Bush carried Kentucky by 11.6 percentage points on election day, the state weighing in as 4 points more Republican than the national average. The presidential election of 1988 was a very partisan election for Kentucky, with more than 99 percent of the state's electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican nominees, and only five parties appearing on the ballot.[1] Most of the state's counties turned out for Bush, including highly populated Jefferson County, home to Louisville.[2] Dukakis' strength mainly was isolated to rural counties in the Eastern Coalfield and the Jackson Purchase.
As of the 2024 presidential election[update], this remains the last time that Jefferson County has voted for a Republican presidential candidate, as well as the last time that Kentucky has voted more Democratic than neighboring Tennessee.[2] Bush carried Kentucky by a solid 11-point margin, winning 84 out of the state's 120 counties. Kentucky, in this era, was a swing state, with Republicans making substantial gains in federal elections in the state throughout the 1980s.
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