Who won Tennessee in the 1988 presidential election?

Bush (Republican) carried Tennessee in 1988, winning its 11 electoral votes.

How many electoral votes did Tennessee have in 1988?

Tennessee cast 11 electoral votes in the 1988 presidential election.

Did Tennessee vote for the national winner in 1988?

Yes. Tennessee backed George H. W. Bush, who won the presidency that year.

Cold War RealignmentTN · 11 EV

1988

Tennessee: Bush carries 11 EV.

Tennessee cast its 11 electoral votes for Bush (Republican). National winner: George H. W. Bush (Republican) — Tennessee voted with the national winner this cycle.

Reading the 1988 result in Tennessee

Tennessee backed Bush (Republican) in the 1988 presidential election, casting 11 electoral votes for the ticket. Tennessee ended up on the winning side — George H. W. Bush captured the White House that year.

It marked the 3rd consecutive election in which Tennessee backed the Republican party, a streak reaching back to 1980. Tennessee did not move alone — neighboring Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri broke the same way in 1988. Across the 57 presidential elections Tennessee has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (24 times). The vote fell within the Cold War Realignment — Nixon, Reagan, and the Republican South.

In the national count, George H. W. Bush took 426 of the 538 electoral votes, against Michael Dukakis's 111. George H. W. Bush led the national popular vote with 53.37% of the ballots cast.

The 1988 national map

Tennessee full history →