United States · Election results history · 1988 president · Washington

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 Washington

Michael Dukakis (Democrat) beat George H. W. Bush (Republican) in Washington in 1988, 50.0% to 48.5%, a margin of 1.6 points and 29,681 votes.

Washington voted 9.3 points more Democratic than the country as a whole, where the margin was R+7.7.

Washington changed party: in 1984 it went Republican, for Ronald Reagan.

Republicans led in 21 of the 39 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 17. The largest, King, cast 648,957 votes and went to the Democrat by 9.1 points. The closest was Klickitat, where 71 votes separated the two parties.

United States

Results

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Or set the national mood Turnout

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
Michael Dukakis won	Democratic	933,516	50.0%
George H. W. Bush	Republican	903,835	48.5%
All other candidates		27,902	1.5%
Total		1,865,253

Every county

County	Democrat	Republican	Others	Total	Margin
King	349,663 53.9%	290,574 44.8%	8,720	648,957	D+9.1
Pierce	96,688 49.7%	94,167 48.4%	3,618	194,473	D+1.3
Snohomish	80,694 48.3%	84,158 50.3%	2,313	167,165	R+2.1
Spokane	68,520 49.2%	68,787 49.4%	1,843	139,150	R+0.2
Clark	40,021 51.1%	37,285 47.6%	1,000	78,306	D+3.5
Kitsap	33,748 48.5%	34,743 49.9%	1,158	69,649	R+1.4
Thurston	33,860 50.6%	31,980 47.8%	1,090	66,930	D+2.8
Yakima	23,221 43.1%	30,026 55.7%	663	53,910	R+12.6
Whatcom	25,571 51.0%	23,820 47.6%	703	50,094	D+3.5
Benton	14,817 33.7%	28,688 65.2%	511	44,016	R+31.5
Skagit	15,159 46.8%	16,550 51.1%	692	32,401	R+4.3
Cowlitz	16,090 56.5%	12,009 42.2%	366	28,465	D+14.3
Grays Harbor	14,097 60.3%	8,860 37.9%	434	23,391	D+22.4
Lewis	8,629 37.1%	14,184 61.0%	425	23,238	R+23.9
Clallam	11,123 48.8%	11,200 49.1%	471	22,794	R+0.3
Island	8,510 39.9%	12,552 58.8%	291	21,353	R+18.9
Chelan	8,183 40.8%	11,601 57.8%	281	20,065	R+17.0
Grant	7,564 40.2%	10,859 57.8%	376	18,799	R+17.5
Walla Walla	7,448 42.8%	9,683 55.6%	272	17,403	R+12.8
Mason	7,826 50.3%	7,426 47.8%	293	15,545	D+2.6
Whitman	7,403 48.3%	7,680 50.1%	250	15,333	R+1.8
Stevens	5,068 42.4%	6,576 55.0%	318	11,962	R+12.6
Okanogan	5,630 48.0%	5,856 49.9%	254	11,740	R+1.9
Franklin	4,772 41.7%	6,488 56.7%	192	11,452	R+15.0
Kittitas	5,318 50.7%	5,048 48.1%	130	10,496	D+2.6
Jefferson	5,270 54.7%	4,184 43.4%	182	9,636	D+11.3
Douglas	3,760 40.7%	5,378 58.2%	109	9,247	R+17.5
Pacific	5,017 61.2%	3,073 37.5%	110	8,200	D+23.7
Asotin	3,422 53.6%	2,874 45.0%	88	6,384	D+8.6
Klickitat	2,991 49.1%	2,920 48.0%	175	6,086	D+1.2
San Juan	3,008 51.7%	2,660 45.8%	146	5,814	D+6.0
Lincoln	1,884 40.6%	2,689 57.9%	72	4,645	R+17.3
Adams	1,612 37.6%	2,612 60.9%	64	4,288	R+23.3
Pend Oreille	1,925 50.7%	1,802 47.5%	67	3,794	D+3.2
Skamania	1,748 55.3%	1,356 42.9%	58	3,162	D+12.4
Ferry	972 48.1%	972 48.1%	77	2,021	level
Columbia	730 37.6%	1,172 60.3%	42	1,944	R+22.7
Wahkiakum	961 59.1%	629 38.7%	36	1,626	D+20.4
Garfield	593 45.0%	714 54.1%	12	1,319	R+9.2

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.

Washington in every presidential election we hold

Year	Winner	Margin
2024	Kamala Harris (D)	D+18.2
2020	Joe Biden (D)	D+19.2
2016	Hillary Clinton (D)	D+15.7
2012	Barack Obama (D)	D+14.9
2008	Barack Obama (D)	D+17.2
2004	John Kerry (D)	D+7.2
2000	Al Gore (D)	D+5.6
1996	Bill Clinton (D)	D+12.5
1992	Bill Clinton (D)	D+11.4
1988	Michael Dukakis (D)	D+1.6
1984	Ronald Reagan (R)	R+13.5
1980	Ronald Reagan (R)	R+12.3
1976	Gerald Ford (R)	R+3.9
1972	Richard Nixon (R)	R+18.3
1968	Hubert Humphrey (D)	D+2.1
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson (D)	D+24.6
1960	Richard Nixon (R)	R+2.4
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)	R+8.5
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)	R+9.6
1948	Harry S. Truman (D)	D+9.8
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+14.6
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+17.6
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+36.5
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	D+23.5
1928	Herbert Hoover (R)	R+35.7
1924	Calvin Coolidge (R)	R+42.1
1920	Warren G. Harding (R)	R+34.8
1916	Woodrow Wilson (D)	D+4.2
1912	Theodore Roosevelt (other)
1908	William Howard Taft (R)	R+25.8
1904	Theodore Roosevelt (R)	R+50.6
1900	William McKinley (R)	R+11.7
1896	William Jennings Bryan (D)	D+15.1
1892	Benjamin Harrison (R)	R+7.6

1988 presidential election in Washington

Result

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Washington in every presidential election we hold

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