United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1988

Main article: United States presidential election, 1988

United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1988

November 8, 1988

150px Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 16 0 Popular vote 1,743,192 1,320,352 Percentage 56.24% 42.60%

County Results   Dukakis—50-60%   Bush—50-60%   Bush—60-70%   Bush—70-80%

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President George H. W. Bush Republican

The 1988 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. New Jersey voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the President and Vice President.

New Jersey was won by incumbent Republican Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who was running against Democratic Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle while Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush carried New Jersey with 56.24% of the vote, while Dukakis received 42.60%, a 13.64% margin of victory.

New Jersey weighed in for this election as almost 6% more Republican than the national average.

Bush won 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties, with Dukakis only winning the heavily Democratic counties of Mercer County, Essex County, and Hudson County. This remains the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate has won Union County, Middlesex County, Burlington County, Camden County, Gloucester County, Cumberland County, and Atlantic County. All of these counties would become reliably Democratic in every election that has followed as suburban voters shifted away from the GOP in the 1990s. Consequently, this would also be the last time that New Jersey as a whole would cast its electoral votes for a Republican presidential nominee, and New Jersey would subsequently become regarded as a solid blue state in modern elections.

Partisan background

International policy with the buckling Soviet Union was a critical component of the political landscape in the late 1980s. Vice President Bush can be seen here standing with then United States President Ronald Reagan and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, on the New York waterfront, 1988.

The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for New Jersey, with more than 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, though a total of 11 parties did appear on the ballot.

Republican victory

Bush won the election in New Jersey with a strong 13.6 point margin. This is the most recent presidential election where New Jersey sent Republican electors to the Electoral College. The election results in New Jersey are reflective of a nationwide political re-consolidation of base for the Republican Party, which took place in the through the 1980s. Through the passage of some very controversial economic programs, spearheaded by then President Ronald Reagan (called, collectively, "Reaganomics"), the mid-to-late 1980's saw a period of economic growth and stability. The hallmark for Reaganomics was, in part, the wide-scale deregulation of corporate interests, and tax cuts for the wealthy.

Dukakis ran on a notably socially liberal agenda, and advocated for higher economic regulation and environmental protection. Bush, alternatively, ran on a campaign of continuing the social and economic policies of former President Reagan - which gained him much support with social conservatives and people living in rural areas, who largely associated the Republican Party with the economic growth of the 1980s. Additionally, while the economic programs passed under Reagan, and furthered under Bush and Clinton, may have boosted the economy for a brief period, they are criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United State after 2007, such as the Great Recession.

Results

United States presidential election in New Jersey, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	1,743,192	56.24%	16
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	1,320,352	42.60%	0
	Peace and Freedom Party	Herbert Lewin	9,953	0.32%	0
	Libertarian	Ron Paul	8,421	0.27%	0
	New Alliance Party	Lenora Fulani	5,139	0.17%	0
	Progressive	Eugene McCarthy	3,454	0.11%	0
	Socialist	Willa Kenoyer	2,587	0.08%	0
	America First	David Duke	2,446	0.08%	0
	Socialist Workers Party	James Warren	2,298	0.07%	0
	Workers World	Larry Holmes	1,020	0.03%	0
	Socialist Equality Party	Edward Winn	691	0.02%	0
Totals			3,099,553	100.0%	16
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					52%/77%

By county

County	Bush	Votes	Dukakis	Votes	Others	Votes
Sussex	71.9%	36,086	27.3%	13,676	0.8%	398
Hunterdon	69.1%	31,907	29.8%	13,758	1.1%	517
Morris	68.0%	127,420	31.4%	58,721	0.6%	1,108
Ocean	65.4%	124,587	33.8%	64,474	0.8%	1,497
Cape May	65.1%	28,738	34.2%	15,105	0.6%	274
Warren	64.5%	21,715	34.6%	11,640	0.9%	311
Somerset	63.7%	67,658	35.2%	37,406	1.1%	1,129
Monmouth	61.1%	147,320	38.1%	91,844	0.7%	1,793
Salem	59.5%	15,240	38.9%	9,956	1.6%	410
Gloucester	58.7%	51,708	40.3%	35,479	1.1%	930
Burlington	58.3%	87,416	40.8%	61,140	0.9%	1,393
Bergen	58.2%	226,885	41.2%	160,655	0.6%	2,393
Atlantic	56.3%	44,748	42.9%	34,047	0.8%	647
Passaic	55.9%	88,070	42.1%	66,254	2.0%	3,189
Middlesex	54.3%	143,422	44.4%	117,149	1.3%	3,548
Union	54.3%	112,967	44.8%	93,158	1.0%	2,028
Cumberland	53.8%	26,024	45.2%	21,869	0.9%	456
Camden	52.0%	100,072	47.1%	90,704	0.9%	1,739
Mercer	48.3%	65,384	50.8%	68,712	0.9%	1,249
Hudson	45.7%	84,334	53.4%	98,507	0.9%	1,622
Essex	40.3%	111,491	56.4%	156,098	3.4%	9,378

See also

• Gulf War
• Presidency of George H. W. Bush