South Dakota — 1988 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1988 presidential electionSouth Dakota · PresidentBushR+6.3
How it voted
Share of the 1988 vote
| George H. W. Bush ✓Republican | 52.8% | 165,415 |
|---|---|---|
| Michael DukakisDemocratic | 46.5% | 145,560 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 0.6% | 2,016 |
1988presidential margin
D+60R+60
66 counties, each filled by 1988 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
South Dakota cast 3 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (66 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora County, SD | Democratic | D+7.1 |
| Beadle County, SD | Republican | R+1.0 |
| Bennett County, SD | Republican | R+6.7 |
| Bon Homme County, SD | Republican | R+7.4 |
| Brookings County, SD | Republican | R+5.2 |
| Brown County, SD | Democratic | D+0.8 |
| Brule County, SD | Democratic | D+1.0 |
| Buffalo County, SD | Democratic | D+37.3 |
| Butte County, SD | Republican | R+28.9 |
| Campbell County, SD | Republican | R+45.9 |
| Charles Mix County, SD | Democratic | D+5.7 |
| Clark County, SD | Republican | R+3.4 |
| Clay County, SD | Democratic | D+10.6 |
| Codington County, SD | Republican | R+4.9 |
| Corson County, SD | Democratic | D+0.8 |
| Custer County, SD | Republican | R+20.6 |
| Davison County, SD | Republican | R+4.1 |
| Day County, SD | Democratic | D+13.8 |
| Deuel County, SD | Republican | R+0.2 |
| Dewey County, SD | Democratic | D+13.5 |
| Douglas County, SD | Republican | R+34.7 |
| Edmunds County, SD | Republican | R+2.6 |
| Fall River County, SD | Republican | R+18.2 |
| Faulk County, SD | Republican | R+8.2 |
| Grant County, SD | Republican | R+3.8 |
| Gregory County, SD | Republican | R+15.7 |
| Haakon County, SD | Republican | R+42.9 |
| Hamlin County, SD | Republican | R+4.6 |
| Hand County, SD | Republican | R+14.0 |
| Hanson County, SD | Republican | R+0.6 |
| Harding County, SD | Republican | R+41.6 |
| Hughes County, SD | Republican | R+22.7 |
| Hutchinson County, SD | Republican | R+25.6 |
| Hyde County, SD | Republican | R+10.8 |
| Jackson County, SD | Republican | R+19.4 |
| Jerauld County, SD | Republican | R+1.7 |
| Jones County, SD | Republican | R+33.1 |
| Kingsbury County, SD | Republican | R+3.9 |
| Lake County, SD | Democratic | D+4.4 |
| Lawrence County, SD | Republican | R+19.9 |
| Lincoln County, SD | Republican | R+5.1 |
| Lyman County, SD | Republican | R+14.3 |
| Marshall County, SD | Democratic | D+9.1 |
| McCook County, SD | Republican | R+0.3 |
| McPherson County, SD | Republican | R+40.7 |
| Meade County, SD | Republican | R+23.3 |
| Mellette County, SD | Republican | R+8.8 |
| Miner County, SD | Democratic | D+9.1 |
| Minnehaha County, SD | Democratic | D+4.2 |
| Moody County, SD | Democratic | D+19.2 |
| Oglala Lakota County, SD | Democratic | D+64.2 |
| Pennington County, SD | Republican | R+23.4 |
| Perkins County, SD | Republican | R+21.6 |
| Potter County, SD | Republican | R+25.0 |
| Roberts County, SD | Democratic | D+5.9 |
| Sanborn County, SD | Republican | R+2.8 |
| Spink County, SD | Democratic | D+2.5 |
| Stanley County, SD | Republican | R+15.3 |
| Sully County, SD | Republican | R+17.7 |
| Todd County, SD | Democratic | D+34.7 |
| Tripp County, SD | Republican | R+26.6 |
| Turner County, SD | Republican | R+15.5 |
| Union County, SD | Democratic | D+15.5 |
| Walworth County, SD | Republican | R+27.6 |
| Yankton County, SD | Republican | R+5.1 |
| Ziebach County, SD | Democratic | D+8.2 |
South Dakota results by county
66 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora County | Michael Dukakis+131 | 85646.2% | 98753.2% | 110.6% | 1,854 |
| Beadle County | George H. W. Bush+88 | 4,61150.2% | 4,52349.3% | 460.5% | 9,180 |
| Bennett County | George H. W. Bush+84 | 66352.5% | 57945.9% | 201.6% | 1,262 |
| Bon Homme County | George H. W. Bush+252 | 1,82653.4% | 1,57446.1% | 170.5% | 3,417 |
| Brookings County | George H. W. Bush+534 | 5,39452.3% | 4,86047.2% | 510.5% | 10,305 |
| Brown County | Michael Dukakis+136 | 8,53749.3% | 8,67350.1% | 920.5% | 17,302 |
| Brule County | Michael Dukakis+20 | 97149.2% | 99150.2% | 120.6% | 1,974 |
| Buffalo County | Michael Dukakis+183 | 15130.8% | 33468.2% | 51.0% | 490 |
| Butte County | George H. W. Bush+1,035 | 2,29164.0% | 1,25635.1% | 351.0% | 3,582 |
| Campbell County | George H. W. Bush+575 | 90972.6% | 33426.7% | 90.7% | 1,252 |
| Charles Mix County | Michael Dukakis+239 | 1,96647.0% | 2,20552.7% | 130.3% | 4,184 |
| Clark County | George H. W. Bush+83 | 1,24751.4% | 1,16448.0% | 130.5% | 2,424 |
| Clay County | Michael Dukakis+552 | 2,30744.4% | 2,85955.0% | 340.7% | 5,200 |
| Codington County | George H. W. Bush+480 | 5,05052.0% | 4,57047.0% | 941.0% | 9,714 |
| Corson County | Michael Dukakis+12 | 71049.0% | 72249.9% | 161.1% | 1,448 |
| Custer County | George H. W. Bush+626 | 1,80659.5% | 1,18038.9% | 501.6% | 3,036 |
| Davison County | George H. W. Bush+319 | 4,02451.7% | 3,70547.6% | 570.7% | 7,786 |
| Day County | Michael Dukakis+521 | 1,61642.8% | 2,13756.6% | 210.6% | 3,774 |
| Deuel County | George H. W. Bush+5 | 1,25149.5% | 1,24649.3% | 311.2% | 2,528 |
| Dewey County | Michael Dukakis+242 | 76542.8% | 1,00756.3% | 171.0% | 1,789 |
| Douglas County | George H. W. Bush+743 | 1,43867.2% | 69532.5% | 60.3% | 2,139 |
| Edmunds County | George H. W. Bush+68 | 1,32751.1% | 1,25948.4% | 130.5% | 2,599 |
| Fall River County | George H. W. Bush+622 | 2,00258.6% | 1,38040.4% | 351.0% | 3,417 |
| Faulk County | George H. W. Bush+128 | 84253.9% | 71445.7% | 50.3% | 1,561 |
| Grant County | George H. W. Bush+160 | 2,14851.5% | 1,98847.7% | 360.9% | 4,172 |
| Gregory County | George H. W. Bush+428 | 1,56657.5% | 1,13841.8% | 180.7% | 2,722 |
| Haakon County | George H. W. Bush+579 | 95870.9% | 37928.1% | 141.0% | 1,351 |
| Hamlin County | George H. W. Bush+122 | 1,38052.1% | 1,25847.5% | 130.5% | 2,651 |
| Hand County | George H. W. Bush+360 | 1,46156.7% | 1,10142.7% | 160.6% | 2,578 |
| Hanson County | George H. W. Bush+10 | 78650.0% | 77649.4% | 100.6% | 1,572 |
| Harding County | George H. W. Bush+374 | 63370.3% | 25928.8% | 80.9% | 900 |
| Hughes County | George H. W. Bush+1,692 | 4,54561.1% | 2,85338.3% | 440.6% | 7,442 |
| Hutchinson County | George H. W. Bush+1,106 | 2,70062.6% | 1,59436.9% | 220.5% | 4,316 |
| Hyde County | George H. W. Bush+110 | 54653.6% | 43642.8% | 373.6% | 1,019 |
| Jackson County | George H. W. Bush+221 | 67158.8% | 45039.4% | 201.8% | 1,141 |
| Jerauld County | George H. W. Bush+26 | 77750.7% | 75149.0% | 60.4% | 1,534 |
| Jones County | George H. W. Bush+260 | 52166.3% | 26133.2% | 40.5% | 786 |
| Kingsbury County | George H. W. Bush+120 | 1,59251.6% | 1,47247.7% | 230.7% | 3,087 |
| Lake County | Michael Dukakis+224 | 2,43947.6% | 2,66352.0% | 200.4% | 5,122 |
| Lawrence County | George H. W. Bush+1,865 | 5,57059.4% | 3,70539.5% | 1041.1% | 9,379 |
| Lincoln County | George H. W. Bush+347 | 3,53752.3% | 3,19047.2% | 300.4% | 6,757 |
| Lyman County | George H. W. Bush+212 | 84357.0% | 63142.6% | 60.4% | 1,480 |
| Marshall County | Michael Dukakis+230 | 1,14245.2% | 1,37254.3% | 110.4% | 2,525 |
| McCook County | George H. W. Bush+9 | 1,50150.0% | 1,49249.7% | 90.3% | 3,002 |
| McPherson County | George H. W. Bush+787 | 1,35870.1% | 57129.5% | 70.4% | 1,936 |
| Meade County | George H. W. Bush+1,977 | 5,18961.2% | 3,21237.9% | 720.8% | 8,473 |
| Mellette County | George H. W. Bush+75 | 46054.0% | 38545.2% | 70.8% | 852 |
| Miner County | Michael Dukakis+160 | 79545.3% | 95554.4% | 50.3% | 1,755 |
| Minnehaha County | Michael Dukakis+2,370 | 26,76547.7% | 29,13551.9% | 1950.3% | 56,095 |
| Moody County | Michael Dukakis+554 | 1,16140.2% | 1,71559.4% | 130.4% | 2,889 |
| Oglala Lakota County | Michael Dukakis+950 | 25617.3% | 1,20681.5% | 171.1% | 1,479 |
| Pennington County | George H. W. Bush+7,442 | 19,51061.4% | 12,06838.0% | 1790.6% | 31,757 |
| Perkins County | George H. W. Bush+475 | 1,32660.4% | 85138.7% | 200.9% | 2,197 |
| Potter County | George H. W. Bush+474 | 1,17562.1% | 70137.0% | 170.9% | 1,893 |
| Roberts County | Michael Dukakis+255 | 2,01246.7% | 2,26752.6% | 320.7% | 4,311 |
| Sanborn County | George H. W. Bush+45 | 81551.1% | 77048.3% | 100.6% | 1,595 |
| Spink County | Michael Dukakis+102 | 1,96948.5% | 2,07151.0% | 220.5% | 4,062 |
| Stanley County | George H. W. Bush+187 | 69857.3% | 51141.9% | 100.8% | 1,219 |
| Sully County | George H. W. Bush+178 | 57156.8% | 39339.1% | 424.2% | 1,006 |
| Todd County | Michael Dukakis+582 | 53531.9% | 1,11766.6% | 241.4% | 1,676 |
| Tripp County | George H. W. Bush+894 | 2,11363.0% | 1,21936.3% | 240.7% | 3,356 |
| Turner County | George H. W. Bush+656 | 2,43657.5% | 1,78042.0% | 230.5% | 4,239 |
| Union County | Michael Dukakis+705 | 1,90741.9% | 2,61257.4% | 310.7% | 4,550 |
| Walworth County | George H. W. Bush+846 | 1,94063.4% | 1,09435.8% | 260.8% | 3,060 |
| Yankton County | George H. W. Bush+409 | 4,18652.0% | 3,77747.0% | 801.0% | 8,043 |
| Ziebach County | Michael Dukakis+65 | 36245.5% | 42753.7% | 60.8% | 795 |
Nominees: Michael Dukakis (D) · George H. W. Bush (R)
South Dakota's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1988 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | −36.5% |
| 1896 | +0.2% |
| 1900 | −15.6% |
| 1904 | −49.4% |
| 1908 | −23.8% |
| 1912 | +42.1% |
| 1916 | −3.9% |
| 1920 | −41.0% |
| 1924 | −36.3% |
| 1928 | −21.0% |
| 1932 | +29.2% |
| 1936 | +11.5% |
| 1940 | −14.8% |
| 1944 | −16.7% |
| 1948 | −4.8% |
| 1952 | −38.5% |
| 1956 | −16.8% |
| 1960 | −16.4% |
| 1964 | +11.2% |
| 1968 | −11.3% |
| 1972 | −8.6% |
| 1976 | −1.5% |
| 1980 | −28.8% |
| 1984 | −26.5% |
| 1988 | −6.3% |
| 1992 | −3.5% |
| 1996 | −3.5% |
| 2000 | −22.7% |
| 2004 | −21.3% |
| 2008 | −8.4% |
| 2012 | −18.0% |
| 2016 | −29.8% |
| 2020 | −26.2% |
| 2024 | −29.2% |
Same ballot, 1988SD
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 1988 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.