1988 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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

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

South Carolina weighed in for this election as 16% more Republican than the national average, and was the fourth most Republican state in the nation behind Utah, New Hampshire and Idaho. The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for South Carolina, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot.

, this is the last election in which Richland County voted for a Republican Presidential candidate, while Dillon County would not vote Republican again until 2020.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 Bush won the election in South Carolina by a landslide 23.9% margin. Bush scored particularly strong wins in the population centers of Greenville and Lexington Counties, winning over 70% of the vote in both. He also powerfully won Spartanburg County, the largest county in the state that had remained a Democratic stronghold into the 1960s and 1970s, with over 60% of the vote.

Background With the exception of Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election South Carolina had not supported the Democratic presidential nominee since the 1960 presidential election. Democratic U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings won reelection in 1986, but Carroll A. Campbell Jr.'s victory in that year's gubernatorial election made him the second Republican governor in South Carolina in the 20th century.

Campaign

South Carolina was the only southern state to not hold its primary on Super Tuesday.

George H. W. Bush won South Carolina in the Republican primary and placed first in all six congressional districts. Campbell was the chair of Bush's campaign in the southern region and Thomas F. Hartnett chaired the Bush campaign in South Carolina. Campbell proposed the selection of Jack Kemp or Bob Dole as Bush's vice-presidential running mate.

Dan Quayle was the only major party presidential or vice-presidential candidate to visit the state following the primaries with his tour of Darlington, on September 4.

While 72% of registered voters participated in the election, South Carolina had the second-lowest voter-age population turnout in the country at 38.9%, only ahead of Georgia's 38.8%. South Carolina gave Bush the highest-percentage amount of support in the South. Eleven of the twelve counties that Dukakis won had majority black populations while the remaining one, Marlboro County, had a black population of 40%. Among white voters, 79% supported Bush while 20% supported Dukakis.

The state's entire delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, four Democratic and two Republican, was reelected and the Democrats retained control over the South Carolina General Assembly.

Polling

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error GeorgeBush MichaelDukakis Other /UndecidedThe StateLate May 198853%43%4%The StateEarly September 198858.6%35.8%5.6%

Results 1988 United States presidential election in South CarolinaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican George H. W. Bush 606,443 61.50% 8 Democratic Michael Dukakis 370,554 37.58% 0 Libertarian Ron Paul 4,935 0.50% 0 United Citizens Party Lenora Fulani 4,077 0.41% 0 Totals 986,009 100.0% 8

Results by county County George H.W. BushRepublican Michael DukakisDemocratic Ron PaulLibertarian Leonora FulaniUnited Citizens Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Abbeville 3,738 50.51% 3,629 49.03% 19 0.26% 15 0.20% 109 1.48% 7,401 Aiken 27,665 71.84% 10,598 27.52% 142 0.37% 102 0.26% 17,067 44.32% 38,507 Allendale 1,295 41.59% 1,796 57.68% 9 0.29% 14 0.45% -501 -16.09% 3,114 Anderson 25,939 67.58% 12,281 32.00% 88 0.23% 75 0.20% 13,658 35.58% 38,383 Bamberg 2,403 45.73% 2,830 53.85% 5 0.10% 17 0.32% -427 -8.12% 5,255 Barnwell 4,467 63.14% 2,564 36.24% 16 0.23% 28 0.40% 1,903 26.90% 7,075 Beaufort 16,184 64.68% 8,691 34.73% 86 0.34% 60 0.24% 7,493 29.95% 25,021 Berkeley 16,779 63.81% 9,312 35.41% 66 0.25% 140 0.53% 7,467 28.40% 26,297 Calhoun 2,585 54.00% 2,175 45.44% 16 0.33% 11 0.23% 410 8.56% 4,787 Charleston 49,149 59.28% 32,977 39.77% 373 0.45% 417 0.50% 16,172 19.51% 82,916 Cherokee 7,763 63.89% 4,322 35.57% 34 0.28% 32 0.26% 3,441 28.32% 12,151 Chester 3,968 51.21% 3,737 48.23% 25 0.32% 18 0.23% 231 2.98% 7,748 Chesterfield 4,999 51.35% 4,699 48.27% 21 0.22% 16 0.16% 300 3.08% 9,735 Clarendon 4,337 46.15% 5,030 53.53% 12 0.13% 18 0.19% -693 -7.38% 9,397 Colleton 4,962 51.97% 4,508 47.22% 26 0.27% 51 0.53% 454 4.75% 9,547 Darlington 9,854 55.23% 7,625 42.73% 202 1.13% 162 0.91% 2,229 12.50% 17,843 Dillon 3,793 53.66% 3,251 45.99% 11 0.16% 14 0.20% 542 7.67% 7,069 Dorchester 14,756 66.37% 7,371 33.15% 51 0.23% 54 0.24% 7,385 33.22% 22,232 Edgefield 3,814 55.57% 3,020 44.00% 14 0.20% 15 0.22% 794 11.57% 6,863 Fairfield 2,714 41.23% 3,827 58.13% 15 0.23% 27 0.41% -1,113 -16.90% 6,583 Florence 19,490 60.50% 12,531 38.90% 106 0.33% 87 0.27% 6,959 21.60% 32,214 Georgetown 7,032 56.23% 5,402 43.20% 26 0.21% 46 0.37% 1,630 13.03% 12,506 Greenville 67,371 70.82% 27,188 28.58% 404 0.42% 163 0.17% 40,183 42.24% 95,126 Greenwood 9,096 57.92% 6,511 41.46% 44 0.28% 53 0.34% 2,585 16.46% 15,704 Hampton 2,826 44.81% 3,435 54.47% 14 0.22% 31 0.49% -609 -9.66% 6,306 Horry 24,843 64.68% 13,316 34.67% 148 0.39% 102 0.27% 11,527 30.01% 38,409 Jasper 2,004 40.66% 2,894 58.71% 10 0.20% 21 0.43% -890 -18.05% 4,929 Kershaw 8,877 65.89% 4,494 33.36% 61 0.45% 41 0.30% 4,383 32.53% 13,473 Lancaster 9,152 59.46% 6,181 40.15% 34 0.22% 26 0.17% 2,971 19.31% 15,393 Laurens 9,731 61.97% 5,930 37.77% 28 0.18% 13 0.08% 3,801 24.20% 15,702 Lee 2,936 46.17% 3,423 53.83% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -487 -7.66% 6,359 Lexington 41,467 77.89% 11,366 21.35% 286 0.54% 119 0.22% 30,101 56.54% 53,238 McCormick 1,172 40.22% 1,722 59.09% 16 0.17% 59 0.62% -550 -18.87% 2,914 Marion 4,403 46.42% 5,008 52.79% 5 0.07% 7 0.10% -605 -6.37% 9,486 Marlboro 2,921 42.52% 3,937 57.31% 3 0.10% 17 0.58% -1,016 -14.79% 6,870 Newberry 6,427 62.37% 3,825 37.12% 23 0.22% 30 0.29% 2,602 25.25% 10,305 Oconee 10,184 69.83% 4,299 29.48% 75 0.51% 27 0.19% 5,885 40.35% 14,585 Orangeburg 13,281 47.35% 14,655 52.25% 64 0.23% 49 0.17% -1,374 -4.90% 28,049 Pickens 17,448 73.63% 6,103 25.76% 110 0.46% 35 0.15% 11,345 47.87% 23,696 Richland 43,841 52.74% 36,420 43.81% 1,617 1.95% 1,245 1.50% 7,421 8.93% 83,123 Saluda 3,225 61.64% 1,984 37.92% 15 0.29% 8 0.15% 1,241 23.72% 5,232 Spartanburg 40,801 63.19% 22,964 35.57% 397 0.61% 406 0.63% 17,837 27.62% 64,568 Sumter 13,161 57.72% 9,502 41.67% 53 0.23% 85 0.37% 3,659 16.05% 22,801 Union 6,019 57.52% 4,420 42.24% 20 0.19% 6 0.06% 1,599 15.28% 10,465 Williamsburg 5,914 44.39% 7,343 55.11% 22 0.17% 45 0.34% -1,429 -10.72% 13,324 York 21,657 65.02% 11,458 34.40% 123 0.37% 70 0.21% 10,199 30.62% 33,308Totals606,44361.50%370,55437.58%4,9350.50%4,0770.41%235,88923.92%986,009

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Bamberg

Counties that flipped Democratic to Republican Edgefield

References

Works cited