1988 United States presidential election in Minnesota
1988 United States presidential election in Minnesota Turnout 68.84%[ 1]
County Results
Dukakis
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
Bush
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
The 1988 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 8, 1988, as part of the 1988 United States presidential election . Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president .
Minnesota was won by Democrat Michael Dukakis , Governor of Massachusetts , with 52.91% of the popular vote over Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush 's 45.90%, a victory margin of 7.01%.[ 2] This made Minnesota roughly 14.8% more Democratic than the nation-at-large.
Four years earlier Minnesota had been the only state in the entire country to vote for Democrat Walter Mondale over Republican Ronald Reagan , and this Democratic strength in the state endured in 1988, as Minnesota chose Michael Dukakis by a comfortable margin despite George H.W. Bush winning a convincing victory nationwide. Minnesota has the longest streak of voting Democratic of any state, having not voted Republican since 1972 .
As of the 2020 U.S. presidential election , this is the last time Minnesota voted to the right of neighboring Iowa , as well as the last time in which Clay County voted for a losing presidential candidate.
Results
1988 United States presidential election in Minnesota[ 2]
Party
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Democratic (DFL)
Michael Dukakis
1,109,471
52.91%
10
Republican
George H. W. Bush
962,337
45.90%
0
MN Progressive
Eugene McCarthy
5,403
0.26%
0
Libertarian
Ron Paul
5,109
0.24%
0
Write-in
Write-ins
3,614
0.17%
0
Socialist Workers
James Warren
2,155
0.10%
0
Grassroots
Jack Herer
1,949
0.09%
0
New Alliance
Lenora Fulani
1,734
0.08%
0
Democrats for Economic Recovery
Lyndon LaRouche
1,702
0.08%
0
America First
David Duke
1,529
0.07%
0
American
Delmar Dennis
1,298
0.06%
0
Workers League
Edward Winn
489
0.02%
0
Totals
2,096,790
100.0%
10
Results by county
County
Michael Dukakis DFL
George H.W. Bush Republican
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Aitkin
3,863
55.65%
3,011
43.37%
68
0.98%
852
12.28%
6,942
Anoka
57,953
54.77%
46,853
44.28%
1,003
0.95%
11,100
10.49%
105,809
Becker
5,787
45.74%
6,738
53.26%
126
1.00%
-951
-7.52%
12,651
Beltrami
7,566
52.61%
6,652
46.26%
162
1.13%
914
6.35%
14,380
Benton
5,861
48.68%
6,060
50.33%
119
0.99%
-199
-1.65%
12,040
Big Stone
2,026
57.46%
1,469
41.66%
31
0.88%
557
15.80%
3,526
Blue Earth
12,375
50.40%
11,959
48.71%
218
0.89%
416
1.69%
24,552
Brown
5,109
41.97%
6,898
56.67%
166
1.36%
-1,789
-14.70%
12,173
Carlton
8,790
64.82%
4,626
34.12%
144
1.06%
4,164
30.70%
13,560
Carver
8,439
39.75%
12,560
59.17%
229
1.08%
-4,121
-19.42%
21,228
Cass
5,127
46.11%
5,895
53.02%
97
0.87%
-768
-6.91%
11,119
Chippewa
3,238
49.71%
3,190
48.97%
86
1.32%
48
0.74%
6,514
Chisago
7,875
55.58%
6,163
43.49%
132
0.93%
1,712
12.09%
14,170
Clay
11,186
51.54%
10,380
47.82%
139
0.64%
806
3.72%
21,705
Clearwater
1,769
49.59%
1,763
49.43%
35
0.98%
6
0.16%
3,567
Cook
1,080
49.45%
1,078
49.36%
26
1.19%
2
0.09%
2,184
Cottonwood
3,095
47.29%
3,390
51.80%
60
0.92%
-295
-4.51%
6,545
Crow Wing
9,674
46.26%
11,017
52.69%
220
1.05%
-1,343
-6.43%
20,911
Dakota
61,942
49.72%
61,606
49.45%
1,032
0.83%
336
0.27%
124,580
Dodge
2,925
42.73%
3,848
56.21%
73
1.07%
-923
-13.48%
6,846
Douglas
5,803
41.89%
7,898
57.02%
151
1.09%
-2,095
-15.13%
13,852
Faribault
3,879
44.08%
4,846
55.07%
75
0.85%
-967
-10.99%
8,800
Fillmore
4,114
44.72%
5,004
54.39%
82
0.89%
-890
-9.67%
9,200
Freeborn
8,836
54.48%
7,226
44.56%
156
0.96%
1,610
9.92%
16,218
Goodhue
9,438
49.41%
9,455
49.50%
209
1.09%
-17
-0.09%
19,102
Grant
1,950
53.03%
1,693
46.04%
34
0.92%
257
6.99%
3,677
Hennepin
292,909
54.39%
240,209
44.60%
5,444
1.01%
52,700
9.79%
538,562
Houston
3,936
44.60%
4,777
54.13%
112
1.27%
-841
-9.53%
8,825
Hubbard
3,306
42.74%
4,365
56.42%
65
0.84%
-1,059
-13.68%
7,736
Isanti
6,075
53.05%
5,246
45.81%
131
1.14%
829
7.24%
11,452
Itasca
10,517
55.20%
8,358
43.87%
178
0.93%
2,159
11.33%
19,053
Jackson
3,275
54.96%
2,629
44.12%
55
0.92%
646
10.84%
5,959
Kanabec
2,970
53.05%
2,571
45.93%
57
1.02%
399
7.12%
5,598
Kandiyohi
8,962
50.17%
8,634
48.34%
266
1.49%
328
1.83%
17,862
Kittson
1,650
53.97%
1,381
45.18%
26
0.85%
269
8.79%
3,057
Koochiching
3,867
57.04%
2,842
41.92%
71
1.05%
1,025
15.12%
6,780
Lac qui Parle
2,805
56.29%
2,116
42.46%
62
1.24%
689
13.83%
4,983
Lake
3,887
67.31%
1,838
31.83%
50
0.87%
2,049
35.48%
5,775
Lake of the Woods
798
43.99%
984
54.24%
32
1.76%
-186
-10.25%
1,814
Le Sueur
5,410
49.52%
5,415
49.57%
100
0.92%
-5
-0.05%
10,925
Lincoln
1,891
55.21%
1,479
43.18%
55
1.61%
412
12.03%
3,425
Lyon
5,657
48.20%
5,969
50.86%
110
0.94%
-312
-2.66%
11,736
Mahnomen
1,277
54.16%
1,051
44.57%
30
1.27%
226
9.59%
2,358
Marshall
3,001
51.64%
2,752
47.36%
58
1.00%
249
4.28%
5,811
Martin
4,922
45.87%
5,724
53.34%
85
0.79%
-802
-7.47%
10,731
McLeod
5,736
41.38%
7,967
57.47%
159
1.15%
-2,231
-16.09%
13,862
Meeker
4,544
46.81%
4,999
51.50%
164
1.69%
-455
-4.69%
9,707
Mille Lacs
4,327
52.13%
3,862
46.52%
112
1.35%
465
5.61%
8,301
Morrison
6,469
48.91%
6,598
49.88%
160
1.21%
-129
-0.97%
13,227
Mower
11,893
62.51%
6,969
36.63%
163
0.86%
4,924
25.88%
19,025
Murray
2,840
54.49%
2,316
44.44%
56
1.07%
524
10.05%
5,212
Nicollet
6,786
49.25%
6,878
49.92%
115
0.83%
-92
-0.67%
13,779
Nobles
4,953
52.73%
4,348
46.28%
93
0.99%
605
6.45%
9,394
Norman
2,149
54.32%
1,789
45.22%
18
0.46%
360
9.10%
3,956
Olmsted
19,423
40.89%
27,683
58.28%
398
0.84%
-8,260
-17.39%
47,504
Otter Tail
10,373
42.16%
14,015
56.96%
216
0.88%
-3,642
-14.80%
24,604
Pennington
3,105
51.14%
2,920
48.10%
46
0.76%
185
3.04%
6,071
Pine
5,540
58.24%
3,857
40.54%
116
1.22%
1,683
17.70%
9,513
Pipestone
2,382
45.90%
2,760
53.19%
47
0.91%
-378
-7.29%
5,189
Polk
7,523
51.31%
7,032
47.96%
107
0.73%
491
3.35%
14,662
Pope
3,074
53.22%
2,627
45.48%
75
1.30%
447
7.74%
5,776
Ramsey
143,767
61.20%
88,736
37.78%
2,393
1.02%
55,031
23.42%
234,896
Red Lake
1,229
56.51%
918
42.21%
28
1.29%
311
14.30%
2,175
Redwood
3,178
38.02%
5,076
60.73%
104
1.24%
-1,898
-22.71%
8,358
Renville
4,454
49.89%
4,356
48.80%
117
1.31%
98
1.09%
8,927
Rice
11,570
54.40%
9,460
44.48%
237
1.11%
2,110
9.92%
21,267
Rock
2,435
46.69%
2,737
52.48%
43
0.82%
-302
-5.79%
5,215
Roseau
2,630
42.47%
3,500
56.52%
62
1.00%
-870
-14.05%
6,192
St. Louis
70,344
68.14%
31,799
30.80%
1,094
1.06%
38,545
37.34%
103,237
Scott
11,405
46.20%
13,050
52.87%
230
0.93%
-1,645
-6.67%
24,685
Sherburne
7,959
48.23%
8,360
50.66%
183
1.11%
-401
-2.43%
16,502
Sibley
3,154
45.45%
3,655
52.67%
130
1.87%
-501
-7.22%
6,939
Stearns
23,798
45.68%
27,529
52.85%
766
1.47%
-3,731
-7.17%
52,093
Steele
5,496
40.38%
7,981
58.64%
133
0.98%
-2,485
-18.26%
13,610
Stevens
2,721
49.85%
2,679
49.08%
58
1.06%
42
0.77%
5,458
Swift
3,579
61.73%
2,156
37.19%
63
1.09%
1,423
24.54%
5,798
Todd
5,023
46.73%
5,633
52.40%
94
0.87%
-610
-5.67%
10,750
Traverse
1,399
56.50%
1,061
42.85%
16
0.65%
338
13.65%
2,476
Wabasha
4,442
48.20%
4,681
50.80%
92
1.00%
-239
-2.60%
9,215
Wadena
2,484
39.43%
3,733
59.26%
82
1.30%
-1,249
-19.83%
6,299
Waseca
3,721
44.90%
4,471
53.95%
95
1.15%
-750
-9.05%
8,287
Washington
34,952
52.63%
30,850
46.45%
613
0.92%
4,102
6.18%
66,415
Watonwan
2,544
46.98%
2,821
52.10%
50
0.92%
-277
-5.12%
5,415
Wilkin
1,486
43.11%
1,933
56.08%
28
0.81%
-447
-12.97%
3,447
Winona
10,310
47.68%
11,012
50.92%
302
1.40%
-702
-3.24%
21,624
Wright
14,177
47.99%
14,987
50.73%
379
1.28%
-810
-2.74%
29,543
Yellow Medicine
3,282
52.28%
2,925
46.59%
71
1.13%
357
5.69%
6,278
Totals
1,109,471
52.91%
962,337
45.90%
24,982
1.19%
147,134
7.01%
2,096,790
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
See also
References