The 1988 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 8, 1988. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1988 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

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1988 United States presidential election in Virginia

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →

Nominee George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis Party Republican Democratic Home state Texas Massachusetts Running mate Dan Quayle Lloyd Bentsen Electoral vote 12 0 Popular vote 1,309,162 859,799 Percentage 59.74% 39.23%

County and Independent City Results Bush   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Dukakis   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

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

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Virginia was won by incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who was running against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Bush ran with Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as Vice President, and Dukakis ran with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Most counties in Virginia turned out for Bush, including the highly populated regions of Virginia Beach and Fairfax County. Bush ran strongly in most parts of the state, but in particular, he cracked sixty percent in populous Fairfax County, outside Washington, D.C., and got over 2/3 and 3/4 of the vote in the Richmond suburbs of Henrico and Chesterfield, respectively, which contributed to the swelling of his statewide margin. Dukakis did well in Arlington County, the independent cities of Richmond and Norfolk, in Virginia's Black Belt counties, and in some then-traditionally Democratic counties in heavily-unionized southwest Virginia.^[1]

As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Northampton County and the independent cities of Martinsville, Fredericksburg, and Hampton voted for a Republican presidential candidate. This was also the last time that a Republican won the majority of the vote in Fairfax County.^[2]

Every Republican presidential nominee following World War II had won Virginia except for the victories of Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1948 and 1964 elections. Virginia was the only southern state that Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter failed to win in the 1976 election.^[3]

The Republicans held Virginia's governorship from the 1969 election until Democratic nominee Chuck Robb's victory in 1981. The Democrats had also reduced the Republican control over the state's United States House of Representatives delegation from nine of ten seats in 1980 to five seats in 1986.^[4]

Jesse Jackson won the Democratic primary due to lower white turnout and increased black turnout. Jackson won 96% of the black vote and 12% of the white vote. Al Gore won 40% of the white vote while Michael Dukakis won 35%. The racial composition of the primary was 65% white and 35% black.^[5]

49% of white voters participated in the Republican primary.^[6]

69% of white voters supported Bush while 30% supported Dukakis.^[7][8] Bush placed first in all of the state's congressional districts. Robb won in the concurrent senatorial election despite the Republican presidential victory.^[9]

• Presidency of George H. W. Bush