1988 United States presidential election in California

The 1988 United States presidential election in California took place on November 8, 1988, and was part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Voters chose 47 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis by a margin of 3.57 percent. Bush won forty-four of the state's fifty-eight counties, but the election was kept close by Dukakis’ strong performance in the Bay Area and his victory in Los Angeles, the state's most populated county. Also, Dukakis won at least 31% of the vote in every county and at least 40 percent in forty of them. Much like Vermont in the same year, California was seen by observers as a swing state in this year's presidential election cycle due to fairly close polling.

California weighed in for this election as 4.2% more Democratic than the nation at large. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last presidential race where California voted Republican. From the next election onwards, California would, like fellow West Coast states Oregon and Washington, transition from being swing states to voting consistently for Democratic candidates, forming a "blue wall" of sorts over the next three decades. Oregon and Washington even voted for Dukakis in the election, making this the only presidential election since 1948 that Oregon and California voted for different candidates, as well as the last presidential election where California voted to the right of both Oregon and Washington. Bush is also the last Republican to carry the following counties in a presidential election: Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, and Santa Barbara. Additionally, he is the last Republican to win any county in the Bay Area (Napa), the last Republican to secure at least one-quarter of the vote in San Francisco, the last Republican to win a majority of votes in Imperial County, and the last Republican to secure at least 40% of the vote in Los Angeles County.

Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Sonoma County, a Republican stronghold for most of the 20th century, since Benjamin Harrison in 1888, as well as the first to do so without carrying Los Angeles County, a bellwether county from 1920 to 1984, since Rutherford Hayes in 1876. Due to Bush's victory in California, this was also the most recent presidential election when the state of Texas would not be the biggest electoral vote prize won by the Republican candidate, and likewise for the Democratic nominee in regards to California, which instead was New York.

General election Predictions SourceRatingAs ofThe Cook Political ReportSeptember 24, 1988

Results 1988 United States presidential election in CaliforniaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican George Herbert Walker Bush 5,054,917 51.13% 47 Democratic Michael Stanley Dukakis 4,702,233 47.56% 0 Libertarian Ron Paul 70,105 0.71% 0 Independent Lenora Fulani 31,180 0.32% 0 American Independent James C. Griffin 27,818 0.28% 0 No party David Duke (write-in) 483 0.00% 0 No party Eugene McCarthy (write-in) 234 0.00% 0 No party Herbert G. Lewin (write-in) 58 0.00% 0 No party Write-in 25 0.00% 0 No party Larry Holmes (write-in) 11 0.00% 0 Invalid or blank votes — Totals 9,887,064 100.00% 47 Voter turnout —

By county

County George H.W. BushRepublican Michael DukakisDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Alameda 162,815 33.99% 310,283 64.78% 5,899 1.23% -147,468 -30.79% 478,997 Alpine 306 55.43% 230 41.67% 16 2.90% 76 13.76% 552 Amador 6,893 55.87% 5,197 42.12% 248 2.01% 1,696 13.75% 12,338 Butte 40,143 56.04% 30,406 42.45% 1,082 1.51% 9,737 13.59% 71,631 Calaveras 7,640 56.28% 5,674 41.80% 260 1.92% 1,966 14.48% 13,574 Colusa 3,077 59.49% 2,022 39.10% 73 1.41% 1,055 20.39% 5,172 Contra Costa 158,652 47.86% 169,411 51.10% 3,448 1.04% -10,759 -3.24% 331,511 Del Norte 3,714 49.73% 3,587 48.03% 167 2.24% 127 1.70% 7,468 El Dorado 30,021 59.33% 19,801 39.13% 781 1.54% 10,220 20.20% 50,603 Fresno 94,835 49.95% 92,635 48.79% 2,400 1.26% 2,200 1.16% 189,870 Glenn 4,944 62.06% 2,894 36.33% 128 1.61% 2,050 25.73% 7,966 Humboldt 21,460 41.15% 29,781 57.11% 905 1.74% -8,321 -15.96% 52,146 Imperial 12,889 55.16% 10,243 43.84% 233 1.00% 2,646 11.32% 23,365 Inyo 5,042 64.34% 2,653 33.85% 142 1.81% 2,389 30.49% 7,837 Kern 90,550 61.48% 55,083 37.40% 1,660 1.12% 35,467 24.08% 147,293 Kings 12,118 56.41% 9,142 42.56% 222 1.03% 2,976 13.85% 21,482 Lake 9,366 48.03% 9,828 50.39% 308 1.58% -462 -2.36% 19,502 Lassen 5,157 58.59% 3,446 39.15% 199 2.26% 1,711 19.44% 8,802 Los Angeles 1,239,716 46.88% 1,372,352 51.89% 32,603 1.23% -132,636 -5.01% 2,644,671 Madera 13,255 54.59% 10,642 43.83% 384 1.58% 2,613 10.76% 24,281 Marin 46,855 39.73% 69,394 58.85% 1,671 1.42% -22,539 -19.12% 117,920 Mariposa 3,768 54.53% 2,998 43.39% 144 2.08% 770 11.14% 6,910 Mendocino 12,979 41.94% 17,152 55.42% 816 2.64% -4,173 -13.48% 30,947 Merced 21,717 51.20% 20,105 47.40% 592 1.40% 1,612 3.80% 42,414 Modoc 2,518 62.68% 1,416 35.25% 83 2.07% 1,102 27.43% 4,017 Mono 2,177 61.38% 1,284 36.20% 86 2.42% 893 25.18% 3,547 Monterey 50,022 49.83% 48,998 48.81% 1,361 1.36% 1,024 1.02% 100,381 Napa 23,235 50.19% 22,283 48.14% 772 1.67% 952 2.05% 46,290 Nevada 21,383 57.76% 14,980 40.46% 660 1.78% 6,403 17.30% 37,023 Orange 586,230 67.75% 269,013 31.09% 10,064 1.16% 317,217 36.66% 865,307 Placer 42,096 59.59% 27,516 38.95% 1,030 1.46% 14,580 20.64% 70,642 Plumas 4,603 51.06% 4,251 47.15% 161 1.79% 352 3.91% 9,015 Riverside 199,979 59.46% 133,122 39.58% 3,247 0.96% 66,857 19.88% 336,348 Sacramento 201,832 51.01% 188,557 47.65% 5,301 1.34% 13,275 3.36% 395,690 San Benito 5,578 54.11% 4,559 44.23% 171 1.66% 1,019 9.88% 10,308 San Bernardino 235,167 59.99% 151,118 38.55% 5,723 1.46% 84,049 21.44% 392,008 San Diego 523,143 60.19% 333,264 38.34% 12,788 1.47% 189,879 21.85% 869,195 San Francisco 72,503 26.14% 201,887 72.78% 3,004 1.08% -129,384 -46.64% 277,394 San Joaquin 75,309 54.39% 61,699 44.56% 1,445 1.05% 13,610 9.83% 138,453 San Luis Obispo 46,613 55.85% 35,667 42.73% 1,187 1.42% 10,946 13.12% 83,467 San Mateo 109,261 42.94% 141,859 55.74% 3,360 1.32% -32,598 -12.80% 254,480 Santa Barbara 77,524 54.24% 63,586 44.48% 1,830 1.28% 13,938 9.76% 142,940 Santa Clara 254,442 46.99% 277,810 51.30% 9,276 1.71% -23,368 -4.31% 541,528 Santa Cruz 37,728 36.77% 63,133 61.53% 1,750 1.70% -25,405 -24.76% 102,611 Shasta 32,402 59.36% 21,171 38.79% 1,012 1.85% 11,231 20.57% 54,585 Sierra 860 50.71% 791 46.64% 45 2.65% 69 4.07% 1,696 Siskiyou 9,056 50.88% 8,365 47.00% 376 2.12% 691 3.88% 17,797 Solano 50,314 47.43% 54,344 51.23% 1,430 1.34% -4,030 -3.80% 106,088 Sonoma 67,725 41.91% 91,262 56.48% 2,596 1.61% -23,537 -14.57% 161,583 Stanislaus 51,648 53.07% 44,685 45.92% 982 1.01% 6,963 7.15% 97,315 Sutter 14,100 67.47% 6,557 31.09% 241 1.14% 7,543 36.38% 20,898 Tehama 9,854 56.52% 7,213 41.37% 367 2.11% 2,641 15.15% 17,434 Trinity 3,267 54.63% 2,518 42.11% 195 3.26% 749 12.52% 5,980 Tulare 46,891 59.61% 30,711 39.04% 1,067 1.35% 16,180 20.57% 78,669 Tuolumne 10,646 54.00% 8,717 44.22% 352 1.78% 1,929 9.78% 19,715 Ventura 147,604 61.64% 89,065 37.19% 2,804 1.17% 58,539 24.45% 239,473 Yolo 22,358 41.89% 30,429 57.01% 585 1.10% -8,071 -15.12% 53,372 Yuba 8,937 61.37% 5,444 37.38% 182 1.25% 3,493 23.99% 14,563Total5,054,91751.13%4,702,23347.56%129,9141.31%352,6843.57%9,887,064

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Humboldt Sonoma Mendocino San Mateo Los Angeles Santa Clara Solano Contra Costa Lake

Results by city +Official outcome by city and unincorporated areas of counties, of which Bush won 323, Dukakis won 180, and 1 tied. City County George BushRepublican Michael DukakisDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total Votes 1984 to 1988