The 1988 United States presidential election in South Dakota took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and
the District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
, 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 three electors to the
Electoral College, which selected the
president and
vice president.
South Dakota 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 Dan Quayle as Vice President, and Dukakis ran with
Texas Senator
The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent polit ...
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 ...
.
South Dakota weighed in for this election as 1.5% more
Democratic than the national average. This is the last of only four elections since statehood when South Dakota has voted more Democratic than the national average, an anomaly probably caused by the persistent crisis in the United States'
farming sector during the decade.
Bush won the election in South Dakota with a 6-point margin. While South Dakota tends to lean conservative, the election results in South Dakota are also reflective of a nationwide political reconsolidation of the 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 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 South Dakota, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the
Republican or the
Democratic parties, and only five candidates appearing on the ballot.
While most
counties turned out in this election for Bush, the highly populated centers of
Brown County and
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...
's
Minnehaha County
Minnehaha County is a county on the eastern border of the state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 197,214, making it the state's most populous county. It contains over 20% of the state's population. Its county seat is S ...
, voted in majority for Dukakis. Dukakis ran his campaign on a
socially liberal platform, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, alternatively, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of then-President Reagan, which gained him much support with
social and economic conservatives.
Results
Results by county
See also
*
Presidency of George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush's tenure as the 41st president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1989, and ended on January 20, 1993. Bush was a Republican from Texas and the incumbent vice president for two terms under pre ...
*
United States presidential elections in South Dakota
Notes
References
{{1988 United States elections
South Dakota
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 South Dakota elections