1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico

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

1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico

← 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 5 0
Popular vote 270,341 244,497
Percentage 51.86% 46.90%

County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Bush won the state with 51.86% of the vote to Dukakis's 46.90%, for a margin of 4.96%. New Mexico weighed in for this election as 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This was also the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote in New Mexico, although his son George W. Bush would eke out an extremely narrow 49.84%-49.05% plurality over John Kerry in 2004.

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for New Mexico, with 98 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties.[1] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election in New Mexico in which Bernalillo County, Doña Ana County, and Socorro County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[2] The Democratic stronghold in the northern part of the state is evident during this election, and remains largely intact from this point onward to current political times.

Results

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1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican 270,341 51.86% −7.84
Democratic 244,497 46.90% +7.67
Libertarian 3,268 0.63% −0.24
New Alliance
2,237 0.43% +0.40
Socialist Workers 344 0.07% ±0.00
Workers World
258 0.05% N/A
Prohibition 249 0.05% +0.01
Write-in 93 0.02%
Total votes 521,287 100.00%
Republican win

Results by county

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County George H.W. Bush
Republican
Michael Dukakis
Democratic
Ron Paul[3]
Libertarian
Lenora Fulani[3]
New Alliance
Various candidates[3]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Bernalillo 92,830 53.62% 78,346 45.25% 1,196 0.69% 431 0.25% 332 0.19% 14,484 8.37% 173,135
Catron 925 62.25% 490 32.97% 53 3.57% 14 0.94% 4 0.27% 435 29.28% 1,486
Chaves 13,367 65.84% 6,730 33.15% 58 0.29% 118 0.58% 30 0.15% 6,637 32.69% 20,303
Cibola 2,640 43.02% 3,458 56.35% 18 0.29% 6 0.10% 15 0.24% -818 -13.33% 6,137
Colfax 2,256 44.37% 2,785 54.77% 25 0.49% 16 0.31% 3 0.06% -529 -10.40% 5,085
Curry 8,032 66.17% 3,995 32.91% 36 0.30% 64 0.53% 11 0.09% 4,037 33.26% 12,138
De Baca 643 56.60% 480 42.25% 6 0.53% 7 0.62% 0 0.00% 163 14.35% 1,136
Dona Ana 21,582 51.70% 19,608 46.97% 281 0.67% 200 0.48% 76 0.18% 1,974 4.73% 41,747
Eddy 9,805 52.90% 8,544 46.10% 52 0.28% 112 0.60% 22 0.12% 1,261 6.80% 18,535
Grant 4,196 43.10% 5,443 55.91% 55 0.56% 22 0.23% 19 0.20% -1,247 -12.81% 9,735
Guadalupe 861 40.63% 1,243 58.66% 4 0.19% 7 0.33% 4 0.19% -382 -18.03% 2,119
Harding 377 56.10% 291 43.30% 2 0.30% 1 0.15% 1 0.15% 86 12.80% 672
Hidalgo 1,100 54.46% 901 44.60% 7 0.35% 10 0.50% 2 0.10% 199 9.86% 2,020
Lea 11,309 65.36% 5,879 33.98% 48 0.28% 20 0.12% 47 0.27% 5,430 31.38% 17,303
Lincoln 3,511 66.40% 1,690 31.96% 32 0.61% 43 0.81% 12 0.23% 1,821 34.44% 5,288
Los Alamos 6,622 65.22% 3,275 32.26% 191 1.88% 52 0.51% 13 0.13% 3,347 32.96% 10,153
Luna 3,415 51.46% 3,066 46.20% 88 1.33% 60 0.90% 7 0.11% 349 5.26% 6,636
McKinley 5,694 36.81% 9,595 62.04% 46 0.30% 93 0.60% 39 0.25% -3,901 -25.23% 15,467
Mora 923 36.27% 1,601 62.91% 5 0.20% 15 0.59% 1 0.04% -678 -26.64% 2,545
Otero 9,984 64.50% 5,284 34.14% 73 0.47% 109 0.70% 28 0.18% 4,700 30.36% 15,478
Quay 2,454 55.62% 1,901 43.09% 23 0.52% 27 0.61% 7 0.16% 553 12.53% 4,412
Rio Arriba 3,024 28.46% 7,503 70.61% 24 0.23% 57 0.54% 18 0.17% -4,479 -42.15% 10,626
Roosevelt 3,589 63.18% 2,033 35.79% 16 0.28% 32 0.56% 11 0.19% 1,556 27.39% 5,681
San Juan 16,202 58.39% 11,094 39.98% 238 0.86% 143 0.52% 73 0.26% 5,108 18.41% 27,750
San Miguel 2,763 30.62% 6,131 67.95% 37 0.41% 78 0.86% 14 0.16% -3,368 -37.33% 9,023
Sandoval 9,411 49.50% 9,332 49.09% 146 0.77% 86 0.45% 36 0.19% 79 0.41% 19,011
Santa Fe 12,891 34.91% 23,581 63.86% 255 0.69% 154 0.42% 46 0.12% -10,690 -28.95% 36,927
Sierra 2,507 60.19% 1,595 38.30% 18 0.43% 29 0.70% 16 0.38% 912 21.89% 4,165
Socorro 3,114 50.09% 2,960 47.61% 88 1.42% 46 0.74% 9 0.14% 154 2.48% 6,217
Taos 2,897 31.29% 6,271 67.73% 39 0.42% 42 0.45% 10 0.11% -3,374 -36.44% 9,259
Torrance 2,252 57.19% 1,618 41.09% 32 0.81% 31 0.79% 5 0.13% 634 16.10% 3,938
Union 1,291 65.87% 638 32.55% 9 0.46% 17 0.87% 5 0.26% 653 33.32% 1,960
Valencia 7,874 51.80% 7,136 46.95% 69 0.45% 94 0.62% 27 0.18% 738 4.85% 15,200
Totals 270,341 51.86% 244,497 46.90% 3,268 0.63% 2,237 0.43% 944 0.18% 25,844 4.96% 521,287

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results – New Mexico". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ^ a b c "NM US President Race, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.