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United States · Election results history · 1988 president · South 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 South Carolina

George H. W. Bush (Republican) beat Michael Dukakis (Democrat) in South Carolina in 1988, 61.5% to 37.6%, a margin of 23.9 points and 235,889 votes.

South Carolina voted 16.2 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 34 of the 46 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 12. The largest, Greenville, cast 95,126 votes and went to the Republican by 42.2 points. The closest was Abbeville, where 109 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 606,443 61.5%
Michael Dukakis Democratic 370,554 37.6%
All other candidates 9,012 0.9%
Total986,009

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Greenville 27,188 28.6% 67,371 70.8% 567 95,126 R+42.2
Richland 36,420 43.8% 43,841 52.7% 2,862 83,123 R+8.9
Charleston 32,977 39.8% 49,149 59.3% 790 82,916 R+19.5
Spartanburg 22,964 35.6% 40,801 63.2% 803 64,568 R+27.6
Lexington 11,366 21.3% 41,467 77.9% 405 53,238 R+56.5
Aiken 10,598 27.5% 27,665 71.8% 244 38,507 R+44.3
Horry 13,316 34.7% 24,843 64.7% 250 38,409 R+30.0
Anderson 12,281 32.0% 25,939 67.6% 163 38,383 R+35.6
York 11,458 34.4% 21,657 65.0% 193 33,308 R+30.6
Florence 12,531 38.9% 19,490 60.5% 193 32,214 R+21.6
Orangeburg 14,655 52.2% 13,281 47.3% 113 28,049 D+4.9
Berkeley 9,312 35.4% 16,779 63.8% 206 26,297 R+28.4
Beaufort 8,691 34.7% 16,184 64.7% 146 25,021 R+29.9
Pickens 6,103 25.8% 17,448 73.6% 145 23,696 R+47.9
Sumter 9,502 41.7% 13,161 57.7% 138 22,801 R+16.0
Dorchester 7,371 33.2% 14,756 66.4% 105 22,232 R+33.2
Darlington 7,625 42.7% 9,854 55.2% 364 17,843 R+12.5
Greenwood 6,511 41.5% 9,096 57.9% 97 15,704 R+16.5
Laurens 5,930 37.8% 9,731 62.0% 41 15,702 R+24.2
Lancaster 6,181 40.2% 9,152 59.5% 60 15,393 R+19.3
Oconee 4,299 29.5% 10,184 69.8% 102 14,585 R+40.3
Kershaw 4,494 33.4% 8,877 65.9% 102 13,473 R+32.5
Williamsburg 7,343 55.1% 5,914 44.4% 67 13,324 D+10.7
Georgetown 5,402 43.2% 7,032 56.2% 72 12,506 R+13.0
Cherokee 4,322 35.6% 7,763 63.9% 66 12,151 R+28.3
Union 4,420 42.2% 6,019 57.5% 26 10,465 R+15.3
Newberry 3,825 37.1% 6,427 62.4% 53 10,305 R+25.2
Chesterfield 4,699 48.3% 4,999 51.4% 37 9,735 R+3.1
Colleton 4,508 47.2% 4,962 52.0% 77 9,547 R+4.8
Marion 5,008 52.8% 4,403 46.4% 75 9,486 D+6.4
Clarendon 5,030 53.5% 4,337 46.2% 30 9,397 D+7.4
Chester 3,737 48.2% 3,968 51.2% 43 7,748 R+3.0
Abbeville 3,629 49.0% 3,738 50.5% 34 7,401 R+1.5
Barnwell 2,564 36.2% 4,467 63.1% 44 7,075 R+26.9
Dillon 3,251 46.0% 3,793 53.7% 25 7,069 R+7.7
Marlboro 3,937 57.3% 2,921 42.5% 12 6,870 D+14.8
Edgefield 3,020 44.0% 3,814 55.6% 29 6,863 R+11.6
Fairfield 3,827 58.1% 2,714 41.2% 42 6,583 D+16.9
Lee 3,423 53.8% 2,936 46.2% 6,359 D+7.7
Hampton 3,435 54.5% 2,826 44.8% 45 6,306 D+9.7
Bamberg 2,830 53.9% 2,403 45.7% 22 5,255 D+8.1
Saluda 1,984 37.9% 3,225 61.6% 23 5,232 R+23.7
Jasper 2,894 58.7% 2,004 40.7% 31 4,929 D+18.1
Calhoun 2,175 45.4% 2,585 54.0% 27 4,787 R+8.6
Allendale 1,796 57.7% 1,295 41.6% 23 3,114 D+16.1
McCormick 1,722 59.1% 1,172 40.2% 20 2,914 D+18.9

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.

South Carolina in every presidential election we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2024 Donald Trump (R) R+17.9
2020 Donald Trump (R) R+11.7
2016 Donald Trump (R) R+14.3
2012 Mitt Romney (R) R+10.5
2008 John McCain (R) R+9.0
2004 George W. Bush (R) R+17.1
2000 George W. Bush (R) R+16.0
1996 Bob Dole (R) R+5.8
1992 George H. W. Bush (R) R+8.1
1988 George H. W. Bush (R) R+23.9
1984 Ronald Reagan (R) R+28.0
1980 Ronald Reagan (R) R+1.2
1976 Jimmy Carter (D) D+13.0
1972 Richard Nixon (R) R+42.7
1968 Richard Nixon (R) R+8.5
1964 Barry Goldwater (R) R+17.8
1960 John F. Kennedy (D) D+2.5
1956 Adlai Stevenson II (D) D+20.2
1952 Adlai Stevenson II (D) D+1.4
1948 Strom Thurmond (other)
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+83.2
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+91.3
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+97.1
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+96.1
1928 Al Smith (D) D+82.9
1924 John W. Davis (D) D+94.4
1920 James M. Cox (D) D+92.1
1916 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+94.3
1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+94.8
1908 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+87.9
1904 Alton B. Parker (D) D+90.7
1900 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+86.1
1896 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+71.8
1892 Grover Cleveland (D) D+58.6
1888 Grover Cleveland (D) D+65.1
1884 Grover Cleveland (D) D+51.8
1880 Winfield Scott Hancock (D) D+31.7
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes (R) R+0.5
1872 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+52.0
1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+15.9