The American Vote
Cold War RealignmentWI · 11 EV

1988

Wisconsin: Dukakis carries 11 EV.
Wisconsin cast its 11 electoral votes for Dukakis (Democratic). National winner: George H. W. Bush (Republican) — Wisconsin voted against the national winner this cycle.

Reading the 1988 result in Wisconsin

Wisconsin backed Dukakis (Democratic) in the 1988 presidential election, casting 11 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — George H. W. Bush (Republican) won the presidency, leaving Wisconsin among the states he did not carry.

Dukakis's win closed out Wisconsin's 2-election run of voting Republican. The region divided — Minnesota and Iowa joined Wisconsin for the Democratic ticket, while Illinois and Michigan did not. Across the 45 presidential elections Wisconsin has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Republican 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
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Wisconsin in nearby cycles