South Bend, November 9, 1988
The Election Result
The winner of yesterday’s presidential election was already certain last night at 10:30 p.m., after Michigan had helped George Bush to pass the needed 270 electoral votes. The election result was announced today. Bush won the popular as well as the electoral vote by a wide margin. Of the 538 electoral votes 426 go to Bush and 112 to Michael Dukakis. On the other hand, the Democrats were able to increase their majority in the Senate and in the House. Election turnout was about 50%. Bush won the South and the Southwest, a large part of the Midwest and California.
[It rarely occurred in the history of American presidential elections that a sitting vice president won the election to be president. After Martin Van Buren in 1836, George Bush was only the second sitting vice president to win the presidential election. Several times though a vice president had to take over the presidency after the tragic death of the president.]