The American Vote
Candidate

George H. W. Bush

Republican

Elections
2
Won
1
Electoral votes, all elections
594
Years
1988–1992

Record

George H. W. Bush: result of each presidential election
YearElectoral votesPopular voteResult
1988
426
of 538
48,886,097
53.4%
Won
1992
168
of 538
39,103,872
37.4%
Lost

Popular vote is the sum of the sourced state counts, shown only where every state that held a popular vote has one; sums from county returns (1868–1972) can run a few tenths of a point below national totals published elsewhere.

Electoral votesNational Archives, Electoral College results: 1988, 1992 (public domain, read 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

SourceMIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. President 1976–2024 (CC0 1.0, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

Election by election

1988Republican · Won

States carried · 40 of 51
Closest states won
  1. Illinoisby 94,999 · 2.1 pts
  2. Pennsylvaniaby 105,143 · 2.3 pts
  3. Marylandby 49,863 · 2.9 pts
Closest states lost
  1. WashingtonDukakis by 29,681 · 1.6 pts
  2. WisconsinDukakis by 79,295 · 3.6 pts
  3. New YorkDukakis by 266,011 · 4.1 pts

Margins computed for 51 of 51 states: those with a sourced popular vote that names Bush.

SourceMIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. President 1976–2024 (CC0 1.0, retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

From the National Archives

A West Virginia elector voted for Bentsen as President and Dukakis as Vice President.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1988, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

1992Republican · Lost

States carried · 18 of 51
Closest states won
  1. North Carolinaby 20,619 · 0.8 pts
  2. Floridaby 101,612 · 1.9 pts
  3. Arizonaby 29,036 · 2.0 pts
Closest states lost
  1. GeorgiaClinton by 13,714 · 0.6 pts
  2. New HampshireClinton by 6,556 · 1.2 pts
  3. OhioClinton by 90,632 · 1.8 pts

Margins computed for 51 of 51 states: those with a sourced popular vote that names Bush.

SourcesMIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. President 1976–2024 (CC0 1.0, retrieved 2026-10-03); Federal Election Commission, Federal Elections 92 (Public domain (work of the U.S. government, 17 U.S.C. § 105), retrieved 2026-10-03). How these figures were compiled

From the National Archives

Independent candidate H. Ross Perot received 19,741,065 popular votes for President, but no electoral votes.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1992, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

Stories from these elections