Election 1988 Results
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1988 presidential election in New Jersey
George H. W. Bush (Republican) beat Michael Dukakis (Democrat) in New Jersey in 1988, 56.2% to 42.6%, a margin of 13.6 points and 422,840 votes.
New Jersey voted 5.9 points more Republican than the country as a whole, where the margin was R+7.7.
The Republican hold continued from 1984, when Ronald Reagan won.
Republicans led in 18 of the 21 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 3. The largest, Bergen, cast 389,933 votes and went to the Republican by 17.0 points. The closest was Mercer, where 3,328 votes separated the two parties.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
Result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| George H. W. Bush won | Republican | 1,743,192 | 56.2% |
| Michael Dukakis | Democratic | 1,320,352 | 42.6% |
| All other candidates | 36,009 | 1.2% | |
| Total | 3,099,553 |
Every county
| County | Democrat | Republican | Others | Total | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen | 160,655 41.2% | 226,885 58.2% | 2,393 | 389,933 | R+17.0 |
| Essex | 156,098 56.4% | 111,491 40.3% | 9,378 | 276,967 | D+16.1 |
| Middlesex | 117,149 44.4% | 143,422 54.3% | 3,548 | 264,119 | R+9.9 |
| Monmouth | 91,844 38.1% | 147,320 61.1% | 1,793 | 240,957 | R+23.0 |
| Union | 93,158 44.8% | 112,967 54.3% | 2,028 | 208,153 | R+9.5 |
| Camden | 90,704 47.1% | 100,072 52.0% | 1,739 | 192,515 | R+4.9 |
| Ocean | 64,474 33.8% | 124,587 65.4% | 1,497 | 190,558 | R+31.5 |
| Morris | 58,721 31.4% | 127,420 68.0% | 1,108 | 187,249 | R+36.7 |
| Hudson | 98,507 53.4% | 84,334 45.7% | 1,622 | 184,463 | D+7.7 |
| Passaic | 66,254 42.1% | 88,070 55.9% | 3,189 | 157,513 | R+13.9 |
| Burlington | 61,140 40.8% | 87,416 58.3% | 1,393 | 149,949 | R+17.5 |
| Mercer | 68,712 50.8% | 65,384 48.3% | 1,249 | 135,345 | D+2.5 |
| Somerset | 37,406 35.2% | 67,658 63.7% | 1,129 | 106,193 | R+28.5 |
| Gloucester | 35,479 40.3% | 51,708 58.7% | 930 | 88,117 | R+18.4 |
| Atlantic | 34,047 42.9% | 44,748 56.3% | 647 | 79,442 | R+13.5 |
| Sussex | 13,676 27.3% | 36,086 71.9% | 398 | 50,160 | R+44.7 |
| Cumberland | 21,869 45.2% | 26,024 53.8% | 456 | 48,349 | R+8.6 |
| Hunterdon | 13,758 29.8% | 31,907 69.1% | 517 | 46,182 | R+39.3 |
| Cape May | 15,105 34.2% | 28,738 65.1% | 274 | 44,117 | R+30.9 |
| Warren | 11,640 34.6% | 21,715 64.5% | 311 | 33,666 | R+29.9 |
| Salem | 9,956 38.9% | 15,240 59.5% | 410 | 25,606 | R+20.6 |
Counties as they stood in 1988; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.
New Jersey in every presidential election we hold
| Year | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kamala Harris (D) | D+5.9 |
| 2020 | Joe Biden (D) | D+15.9 |
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton (D) | D+14.1 |
| 2012 | Barack Obama (D) | D+17.8 |
| 2008 | Barack Obama (D) | D+15.6 |
| 2004 | John Kerry (D) | D+6.7 |
| 2000 | Al Gore (D) | D+15.8 |
| 1996 | Bill Clinton (D) | D+17.9 |
| 1992 | Bill Clinton (D) | D+2.4 |
| 1988 | George H. W. Bush (R) | R+13.6 |
| 1984 | Ronald Reagan (R) | R+20.9 |
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan (R) | R+13.4 |
| 1976 | Gerald Ford (R) | R+2.2 |
| 1972 | Richard Nixon (R) | R+24.8 |
| 1968 | Richard Nixon (R) | R+2.1 |
| 1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson (D) | D+31.7 |
| 1960 | John F. Kennedy (D) | D+0.8 |
| 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | R+30.5 |
| 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | R+14.8 |
| 1948 | Thomas E. Dewey (R) | R+4.4 |
| 1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | D+1.4 |
| 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | D+3.6 |
| 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | D+20.0 |
| 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | D+1.9 |
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover (R) | R+20.0 |
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge (R) | R+34.8 |
| 1920 | Warren G. Harding (R) | R+39.2 |
| 1916 | Charles Evans Hughes (R) | R+11.7 |
| 1912 | Woodrow Wilson (D) | D+20.7 |
| 1908 | William Howard Taft (R) | R+17.7 |
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt (R) | R+18.6 |
| 1900 | William McKinley (R) | R+14.2 |
| 1896 | William McKinley (R) | R+23.6 |
| 1892 | Grover Cleveland (D) | D+4.4 |
| 1888 | Grover Cleveland (D) | D+2.4 |
| 1884 | Grover Cleveland (D) | D+1.7 |
| 1880 | Winfield Scott Hancock (D) | D+0.8 |
| 1876 | Samuel J. Tilden (D) | D+5.7 |
| 1872 | Ulysses S. Grant (R) | R+9.0 |
| 1868 | Horatio Seymour (D) | D+1.8 |