,169		36.34%		3,217
	Wetzel		3,928		53.44%		3,381		46.00%		41		0.56%		547		7.44%		7,350
	Wirt		929		44.97%		1,125		54.45%		12		0.58%		-196		-9.48%		2,066
	Wood		12,959		39.80%		19,450		59.73%		154		0.47%		-6,491		-19.93%		32,563
	Wyoming		6,138		63.38%		3,516		36.31%		30		0.31%		2,622		27.07%		9,684
Totals	341,016	52.20%	310,065	47.46%	2,230	0.34%	30,951	4.74%	653,311

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Barbour
• Calhoun
• Gilmer
• Greenbrier
• Harrison
• Kanawha
• Marshall
• Mason
• Monongalia
• Nicholas
• Pocahontas
• Raleigh
• Randolph
• Summers
• Taylor
• Tucker
• Wayne
• Wetzel

See also

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1988 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. 2013-07-21.
2. News: James A. Michener, Near-Faithless Elector . 2000-11-09 . Slate . 2019-06-20 . en.