1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico

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Main article: 1988 United States presidential election
1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico
← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →
  1988 Bush (cropped).jpg 1988 Dukakis (cropped 3x4).jpg
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%
New Mexico Presidential Election Results 1988.svg
County Results
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Elections in New Mexico
United States Federal elections
New Mexico State elections
Albuquerque Albuquerque
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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.

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.

Partisan background[]

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.

Republican victory[]

Bush won the election in New Mexico with a solid 5 percentage point margin. The election results in New Mexico are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party, which took place through the 1980s. Through the passage of some economic programs, spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan (called, collectively, "Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark for Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and large scale tax cuts.

Dukakis ran on a socially liberal platform, and advocated for economic reform and governmental transparency. Bush, on the other hand, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan – which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas.

Results[]

1988 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican George H. W. Bush 270,341 51.86% 5
Democratic Michael Dukakis 244,497 46.90% 0
Libertarian Ron Paul 3,268 0.63% 0
New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 2,237 0.43% 0
Socialist Workers Party James Warren 344 0.07% 0
Workers World Larry Holmes 258 0.05% 0
Prohibition Earl Dodge 249 0.05% 0
Write-Ins 93 0.02% 0
Totals 521,287 100.0% 5

Results by county[]

County George Herbert Walker Bush
Republican 		Michael Stanley Dukakis
Democratic 		Ronald Ernest Paul[3]
Libertarian 		Leonora Branch Fulani[3]
New Alliance 		Various candidates[3]
Other parties 		Margin
% # % # % # % # % # % #
Lincoln 66.40% 3,511 31.96% 1,690 0.61% 32 0.81% 43 0.23% 12 34.44% 1,821
Union 65.87% 1,291 32.55% 638 0.46% 9 0.87% 17 0.26% 5 33.32% 653
Curry 66.17% 8,032 32.91% 3,995 0.30% 36 0.53% 64 0.09% 11 33.26% 4,037
Los Alamos 65.22% 6,622 32.26% 3,275 1.88% 191 0.51% 52 0.13% 13 32.97% 3,347
Chaves 65.84% 13,367 33.15% 6,730 0.29% 58 0.58% 118 0.15% 30 32.69% 6,637
Lea 65.36% 11,309 33.98% 5,879 0.28% 48 0.12% 20 0.27% 47 31.38% 5,430
Otero 64.50% 9,984 34.14% 5,284 0.47% 73 0.70% 109 0.18% 28 30.37% 4,700
Catron 62.25% 925 32.97% 490 3.57% 53 0.94% 14 0.27% 4 29.27% 435
Roosevelt 63.18% 3,589 35.79% 2,033 0.28% 16 0.56% 32 0.19% 11 27.39% 1,556
Sierra 60.19% 2,507 38.30% 1,595 0.43% 18 0.70% 29 0.38% 16 21.90% 912
San Juan 58.39% 16,202 39.98% 11,094 0.86% 238 0.52% 143 0.26% 73 18.41% 5,108
Torrance 57.19% 2,252 41.09% 1,618 0.81% 32 0.79% 31 0.13% 5 16.10% 634
De Baca 56.60% 643 42.25% 480 0.53% 6 0.62% 7 0.00% 0 14.35% 163
Harding 56.10% 377 43.30% 291 0.30% 2 0.15% 1 0.15% 1 12.80% 86
Quay 55.62% 2,454 43.09% 1,901 0.52% 23 0.61% 27 0.16% 7 12.53% 553
Hidalgo 54.46% 1,100 44.60% 901 0.35% 7 0.50% 10 0.10% 2 9.85% 199
Bernalillo 53.62% 92,830 45.25% 78,346 0.69% 1,196 0.25% 431 0.19% 332 8.37% 14,484
Eddy 52.90% 9,805 46.10% 8,544 0.28% 52 0.60% 112 0.12% 22 6.80% 1,261
Luna 51.46% 3,415 46.20% 3,066 1.33% 88 0.90% 60 0.11% 7 5.26% 349
Valencia 51.80% 7,874 46.95% 7,136 0.45% 69 0.62% 94 0.18% 27 4.86% 738
Doña Ana 51.70% 21,582 46.97% 19,608 0.67% 281 0.48% 200 0.18% 76 4.73% 1,974
Socorro 50.09% 3,114 47.61% 2,960 1.42% 88 0.74% 46 0.14% 9 2.48% 154
Sandoval 49.50% 9,411 49.09% 9,332 0.77% 146 0.45% 86 0.19% 36 0.42% 79
Colfax 44.37% 2,256 54.77% 2,785 0.49% 25 0.31% 16 0.06% 3 -10.40% -529
Grant 43.10% 4,196 55.91% 5,443 0.56% 55 0.23% 22 0.20% 19 -12.81% -1,247
Cibola 43.02% 2,640 56.35% 3,458 0.29% 18 0.10% 6 0.24% 15 -13.33% -818
Guadalupe 40.63% 861 58.66% 1,243 0.19% 4 0.33% 7 0.19% 4 -18.03% -382
McKinley 36.81% 5,694 62.04% 9,595 0.30% 46 0.60% 93 0.25% 39 -25.22% -3,901
Mora 36.27% 923 62.91% 1,601 0.20% 5 0.59% 15 0.04% 1 -26.64% -678
Santa Fe 34.91% 12,891 63.86% 23,581 0.69% 255 0.42% 154 0.12% 46 -28.95% -10,690
Taos 31.29% 2,897 67.73% 6,271 0.42% 39 0.45% 42 0.11% 10 -36.44% -3,374
San Miguel 30.62% 2,763 67.95% 6,131 0.41% 37 0.86% 78 0.16% 14 -37.33% -3,368
Rio Arriba 28.46% 3,024 70.61% 7,503 0.23% 24 0.54% 57 0.17% 18 -42.15% -4,479

See also[]

  • Presidency of George H. W. Bush

References[]

  1. ^ "1988 Presidential General Election Results – New Mexico". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  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. ^ Jump up to: a b c "NM US President Race, November 08, 1988". Our Campaigns.
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