California — 1988 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1988 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentBushR+3.6
How it voted
Share of the 1988 vote
| George H. W. Bush ✓Republican | 51.1% | 5,054,917 |
|---|---|---|
| Michael DukakisDemocratic | 47.6% | 4,702,233 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 1.3% | 129,914 |
1988presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1988 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 47 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+30.8 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+13.8 |
| Amador County, CA | Republican | R+13.7 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+13.6 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+14.5 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+20.4 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+3.2 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+1.7 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Republican | R+20.2 |
| Fresno County, CA | Republican | R+1.2 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+25.7 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+16.0 |
| Imperial County, CA | Republican | R+11.3 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+30.5 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+24.1 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+13.9 |
| Lake County, CA | Democratic | D+2.4 |
| Lassen County, CA | Republican | R+19.4 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+5.0 |
| Madera County, CA | Republican | R+10.8 |
| Marin County, CA | Democratic | D+19.1 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+11.1 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+13.5 |
| Merced County, CA | Republican | R+3.8 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+27.4 |
| Mono County, CA | Republican | R+25.2 |
| Monterey County, CA | Republican | R+1.0 |
| Napa County, CA | Republican | R+2.1 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+17.3 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+36.7 |
| Placer County, CA | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Plumas County, CA | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+19.9 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Republican | R+3.4 |
| San Benito County, CA | Republican | R+9.9 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Republican | R+21.4 |
| San Diego County, CA | Republican | R+21.8 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+46.6 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Republican | R+9.8 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Republican | R+13.1 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Democratic | D+12.8 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Republican | R+9.8 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Democratic | D+4.3 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Democratic | D+24.8 |
| Shasta County, CA | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Sierra County, CA | Republican | R+4.1 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+3.8 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Democratic | D+14.6 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Republican | R+7.2 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+36.1 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+15.1 |
| Trinity County, CA | Republican | R+12.5 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+9.8 |
| Ventura County, CA | Republican | R+24.4 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+15.1 |
| Yuba County, CA | Republican | R+24.0 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Michael Dukakis+147,468 | 162,81534.0% | 310,28364.8% | 5,8991.2% | 478,997 |
| Alpine County | George H. W. Bush+76 | 30655.4% | 23041.7% | 162.9% | 552 |
| Amador County | George H. W. Bush+1,696 | 6,89355.9% | 5,19742.1% | 2482.0% | 12,338 |
| Butte County | George H. W. Bush+9,737 | 40,14356.0% | 30,40642.4% | 1,0821.5% | 71,631 |
| Calaveras County | George H. W. Bush+1,966 | 7,64056.3% | 5,67441.8% | 2601.9% | 13,574 |
| Colusa County | George H. W. Bush+1,055 | 3,07759.5% | 2,02239.1% | 731.4% | 5,172 |
| Contra Costa County | Michael Dukakis+10,759 | 158,65247.9% | 169,41151.1% | 3,4481.0% | 331,511 |
| Del Norte County | George H. W. Bush+127 | 3,71449.7% | 3,58748.0% | 1672.2% | 7,468 |
| El Dorado County | George H. W. Bush+10,220 | 30,02159.3% | 19,80139.1% | 7811.5% | 50,603 |
| Fresno County | George H. W. Bush+2,200 | 94,83549.9% | 92,63548.8% | 2,4001.3% | 189,870 |
| Glenn County | George H. W. Bush+2,050 | 4,94462.1% | 2,89436.3% | 1281.6% | 7,966 |
| Humboldt County | Michael Dukakis+8,321 | 21,46041.2% | 29,78157.1% | 9051.7% | 52,146 |
| Imperial County | George H. W. Bush+2,646 | 12,88955.2% | 10,24343.8% | 2331.0% | 23,365 |
| Inyo County | George H. W. Bush+2,389 | 5,04264.3% | 2,65333.9% | 1421.8% | 7,837 |
| Kern County | George H. W. Bush+35,467 | 90,55061.5% | 55,08337.4% | 1,6601.1% | 147,293 |
| Kings County | George H. W. Bush+2,976 | 12,11856.4% | 9,14242.6% | 2221.0% | 21,482 |
| Lake County | Michael Dukakis+462 | 9,36648.0% | 9,82850.4% | 3081.6% | 19,502 |
| Lassen County | George H. W. Bush+1,711 | 5,15758.6% | 3,44639.2% | 1992.3% | 8,802 |
| Los Angeles County | Michael Dukakis+132,636 | 1,239,71646.9% | 1,372,35251.9% | 32,6031.2% | 2,644,671 |
| Madera County | George H. W. Bush+2,613 | 13,25554.6% | 10,64243.8% | 3841.6% | 24,281 |
| Marin County | Michael Dukakis+22,539 | 46,85539.7% | 69,39458.8% | 1,6711.4% | 117,920 |
| Mariposa County | George H. W. Bush+770 | 3,76854.5% | 2,99843.4% | 1442.1% | 6,910 |
| Mendocino County | Michael Dukakis+4,173 | 12,97941.9% | 17,15255.4% | 8162.6% | 30,947 |
| Merced County | George H. W. Bush+1,612 | 21,71751.2% | 20,10547.4% | 5921.4% | 42,414 |
| Modoc County | George H. W. Bush+1,102 | 2,51862.7% | 1,41635.3% | 832.1% | 4,017 |
| Mono County | George H. W. Bush+893 | 2,17761.4% | 1,28436.2% | 862.4% | 3,547 |
| Monterey County | George H. W. Bush+1,024 | 50,02249.8% | 48,99848.8% | 1,3611.4% | 100,381 |
| Napa County | George H. W. Bush+952 | 23,23550.2% | 22,28348.1% | 7721.7% | 46,290 |
| Nevada County | George H. W. Bush+6,403 | 21,38357.8% | 14,98040.5% | 6601.8% | 37,023 |
| Orange County | George H. W. Bush+317,217 | 586,23067.7% | 269,01331.1% | 10,0641.2% | 865,307 |
| Placer County | George H. W. Bush+14,580 | 42,09659.6% | 27,51639.0% | 1,0301.5% | 70,642 |
| Plumas County | George H. W. Bush+352 | 4,60351.1% | 4,25147.2% | 1611.8% | 9,015 |
| Riverside County | George H. W. Bush+66,857 | 199,97959.5% | 133,12239.6% | 3,2471.0% | 336,348 |
| Sacramento County | George H. W. Bush+13,275 | 201,83251.0% | 188,55747.7% | 5,3011.3% | 395,690 |
| San Benito County | George H. W. Bush+1,019 | 5,57854.1% | 4,55944.2% | 1711.7% | 10,308 |
| San Bernardino County | George H. W. Bush+84,049 | 235,16760.0% | 151,11838.5% | 5,7231.5% | 392,008 |
| San Diego County | George H. W. Bush+189,879 | 523,14360.2% | 333,26438.3% | 12,7881.5% | 869,195 |
| San Francisco County | Michael Dukakis+129,384 | 72,50326.1% | 201,88772.8% | 3,0041.1% | 277,394 |
| San Joaquin County | George H. W. Bush+13,610 | 75,30954.4% | 61,69944.6% | 1,4451.0% | 138,453 |
| San Luis Obispo County | George H. W. Bush+10,946 | 46,61355.8% | 35,66742.7% | 1,1871.4% | 83,467 |
| San Mateo County | Michael Dukakis+32,598 | 109,26142.9% | 141,85955.7% | 3,3601.3% | 254,480 |
| Santa Barbara County | George H. W. Bush+13,938 | 77,52454.2% | 63,58644.5% | 1,8301.3% | 142,940 |
| Santa Clara County | Michael Dukakis+23,368 | 254,44247.0% | 277,81051.3% | 9,2761.7% | 541,528 |
| Santa Cruz County | Michael Dukakis+25,405 | 37,72836.8% | 63,13361.5% | 1,7501.7% | 102,611 |
| Shasta County | George H. W. Bush+11,231 | 32,40259.4% | 21,17138.8% | 1,0121.9% | 54,585 |
| Sierra County | George H. W. Bush+69 | 86050.7% | 79146.6% | 452.7% | 1,696 |
| Siskiyou County | George H. W. Bush+691 | 9,05650.9% | 8,36547.0% | 3762.1% | 17,797 |
| Solano County | Michael Dukakis+4,030 | 50,31447.4% | 54,34451.2% | 1,4301.3% | 106,088 |
| Sonoma County | Michael Dukakis+23,537 | 67,72541.9% | 91,26256.5% | 2,5961.6% | 161,583 |
| Stanislaus County | George H. W. Bush+6,963 | 51,64853.1% | 44,68545.9% | 9821.0% | 97,315 |
| Sutter County | George H. W. Bush+7,543 | 14,10067.5% | 6,55731.4% | 2411.2% | 20,898 |
| Tehama County | George H. W. Bush+2,641 | 9,85456.5% | 7,21341.4% | 3672.1% | 17,434 |
| Trinity County | George H. W. Bush+749 | 3,26754.6% | 2,51842.1% | 1953.3% | 5,980 |
| Tulare County | George H. W. Bush+16,180 | 46,89159.6% | 30,71139.0% | 1,0671.4% | 78,669 |
| Tuolumne County | George H. W. Bush+1,929 | 10,64654.0% | 8,71744.2% | 3521.8% | 19,715 |
| Ventura County | George H. W. Bush+58,539 | 147,60461.6% | 89,06537.2% | 2,8041.2% | 239,473 |
| Yolo County | Michael Dukakis+8,071 | 22,35841.9% | 30,42957.0% | 5851.1% | 53,372 |
| Yuba County | George H. W. Bush+3,493 | 8,93761.4% | 5,44437.4% | 1821.2% | 14,563 |
Nominees: Michael Dukakis (D) · George H. W. Bush (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1988 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Same ballot, 1988CA
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 1988 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.