The 1988 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 8, 1988. All fifty states and

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, were part of the

1988 United States presidential election The 1988 United States presidential election was the 51st quadrennial presidential election held on Tuesday, November 8, 1988. The Republican nominee, incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, defeated the Democratic nominee, Governor Michael ...

. Voters chose seven electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. Kansas was won by incumbent United States Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

of Texas, who was running against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Bush ran with Indiana

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Dan Quayle as Vice President, and Dukakis ran with Texas

Lloyd Bentsen Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ti ...

. Kansas weighed in for this election as 2 points more Republican than the national average. The presidential election of 1988 was a very

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

election for Kansas, with over 98 percent of the electorate voting for either the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

or Republican parties, and only four political parties appearing on the ballot. Voters from every county in Kansas turned out for the Republican Party, except for three, the largest example being

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

's Wyandotte County, which voted primarily Democratic. , this is the last time Douglas County voted for a Republican presidential candidate,Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 or that Kansas voted to the left of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Crawford County since William McKinley in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, and the first to do so without carrying Ellis County since Herbert Hoover in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

. Bush won the election in Kansas with a 13-point win, although compared to most previous Republican performances in Kansas this was an underwhelming triumph due to the influence of an ongoing drought and farm crisis. The election results in Kansas are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party, which took place through the 1980s. Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs, spearheaded by then President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

(called, collectively, " Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980s saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark of Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy. Dukakis ran on a socially liberal platform, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, contrarily, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan – which gained him much support with

social conservatives Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

and people living in rural areas. Additionally, while the economic programs passed under Reagan, and furthered under Bush and Bill Clinton, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

Ellis Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A * Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ' ...

References

{{1988 United States elections Kansas

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1988 Kansas elections

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References