Introduction
This is a revision of the United States presidential election of 1988, the year of Republican George H. W. Bush’s election against Democrat Michael Dukakis.
In the 1988 election of the current timeline, Bush beat Dukakis by a solid majority of over 7.5 percentage points, with Bush winning 40 states. This revised version of history makes this 1988 victory much wider. In this revision, Bush has 58.8% of the popular vote compared to Dukakis’s 39.9%, for a victory margin of almost 19 percentage points, making the popular vote a landslide. Bush wins 47 out of 50 states; the three states he loses are: Hawaii, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. Of course, he also loses the District of Columbia, which always votes heavily for the Democrat up to this point.
I’m doing this because despite Republican President Ronald Reagan’s popularity, George H. W. Bush was a RINO, which Reagan was not. Therefore, I find it fitting that Bush wins by a considerably lesser landslide than Reagan had done in 1980 as well as 1984.
The revised election below is organized state-by-state in alphabetical order, for a total of 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
United States presidential election, 1988 (results estimated)
Alabama
George H. W. Bush (R): 861,708 (64.2%)
Michael Dukakis (D): 462,171 (34.5%)
Other: 17,301 (1.3%)
Total: 1,341,180
Alaska
Bush: 119,885 (60.6%)
Dukakis: 75,601 (38.2%)
Other: 2,475 (1.3%)
Total: 197,961
Arizona
Bush: 551,623 (60.9%)
Dukakis: 343,156 (37.9%)
Other: 11,601 (1.3%)
Total: 906,380
Arkansas
Bush: 578,178 (63.9%)
Dukakis: 314,876 (34.8%)
Other: 11,763 (1.3%)
Total: 904,817
California
Bush: 5,204,542 (56.8%)
Dukakis: 3,841,535 (41.9%)
Other: 120,077 (1.3%)
Total: 9,166,154
Colorado
Bush: 729,758 (59.1%)
Dukakis: 487,822 (39.5%)
Other: 16,162 (1.3%)
Total: 1,233,742
Connecticut
Bush: 750,012 (55.2%)
Dukakis: 589,829 (43.5%)
Other: 17,647 (1.3%)
Total: 1,357,488
Delaware
Bush: 136,996 (56.1%)
Dukakis: 104,011 (42.6%)
Other: 3,150 (1.3%)
Total: 244,157
District of Columbia
Dukakis: 161,337 (80.5%)
Bush: 36,639 (18.3%)
Other: 2,567 (1.3%)
Total: 200,543
Florida
Bush: 2,558,276 (62.8%)
Dukakis: 1,462,047 (35.9%)
Other: 53,365 (1.3%)
Total: 4,073,688
Georgia
Bush: 1,131,843 (66.5%)
Dukakis: 548,391 (32.2%)
Other: 21,786 (1.3%)
Total: 1,702,020
Hawaii
Dukakis: 161,696 (49.7%)
Bush: 159,743 (49.1%)
Other: 4,168 (1.3%)
Total: 325,607
Idaho
Bush: 293,501 (64.3%)
Dukakis: 157,231 (34.4%)
Other: 5,937 (1.3%)
Total: 456,669
Illinois
Bush: 2,975,521 (57%)
Dukakis: 2,174,259 (41.7%)
Other: 66,772 (1.3%)
Total: 5,216,552
Indiana
Bush: 1,357,239 (60.6%)
Dukakis: 851,715 (38.1%)
Other: 28,868 (1.3%)
Total: 2,237,822
Iowa
Bush: 721,593 (57.1%)
Dukakis: 524,749 (41.6%)
Other: 16,288 (1.3%)
Total: 1,262,630
Kansas
Bush: 596,970 (63.4%)
Dukakis: 333,116 (35.4%)
Other: 12,250 (1.3%)
Total: 942,336
Kentucky
Bush: 783,677 (60.3%)
Dukakis: 498,208 (38.4%)
Other: 16,884 (1.3%)
Total: 1,298,769
Louisiana
Bush: 1,001,044 (62.5%)
Dukakis: 579,965 (36.2%)
Other: 20,662 (1.3%)
Total: 1,601,671
Maine
Bush: 305,885 (56.1%)
Dukakis: 232,481 (42.6%)
Other: 6,980 (1.3%)
Total: 545,346
Maryland
Bush: 908,588 (57.3%)
Dukakis: 656,194 (41.4%)
Other: 20,610 (1.3%)
Total: 1,585,392
Massachusetts
Bush: 1,438,567 (55%)
Dukakis: 1,141,861 (43.7%)
Other: 33,723 (1.3%)
Total: 2,614,151
Michigan
Bush: 2,382,841 (57.5%)
Dukakis: 1,708,069 (41.2%)
Other: 53,882 (1.3%)
Total: 4,144,792
Minnesota
Dukakis: 1,017,384 (49.4%)
Bush: 1,013,537 (49.3%)
Other: 26,541 (1.3%)
Total: 2,057,462
Mississippi
Bush: 655,543 (68.2%)
Dukakis: 293,168 (30.5%)
Other: 12,496 (1.3%)
Total: 961,207
Missouri
Bush: 1,280,572 (59.2%)
Dukakis: 855,302 (39.5%)
Other: 28,351 (1.3%)
Total: 2,164,225
Montana
Bush: 228,604 (58.8%)
Dukakis: 155,071 (39.9%)
Other: 4,975 (1.3%)
Total: 388,650
Nebraska
Bush: 450,333 (66.3%)
Dukakis: 219,736 (32.4%)
Other: 8,757 (1.3%)
Total: 678,826
Nevada
Bush: 175,197 (62.7%)
Dukakis: 100,631 (36%)
Other: 3,548 (1.3%)
Total: 279,376
New Hampshire
Bush: 252,077 (64%)
Dukakis: 136,470 (34.7%)
Other: 5,078 (1.3%)
Total: 393,625
New Jersey
Bush: 1,922,729 (58.2%)
Dukakis: 1,336,072 (40.5%)
Other: 42,588 (1.3%)
Total: 3,301,389
New Mexico
Bush: 278,327 (54.3%)
Dukakis: 227,914 (44.4%)
Other: 6,616 (1.3%)
Total: 512,857
New York
Bush: 4,458,079 (56.3%)
Dukakis: 3,353,450 (42.4%)
Other: 101,284 (1.3%)
Total: 7,912,813
North Carolina
Bush: 1,318,534 (63.7%)
Dukakis: 725,432 (35%)
Other: 26,922 (1.3%)
Total: 2,070,888
North Dakota
Bush: 193,164 (59.8%)
Dukakis: 125,600 (38.9%)
Other: 4,199 (1.3%)
Total: 322,963
Ohio
Bush: 2,635,675 (58%)
Dukakis: 1,846,108 (40.7%)
Other: 58,571 (1.3%)
Total: 4,540,354
Oklahoma
Bush: 773,389 (66.9%)
Dukakis: 367,735 (31.8%)
Other: 14,913 (1.3%)
Total: 1,156,037
Oregon
Bush: 574,205 (51.3%)
Dukakis: 531,414 (47.4%)
Other: 14,562 (1.3%)
Total: 1,120,181
Pennsylvania
Bush: 2,922,390 (57.4%)
Dukakis: 2,101,963 (41.3%)
Other: 65,146 (1.3%)
Total: 5,089,499
Rhode Island
Dukakis: 232,280 (53.2%)
Bush: 198,455 (45.5%)
Other: 5,718 (1.3%)
Total: 436,453
South Carolina
Bush: 636,323 (65.3%)
Dukakis: 325,617 (33.4%)
Other: 12,670 (1.3%)
Total: 974,610
South Dakota
Bush: 201,010 (58.7%)
Dukakis: 136,825 (40%)
Other: 4,484 (1.3%)
Total: 342,319
Tennessee
Bush: 1,027,263 (62.8%)
Dukakis: 588,691 (36%)
Other: 21,118 (1.3%)
Total: 1,637,072
Texas
Bush: 3,364,785 (63.2%)
Dukakis: 1,889,497 (35.5%)
Other: 69,745 (1.3%)
Total: 5,324,027
Utah
Bush: 422,307 (67.6%)
Dukakis: 194,651 (31.1%)
Other: 8,126 (1.3%)
Total: 625,084
Vermont
Bush: 124,444 (54.9%)
Dukakis: 99,487 (43.9%)
Other: 2,949 (1.3%)
Total: 226,880
Virginia
Bush: 1,296,142 (63.2%)
Dukakis: 729,542 (35.6%)
Other: 26,473 (1.3%)
Total: 2,052,157
Washington
Bush: 914,662 (51.6%)
Dukakis: 833,201 (47%)
Other: 23,022 (1.3%)
Total: 1,770,885
West Virginia
Bush: 492,394 (58.7%)
Dukakis: 335,956 (40%)
Other: 10,910 (1.3%)
Total: 839,260
Wisconsin
Bush: 1,258,248 (55.2%)
Dukakis: 991,375 (43.5%)
Other: 29,399 (1.3%)
Total: 2,279,022
Wyoming
Bush: 132,844 (71.2%)
Dukakis: 51,257 (27.5%)
Other: 2,425 (1.3%)
Total: 186,526
United States (total)
Bush: 54,785,861 (58.8%)
Dukakis: 37,212,149 (39.9%)
Other: 1,206,504 (1.3%)
Total: 93,204,514