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United States · Election results history · 1988 president · North Carolina
Election 1988 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1988 presidential election in North Carolina

George H. W. Bush (Republican) beat Michael Dukakis (Democrat) in North Carolina in 1988, 58.0% to 41.7%, a margin of 16.3 points and 347,091 votes.

North Carolina voted 8.6 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 71 of the 100 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 29. The largest, Mecklenburg, cast 178,796 votes and went to the Republican by 19.2 points. The closest was Vance, where 6 votes separated the two parties.

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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

CandidatePartyVotesShare
George H. W. Bush won Republican 1,237,258 58.0%
Michael Dukakis Democratic 890,167 41.7%
All other candidates 6,945 0.3%
Total2,134,370

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Mecklenburg 71,907 40.2% 106,236 59.4% 653 178,796 R+19.2
Wake 61,352 42.8% 81,613 56.9% 539 143,504 R+14.1
Guilford 50,351 42.9% 66,060 56.3% 821 117,232 R+13.4
Forsyth 39,726 40.6% 57,688 59.0% 321 97,735 R+18.4
Durham 35,441 53.8% 29,928 45.4% 514 65,883 D+8.4
Buncombe 26,964 42.1% 36,828 57.6% 200 63,992 R+15.4
Cumberland 23,789 46.7% 27,057 53.1% 133 50,979 R+6.4
Gaston 14,582 29.5% 34,775 70.3% 94 49,451 R+40.8
Catawba 12,922 30.9% 28,872 69.0% 44 41,838 R+38.1
Davidson 13,215 31.7% 28,374 68.1% 73 41,662 R+36.4
New Hanover 15,401 39.2% 23,807 60.6% 105 39,313 R+21.4
Orange 22,326 60.2% 14,503 39.1% 238 37,067 D+21.1
Alamance 12,642 34.3% 24,131 65.5% 78 36,851 R+31.2
Rowan 12,127 34.2% 23,192 65.5% 97 35,416 R+31.2
Cabarrus 10,686 32.1% 22,524 67.7% 74 33,284 R+35.6
Pitt 14,777 44.6% 18,245 55.1% 105 33,127 R+10.5
Randolph 8,641 26.5% 23,881 73.3% 49 32,571 R+46.8
Iredell 10,530 32.8% 21,536 67.0% 69 32,135 R+34.2
Henderson 9,338 32.1% 19,711 67.7% 76 29,125 R+35.6
Robeson 16,988 62.9% 9,908 36.7% 104 27,000 D+26.2
Burke 10,848 40.4% 15,933 59.4% 38 26,819 R+19.0
Rockingham 11,551 44.1% 14,591 55.8% 22 26,164 R+11.6
Union 8,820 34.1% 17,015 65.7% 61 25,896 R+31.6
Nash 8,740 35.4% 15,906 64.3% 76 24,722 R+29.0
Wayne 9,135 37.3% 15,292 62.5% 47 24,474 R+25.2
Cleveland 10,321 42.3% 14,039 57.5% 37 24,397 R+15.2
Johnston 8,717 35.8% 15,563 64.0% 49 24,329 R+28.1
Caldwell 7,862 34.1% 15,176 65.8% 33 23,071 R+31.7
Wilkes 7,230 32.1% 15,231 67.7% 53 22,514 R+35.5
Moore 7,642 34.3% 14,543 65.4% 63 22,248 R+31.0
Onslow 7,162 36.8% 12,253 62.9% 73 19,488 R+26.1
Craven 7,313 37.7% 12,057 62.1% 47 19,417 R+24.4
Wilson 8,214 42.7% 10,997 57.1% 46 19,257 R+14.5
Surry 7,245 38.8% 11,393 61.1% 22 18,660 R+22.2
Stanly 6,627 35.8% 11,885 64.1% 20 18,532 R+28.4
Lenoir 7,649 41.7% 10,669 58.1% 35 18,353 R+16.5
Lincoln 6,444 35.5% 11,651 64.3% 35 18,130 R+28.7
Haywood 9,010 50.0% 8,957 49.7% 61 18,028 D+0.3
Carteret 6,859 38.1% 11,076 61.6% 59 17,994 R+23.4
Brunswick 7,881 43.9% 10,007 55.8% 51 17,939 R+11.9
Rutherford 6,926 40.0% 10,337 59.7% 43 17,306 R+19.7
Harnett 7,259 42.6% 9,749 57.2% 21 17,029 R+14.6
Sampson 8,009 48.4% 8,524 51.5% 22 16,555 R+3.1
Halifax 8,726 53.8% 7,462 46.0% 23 16,211 D+7.8
Edgecombe 9,044 56.8% 6,831 42.9% 41 15,916 D+13.9
Columbus 9,172 57.8% 6,659 41.9% 51 15,882 D+15.8
Watauga 6,048 40.9% 8,662 58.6% 75 14,785 R+17.7
Chatham 7,600 51.9% 6,999 47.8% 40 14,639 D+4.1
Stokes 5,319 38.0% 8,661 61.8% 32 14,012 R+23.9
Beaufort 5,352 39.4% 8,190 60.4% 28 13,570 R+20.9
Richmond 7,151 58.3% 5,073 41.4% 33 12,257 D+17.0
Alexander 4,148 34.1% 7,968 65.6% 38 12,154 R+31.4
Duplin 5,945 50.7% 5,774 49.2% 7 11,726 D+1.5
Lee 4,231 37.2% 7,104 62.5% 36 11,371 R+25.3
Transylvania 4,280 37.8% 7,009 61.9% 41 11,330 R+24.1
Vance 5,631 49.9% 5,625 49.9% 20 11,276 D+0.1
Davie 3,166 28.3% 7,988 71.4% 38 11,192 R+43.1
Yadkin 3,195 28.7% 7,918 71.1% 24 11,137 R+42.4
McDowell 4,449 40.5% 6,526 59.3% 22 10,997 R+18.9
Franklin 5,438 49.6% 5,499 50.2% 23 10,960 R+0.6
Granville 5,280 50.6% 4,880 46.7% 279 10,439 D+3.8
Jackson 4,933 48.7% 5,166 51.0% 24 10,123 R+2.3
Ashe 4,034 40.0% 6,019 59.7% 30 10,083 R+19.7
Macon 3,773 38.4% 6,026 61.4% 17 9,816 R+23.0
Pender 4,377 46.9% 4,926 52.8% 20 9,323 R+5.9
Bladen 5,031 57.1% 3,770 42.8% 13 8,814 D+14.3
Person 3,777 43.8% 4,832 56.0% 19 8,628 R+12.2
Montgomery 3,995 46.8% 4,504 52.8% 31 8,530 R+6.0
Dare 2,806 34.8% 5,234 64.8% 31 8,071 R+30.1
Yancey 3,803 47.5% 4,160 52.0% 37 8,000 R+4.5
Hertford 4,943 62.3% 2,977 37.5% 10 7,930 D+24.8
Pasquotank 3,860 48.9% 4,006 50.8% 26 7,892 R+1.8
Anson 4,831 63.3% 2,782 36.4% 20 7,633 D+26.8
Caswell 4,189 55.8% 3,299 43.9% 21 7,509 D+11.9
Cherokee 2,567 35.9% 4,557 63.8% 21 7,145 R+27.9
Scotland 3,865 54.6% 3,199 45.2% 20 7,084 D+9.4
Northampton 4,599 65.4% 2,415 34.3% 19 7,033 D+31.1
Martin 3,598 53.3% 3,149 46.6% 9 6,756 D+6.6
Madison 3,033 46.6% 3,453 53.1% 20 6,506 R+6.5
Warren 4,249 66.1% 2,163 33.6% 17 6,429 D+32.4
Polk 2,534 39.5% 3,874 60.3% 15 6,423 R+20.9
Mitchell 1,377 22.9% 4,620 76.8% 17 6,014 R+53.9
Bertie 3,762 63.6% 2,145 36.2% 12 5,919 D+27.3
Avery 1,367 24.1% 4,277 75.3% 34 5,678 R+51.3
Hoke 3,281 61.5% 2,020 37.9% 32 5,333 D+23.6
Greene 2,729 52.1% 2,498 47.7% 11 5,238 D+4.4
Washington 2,806 56.1% 2,186 43.7% 12 5,004 D+12.4
Pamlico 2,188 48.6% 2,297 51.0% 21 4,506 R+2.4
Alleghany 2,087 48.9% 2,174 51.0% 3 4,264 R+2.0
Currituck 1,555 38.8% 2,443 61.0% 8 4,006 R+22.2
Chowan 1,756 48.1% 1,884 51.6% 14 3,654 R+3.5
Swain 1,821 50.2% 1,795 49.5% 9 3,625 D+0.7
Jones 1,946 54.0% 1,649 45.8% 7 3,602 D+8.2
Gates 2,024 58.1% 1,451 41.6% 10 3,485 D+16.4
Clay 1,289 37.0% 2,174 62.5% 17 3,480 R+25.4
Graham 1,313 38.4% 2,091 61.2% 15 3,419 R+22.8
Perquimans 1,543 46.2% 1,781 53.3% 16 3,340 R+7.1
Hyde 1,316 58.1% 940 41.5% 8 2,264 D+16.6
Camden 1,081 48.1% 1,144 50.9% 24 2,249 R+2.8
Tyrrell 785 55.1% 637 44.7% 3 1,425 D+10.4

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.

North Carolina in every presidential election we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2024 Donald Trump (R) R+3.2
2020 Donald Trump (R) R+1.3
2016 Donald Trump (R) R+3.7
2012 Mitt Romney (R) R+2.0
2008 Barack Obama (D) D+0.3
2004 George W. Bush (R) R+12.4
2000 George W. Bush (R) R+12.8
1996 Bob Dole (R) R+4.7
1992 George H. W. Bush (R) R+0.8
1988 George H. W. Bush (R) R+16.3
1984 Ronald Reagan (R) R+24.0
1980 Ronald Reagan (R) R+2.1
1976 Jimmy Carter (D) D+11.0
1972 Richard Nixon (R) R+40.6
1968 Richard Nixon (R) R+10.3
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (D) D+12.3
1960 John F. Kennedy (D) D+4.2
1956 Adlai Stevenson II (D) D+1.3
1952 Adlai Stevenson II (D) D+7.8
1948 Harry S. Truman (D) D+25.3
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+33.4
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+48.1
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+46.8
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+40.6
1928 Herbert Hoover (R) R+9.9
1924 John W. Davis (D) D+19.2
1920 James M. Cox (D) D+13.5
1916 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+16.4
1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+47.3
1908 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+8.7
1904 Alton B. Parker (D) D+20.0
1900 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+8.5
1896 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+5.8
1892 Grover Cleveland (D) D+11.6
1888 Grover Cleveland (D) D+4.6
1884 Grover Cleveland (D) D+6.7
1880 Winfield Scott Hancock (D) D+3.6
1876 Samuel J. Tilden (D) D+7.2
1872 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+14.5
1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+6.8