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

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

Dukakis won the election in West Virginia with a 5-point margin. West Virginia weighed in for this election as 13 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. West Virginia would go on to vote for the winning candidate from 1992 to 2004. Since 2008, West Virginia has been considered a safe red state, when it backed a Republican who lost both the electoral college and popular vote. As of 2024, this is the last time a Republican won the presidency without winning West Virginia, and that West Virginia backed a Democrat who lost the presidential election.

The 1988 election cycle was the last time that West Virginia did not vote for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Kentucky. The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for West Virginia, with over 99% of the electorate voting for either the Republican or Democratic parties, and only three candidates appearing on the ballot.

West Virginia was home to a faithless elector in the election of 1988. During the assembly of the electoral college, one elector from West Virginia, Margarette Leach, cast her vote for the Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen as president, and Dukakis as the vice president. She did this in order to draw attention to the lack of accountability for electors under the Electoral College system.

Results 1988 United States presidential election in West VirginiaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Michael Dukakis 341,016 52.20% 5 Republican George H. W. Bush 310,065 47.46% 0 New Alliance Party Lenora Fulani 2,230 0.34% 0 Democratic Lloyd Bentsen 0 0.00% 1 Totals 653,311 100.00% 6

Results by county CountyMichael DukakisDemocraticGeorge H. W. BushRepublicanLenora FulaniNew AllianceMarginTotal votescast # % # % # % # %Barbour 3,221 51.45% 3,023 48.28% 17 0.27% 198 3.17% 6,261Berkeley 6,313 36.84% 10,761 62.80% 61 0.36% -4,448 -25.96% 17,135Boone 6,539 69.97% 2,786 29.81% 20 0.21% 3,753 40.16% 9,345Braxton 3,377 62.27% 2,024 37.32% 22 0.41% 1,353 24.95% 5,423Brooke 6,258 60.72% 4,006 38.87% 42 0.41% 2,252 21.85% 10,306Cabell 15,368 47.05% 17,197 52.65% 97 0.30% -1,829 -5.60% 32,662Calhoun 1,644 53.78% 1,395 45.63% 18 0.59% 249 8.15% 3,057Clay 2,263 59.38% 1,536 40.30% 12 0.31% 727 19.08% 3,811Doddridge 955 33.54% 1,880 66.03% 12 0.42% -925 -32.49% 2,847Fayette 11,009 67.94% 5,143 31.74% 53 0.33% 5,866 36.20% 16,205Gilmer 1,661 54.21% 1,387 45.27% 16 0.52% 274 8.94% 3,064Grant 893 21.62% 3,215 77.85% 22 0.53% -2,322 -56.23% 4,130Greenbrier 6,091 52.87% 5,395 46.83% 35 0.30% 696 6.04% 11,521Hampshire 2,085 38.88% 3,253 60.66% 25 0.47% -1,168 -21.78% 5,363Hancock 8,338 58.39% 5,882 41.19% 60 0.42% 2,456 17.20% 14,280Hardy 1,689 39.39% 2,581 60.19% 18 0.42% -892 -20.80% 4,288Harrison 17,005 55.90% 13,364 43.93% 49 0.16% 3,641 11.97% 30,418Jackson 4,573 44.44% 5,696 55.35% 22 0.21% -1,123 -10.91% 10,291Jefferson 4,334 44.56% 5,349 55.00% 43 0.44% -1,015 -10.44% 9,726Kanawha 41,144 51.73% 38,140 47.95% 258 0.32% 3,004 3.78% 79,542Lewis 3,272 47.37% 3,602 52.14% 34 0.49% -330 -4.77% 6,908Lincoln 5,049 59.20% 3,457 40.53% 23 0.27% 1,592 18.67% 8,529Logan 11,317 72.51% 4,244 27.19% 47 0.30% 7,073 45.32% 15,608Marion 14,441 60.82% 9,229 38.87% 72 0.30% 5,212 21.95% 23,742Marshall 7,903 53.47% 6,793 45.96% 83 0.56% 1,110 7.51% 14,779Mason 5,468 50.51% 5,332 49.26% 25 0.23% 136 1.25% 10,825McDowell 7,204 74.16% 2,463 25.36% 47 0.48% 4,741 48.80% 9,714Mercer 10,152 49.69% 10,221 50.03% 57 0.28% -69 -0.34% 20,430Mineral 4,059 40.14% 6,015 59.49% 37 0.37% -1,956 -19.35% 10,111Mingo 7,429 71.78% 2,896 27.98% 25 0.24% 4,533 43.80% 10,350Monongalia 14,178 53.83% 12,091 45.91% 69 0.26% 2,087 7.92% 26,338Monroe 2,427 46.96% 2,719 52.61% 22 0.43% -292 -5.65% 5,168Morgan 1,545 33.85% 3,002 65.78% 17 0.37% -1,457 -31.93% 4,564Nicholas 5,173 57.89% 3,731 41.75% 32 0.36% 1,442 16.14% 8,936Ohio 10,121 49.18% 10,341 50.25% 116 0.56% -220 -1.07% 20,578Pendleton 1,595 45.53% 1,901 54.27% 7 0.20% -306 -8.74% 3,503Pleasants 1,421 44.59% 1,761 55.26% 5 0.16% -340 -10.67% 3,187Pocahontas 1,958 50.83% 1,876 48.70% 18 0.47% 82 2.13% 3,852Preston 4,357 42.73% 5,804 56.92% 35 0.34% -1,447 -14.19% 10,196Putnam 6,640 44.74% 8,163 55.00% 38 0.26% -1,523 -10.26% 14,841Raleigh 14,302 57.71% 10,395 41.95% 85 0.34% 3,907 15.76% 24,782Randolph 5,233 52.24% 4,746 47.38% 38 0.38% 487 4.86% 10,017Ritchie 1,446 33.33% 2,874 66.25% 18 0.41% -1,428 -32.92% 4,338Roane 2,447 45.89% 2,861 53.66% 24 0.45% -414 -7.77% 5,332Summers 3,072 57.81% 2,231 41.98% 11 0.21% 841 15.83% 5,314Taylor 2,852 50.09% 2,816 49.46% 26 0.46% 36 0.63% 5,694Tucker 1,869 52.25% 1,699 47.50% 9 0.25% 170 4.75% 3,577Tyler 1,501 38.75% 2,365 61.05% 8 0.21% -864 -22.30% 3,874Upshur 3,065 38.83% 4,813 60.97% 16 0.20% -1,748 -22.14% 7,894Wayne 8,621 54.65% 7,123 45.15% 31 0.20% 1,498 9.50% 15,775Webster 2,185 67.92% 1,016 31.58% 16 0.50% 1,169 36.34% 3,217Wetzel 3,928 53.44% 3,381 46.00% 41 0.56% 547 7.44% 7,350Wirt 929 44.97% 1,125 54.45% 12 0.58% -196 -9.48% 2,066Wood 12,959 39.80% 19,450 59.73% 154 0.47% -6,491 -19.93% 32,563Wyoming 6,138 63.38% 3,516 36.31% 30 0.31% 2,622 27.07% 9,684Totals341,01652.20%310,06547.46%2,2300.34%30,9514.74%653,311

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Barbour Calhoun Gilmer Greenbrier Harrison Kanawha Marshall Mason Monongalia Nicholas Pocahontas Raleigh Randolph Summers Taylor Tucker Wayne Wetzel

See also Presidency of George H. W. Bush

Notes

References