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United States · Election results history · 1988 president · Tennessee
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 Tennessee

George H. W. Bush (Republican) beat Michael Dukakis (Democrat) in Tennessee in 1988, 57.9% to 41.5%, a margin of 16.3 points and 267,439 votes.

Tennessee 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 73 of the 95 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 22. The largest, Shelby, cast 308,988 votes and went to the Republican by 2.5 points. The closest was Lauderdale, where 12 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 947,233 57.9%
Michael Dukakis Democratic 679,794 41.5%
All other candidates 9,223 0.6%
Total1,636,250

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Shelby 149,759 48.5% 157,457 51.0% 1,772 308,988 R+2.5
Davidson 89,270 47.2% 98,599 52.2% 1,077 188,946 R+4.9
Knox 41,829 36.2% 73,092 63.3% 600 115,521 R+27.1
Hamilton 40,990 37.4% 68,111 62.1% 608 109,709 R+24.7
Sullivan 17,396 34.1% 32,996 64.7% 585 50,977 R+30.6
Rutherford 12,245 37.3% 20,397 62.2% 159 32,801 R+24.9
Sumner 11,702 37.3% 19,523 62.2% 164 31,389 R+24.9
Washington 10,087 33.8% 19,615 65.6% 185 29,887 R+31.9
Blount 9,602 32.2% 20,027 67.3% 147 29,776 R+35.0
Williamson 7,864 27.3% 20,847 72.3% 112 28,823 R+45.0
Madison 11,001 39.2% 16,952 60.5% 86 28,039 R+21.2
Anderson 9,589 38.7% 15,056 60.7% 143 24,788 R+22.1
Bradley 6,122 27.8% 15,829 71.8% 80 22,031 R+44.1
Montgomery 9,145 41.8% 12,599 57.6% 112 21,856 R+15.8
Wilson 8,360 38.4% 13,317 61.1% 116 21,793 R+22.7
Roane 6,535 37.3% 10,881 62.2% 81 17,497 R+24.8
Greene 5,077 29.6% 11,947 69.7% 108 17,132 R+40.1
Carter 4,634 27.6% 12,036 71.7% 108 16,778 R+44.1
Putnam 6,606 40.6% 9,547 58.6% 132 16,285 R+18.1
Gibson 7,542 47.0% 8,415 52.5% 81 16,038 R+5.4
Sevier 3,643 23.3% 11,920 76.3% 68 15,631 R+53.0
Hamblen 5,061 32.5% 10,418 66.9% 86 15,565 R+34.4
Maury 6,280 42.5% 8,397 56.8% 111 14,788 R+14.3
Hawkins 5,212 35.6% 9,356 63.9% 78 14,646 R+28.3
Coffee 5,686 41.8% 7,837 57.6% 92 13,615 R+15.8
McMinn 4,568 34.9% 8,462 64.7% 48 13,078 R+29.8
Robertson 5,884 50.4% 5,714 49.0% 74 11,672 D+1.5
Cumberland 3,964 34.2% 7,557 65.2% 73 11,594 R+31.0
Lawrence 4,903 43.8% 6,273 56.1% 7 11,183 R+12.3
Franklin 5,442 50.0% 5,381 49.4% 63 10,886 D+0.6
Obion 4,785 44.1% 6,037 55.6% 36 10,858 R+11.5
Loudon 3,480 32.6% 7,122 66.7% 77 10,679 R+34.1
Dickson 5,129 48.7% 5,343 50.7% 64 10,536 R+2.0
Monroe 4,000 38.5% 6,355 61.1% 38 10,393 R+22.7
Dyer 3,690 36.0% 6,508 63.5% 45 10,243 R+27.5
Jefferson 3,168 31.5% 6,832 67.9% 69 10,069 R+36.4
Weakley 4,239 42.4% 5,701 57.1% 49 9,989 R+14.6
Henry 5,138 51.5% 4,784 48.0% 53 9,975 D+3.5
Tipton 3,824 38.6% 6,052 61.0% 42 9,918 R+22.5
Carroll 4,151 42.2% 5,635 57.3% 44 9,830 R+15.1
Campbell 4,188 44.5% 5,197 55.2% 31 9,416 R+10.7
Warren 4,646 50.4% 4,529 49.1% 43 9,218 D+1.3
Bedford 4,046 45.3% 4,856 54.3% 37 8,939 R+9.1
Marion 4,175 48.4% 4,407 51.1% 36 8,618 R+2.7
McNairy 3,510 42.9% 4,625 56.5% 56 8,191 R+13.6
Lincoln 3,672 45.8% 4,288 53.5% 57 8,017 R+7.7
Henderson 2,296 29.4% 5,418 69.3% 105 7,819 R+39.9
Rhea 2,595 33.4% 5,144 66.2% 37 7,776 R+32.8
Cocke 2,115 27.9% 5,430 71.6% 34 7,579 R+43.7
Giles 3,918 52.4% 3,518 47.0% 42 7,478 D+5.3
Cheatham 3,067 42.3% 4,132 57.0% 51 7,250 R+14.7
Hardeman 3,526 49.4% 3,547 49.7% 65 7,138 R+0.3
Hardin 2,808 39.6% 4,252 60.0% 29 7,089 R+20.4
Claiborne 2,977 42.0% 4,071 57.5% 34 7,082 R+15.4
Fayette 3,292 47.6% 3,573 51.6% 56 6,921 R+4.1
Lauderdale 3,296 49.6% 3,308 49.8% 35 6,639 R+0.2
Marshall 2,795 48.3% 2,975 51.4% 21 5,791 R+3.1
Haywood 2,923 51.8% 2,687 47.6% 30 5,640 D+4.2
Unicoi 1,794 32.7% 3,664 66.8% 28 5,486 R+34.1
White 2,562 48.8% 2,646 50.4% 41 5,249 R+1.6
Humphreys 3,037 58.5% 2,132 41.1% 19 5,188 D+17.4
Johnson 1,329 26.2% 3,715 73.1% 35 5,079 R+47.0
Benton 2,826 56.4% 2,167 43.3% 16 5,009 D+13.2
Fentress 1,856 37.2% 3,103 62.2% 33 4,992 R+25.0
Wayne 1,516 30.6% 3,405 68.8% 30 4,951 R+38.2
Hickman 2,643 53.7% 2,246 45.7% 29 4,918 D+8.1
Smith 2,522 53.8% 2,138 45.6% 26 4,686 D+8.2
Dekalb 2,452 53.5% 2,098 45.8% 31 4,581 D+7.7
Chester 1,757 38.6% 2,781 61.1% 17 4,555 R+22.5
Morgan 1,941 42.7% 2,576 56.7% 29 4,546 R+14.0
Macon 1,538 33.9% 2,962 65.4% 31 4,531 R+31.4
Overton 2,511 57.1% 1,873 42.6% 13 4,397 D+14.5
Polk 2,073 47.2% 2,297 52.3% 21 4,391 R+5.1
Scott 1,611 38.4% 2,562 61.1% 20 4,193 R+22.7
Decatur 1,880 44.9% 2,286 54.5% 25 4,191 R+9.7
Grainger 1,423 34.1% 2,734 65.5% 17 4,174 R+31.4
Crockett 1,742 43.9% 2,214 55.8% 14 3,970 R+11.9
Grundy 2,415 62.6% 1,429 37.0% 13 3,857 D+25.6
Union 1,431 40.2% 2,110 59.2% 23 3,564 R+19.1
Cannon 1,726 51.6% 1,604 47.9% 18 3,348 D+3.6
Stewart 1,979 60.0% 1,302 39.5% 15 3,296 D+20.5
Bledsoe 1,274 40.5% 1,858 59.0% 15 3,147 R+18.6
Jackson 1,962 62.4% 1,168 37.2% 14 3,144 D+25.3
Sequatchie 1,196 41.7% 1,659 57.8% 14 2,869 R+16.1
Lewis 1,419 51.4% 1,324 48.0% 18 2,761 D+3.4
Meigs 1,048 40.8% 1,507 58.7% 13 2,568 R+17.9
Clay 1,183 47.5% 1,291 51.8% 19 2,493 R+4.3
Houston 1,467 62.0% 882 37.3% 18 2,367 D+24.7
Trousdale 1,193 54.9% 969 44.6% 11 2,173 D+10.3
Hancock 737 35.4% 1,303 62.6% 42 2,082 R+27.2
Perry 1,208 58.2% 854 41.1% 14 2,076 D+17.1
Pickett 634 36.1% 1,118 63.7% 4 1,756 R+27.6
Lake 935 53.4% 806 46.1% 9 1,750 D+7.4
Van Buren 796 50.4% 780 49.4% 4 1,580 D+1.0
Moore 731 47.8% 786 51.4% 13 1,530 R+3.6

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.

Tennessee in every presidential election we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2024 Donald Trump (R) R+29.7
2020 Donald Trump (R) R+23.2
2016 Donald Trump (R) R+26.0
2012 Mitt Romney (R) R+20.4
2008 John McCain (R) R+15.1
2004 George W. Bush (R) R+14.3
2000 George W. Bush (R) R+3.9
1996 Bill Clinton (D) D+2.4
1992 Bill Clinton (D) D+4.7
1988 George H. W. Bush (R) R+16.3
1984 Ronald Reagan (R) R+16.3
1980 Ronald Reagan (R) R+0.3
1976 Jimmy Carter (D) D+13.0
1972 Richard Nixon (R) R+38.0
1968 Richard Nixon (R) R+9.7
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (D) D+11.0
1960 Richard Nixon (R) R+7.1
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) R+0.6
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) R+0.3
1948 Harry S. Truman (D) D+12.3
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+21.2
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+34.9
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+38.1
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+34.0
1928 Herbert Hoover (R) R+7.7
1924 John W. Davis (D) D+9.2
1920 Warren G. Harding (R) R+3.0
1916 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+13.6
1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+28.8
1908 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+7.0
1904 Alton B. Parker (D) D+11.0
1900 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+8.2
1896 William Jennings Bryan (D) D+5.8
1892 Grover Cleveland (D) D+13.5
1888 Grover Cleveland (D) D+6.5
1884 Grover Cleveland (D) D+3.7
1880 Winfield Scott Hancock (D) D+9.1
1876 Samuel J. Tilden (D) D+19.7
1872 Third party (other)
1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+36.9