1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From February 8 to June 14, 1988, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1988 United States presidential election. Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1988 Democratic National Convention held from July 18 to July 21, 1988, in Atlanta, Georgia.

1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries

← 1984 February 8 to June 14, 1988 1992 →
4,105 delegates to the Democratic National Convention 2,053 (majority) votes needed to win
Candidate Michael Dukakis Jesse Jackson Al Gore Home state Massachusetts South Carolina Tennessee Delegate count 1,792 1,023 374 Contests won 30 13 7 Popular vote 10,024,101 6,941,816 3,190,992 Percentage 42.4% 29.3% 13.5%   Candidate Paul Simon Dick Gephardt Home state Illinois Missouri Delegate count 161 137 Contests won 1 3 Popular vote 1,107,692 1,452,331 Percentage 4.7% 6.1%
First place by convention roll call   Michael Dukakis   Jesse Jackson   AI Gore   Paul Simon   Dick Gephardt
Previous Democratic nominee Walter Mondale Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis

Background

Having been badly defeated in the 1984 presidential election, the Democrats in 1985 and 1986 were eager to find a new approach to win the presidency. They created the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), with the aim of recruiting a candidate for the 1988 election.^{[citation needed]}

The large gains in the 1986 mid-term elections (which resulted in the Democrats taking back control of the Senate after six years of Republican rule) and the continuing Iran–Contra affair gave Democrats confidence in the run-up to the primary season.^{[citation needed]}

Candidates

Nominee

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
Michael Dukakis			Governor of Massachusetts (1975–1979, 1983–1991)	Massachusetts	(Campaign) Secured nomination: June 7, 1988	10,024,101 (42.37%)	30 NH, MN, ME primary, VT primary FL, HI caucus, ID caucus, MD MA, RI, TX, WA AS caucus, CO caucus, KS caucus CT, WI, AZ caucus, NY, UT caucus, PA, IN OH, NE, OR, CA, MT, NJ, NM, ND	Lloyd Bentsen

Eliminated at Convention

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won
Jesse Jackson			Civil rights leader	South Carolina	Eliminated at convention: July 21, 1988 (Campaign)	6,941,816 (29.34%)	13 AL, GA, LA, MS, VA AK caucus, SC, PR VT caucus, MI caucus, DE caucus, DC

Withdrew during primaries

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won
Al Gore			U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993)	Tennessee	Withdrew: April 21, 1988 (Campaign)	3,190,992 (13.49%)	7 WY caucus, AR, KY NV caucus, NC, OK, TN
Paul Simon			U.S. Senator from Illinois (1985–1997)	Illinois	Withdrew: April 7, 1988 (Campaign)	1,107,692 (4.68%)	1 IL
Dick Gephardt			U.S. Representative from Missouri (1977–2005)	Missouri	Withdrew: March 29, 1988 (Campaign)	1,452,331 (6.14%)	3 IA caucus, SD, MO
Gary Hart			U.S. Senator from Colorado (1975–1987)	Colorado	Suspended campaign: May 8, 1987 Re-entered: December 12, 1987 Withdrew: March 12, 1988 (Campaign)	390,200 (1.65%)	0

Candidates who received less than 1%

• Governor of Arizona
  Bruce Babbitt
  (Withdrew Feb. 18)
• Activist and conspiracy theorist
  Lyndon LaRouche
• Former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
  David Duke
  (campaign)
• Representative
  Douglas Applegate
  of Ohio

Withdrew before primaries

Candidate		Experience	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date
Pat Schroeder		U.S. Representative from Colorado (1973–1997)	Colorado	Withdrew: September 28, 1987(Campaign)
Joe Biden		U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973–2009)	Delaware	Withdrew: September 23, 1987 (Campaign)

Declined

Lloyd Bentsen	Robert C. Byrd	Ted Kennedy	Lee Iacocca	Mario Cuomo	Sam Nunn	Dale Bumpers	Bill Clinton	Bill Bradley	Dick Celeste	Chuck Robb
U.S. Senator from Texas (1971–1993)	U.S. Senator from West Virginia (1959–2010)	U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1962–2009)	Businessman from Pennsylvania (1978–1992)	Governor of New York (1983–1994)	U.S. Senator from Georgia (1972–1997)	U.S. Senator from Arkansas (1975–1999)	Governor of Arkansas (1979-1981) (1983-1992)	U.S. Senator from New Jersey (1979–1997)	Governor of Ohio (1983–1991)	Former Governor of Virginia (1982–1986)
		(December 19, 1985)	(July 16, 1986)	(February 19, 1987)	(February 21, 1987)	(March 20, 1987)	(July 15, 1987)	(August 2, 1987)	(August 24, 1987)	(November 12, 1987)

Polling

Nationwide polling

1986

Poll source	Publication	Bruce Babbitt	Joseph Biden	Bill Bradley	Tom Bradley	Dale Bumpers	Bill Clinton	Tony Coelho	Mario Cuomo	Michael Dukakis	Dianne Feinstein	Richard Gephardt	Gary Hart	Lee Iacocca	Jesse Jackson	Sam Nunn	Chuck Robb	Jay Rockefeller	Patricia Schroeder	Mark White
Gallup	Jan 10-13, 1986	1%	1%	8%	8%	1%	-	*	22%	-	3%	2%	47%	18%	16%	3%	3%	6%	1%	5%
Gallup	April 11-14, 1986	1%	1%	6%	7%	2%	-	*	27%	-	4%	1%	39%	14%	18%	2%	5%	6%	2%	2%
Gallup	June 9-16, 1986	*	*	7%	7%	*	*	*	22%	-	4%	*	34%	26%	17%	*	3%	6%	*	3%
		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	30%	-	-	-	55%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	59%	28%	-	-	-	-	-	-
		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	75%	-	14%	-	-	-	-	-
Gallup	September 3-17, 1986	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29%	-	-	-	54%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	58%	29%	-	-	-	-	-	-
		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	74%	-	15%	-	-	-	-	-
Gallup	October 24-27, 1986	*	*	8%	7%	*	*	*	27%	3%	*	*	32%	26%	14%	*	3%	6%	*	3%

1987

Poll source	Publication	Bruce Babbitt	Joseph Biden	Bill Bradley	Dale Bumpers	Bill Clinton	Mario Cuomo	Michael Dukakis	Richard Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Lee Iacocca	Jesse Jackson	Sam Nunn	Chuck Robb	Paul Simon	Pat Schroeder	Others
Washington Post - ABC-News	January 15-19, 1987	2%	1%	-	-	-	18%	-	1%	-	39%	-	13%	4%	-	-	-	-
Gallup	Jan 16-19, 1987	1%	2%	11%	4%	-	23%	3%	1%	-	53%	29%	21%	5%	6%	-	-	-
		-	-	-	-	-	23%	-	-	-	60%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
New York Times - CBS-News	Jan 18-21, 1987	1%	1%	-	-	-	17%	1%	2%	-	33%	-	9%	3%	-	-	-	-
Washington Post - ABC-News	March 5-9, 1987	1%	1%	-	3%	-	-	4%	3%	-	46%	-	14%	4%	2%	-	-	-
Gallup	April 10-13, 1987	4%	2%	-	-	-	-	7%	6%	6%	-	-	27%	-	-	-	-	12%
Washington Post - ABC-News	May 4, 1987	-	-	-	-	-	-	9%	-	-	36%	-	12%	-	-	-	-	-
New York Times - CBS-News	May 5-6, 1987	1%	1%	-	-	-	-	6%	4%	-	32%	-	10%	-	-	1%	-	-
Gallup	May 6-7, 1987	2%	1%	-	-	-	-	11%	7%	6%	-	-	22%	-	-	9%	-	5%
New York Times - CBS-News	May 11-14, 1987	2%	2%	-	-	2%	-	11%	4%	5%	-	-	17%	-	-	6%	-	-
		3%	1%	6%	-	2%	25%	6%	3%	4%	-	-	12%	4%	-	5%	-	-
Washington Post - ABC-News	May 28-June 2, 1987	4%	3%	-	-	-	*	11%	10%	5%	-	-	25%	-	-	13%	-	-
Gallup	June 8-14, 1987	2%	7%	-	-	-	-	11%	7%	5%	-	-	18%	-	-	7%	-	5%
Gallup	July 10-13, 1987	2%	4%	-	-	-	-	13%	3%	8%	-	-	17%	-	-	7%	-	2%
New York Times - CBS-News	July 21-22, 1987	3%	4%	-	-	-	-	8%	3%	7%	-	-	14%	-	-	7%	5%	3%
Gallup	Aug. 24-Sep. 2, 1987	2%	3%	-	-	-	-	13%	6%	8%	-	-	19%	-	-	7%	6%	2%
Gallup - Times Mirror Co.	Sep. 1-13, 1987	1%	4%	-	-	-	-	15%	7%	6%	-	-	24%	-	-	7%	3%	3%
Washington Post - ABC-News	September 17-23, 1987	4%	6%	-	-	-	-	12%	8%	7%	-	-	23%	-	-	7%	-	-
Gallup	October 23-26, 1987	1%	-	-	-	-	-	14%	5%	7%	-	-	22%	-	-	8%	-	*
Washington Post - ABC-News	December 13-15, 1987	4%	6%	-	-	-	-	15%	8%	7%	30%	-	20%	-	-	7%	-	-
New York Times - CBS-News	December 15, 1987	2%	-	-	-	-	-	9%	1%	5%	21%	-	17%	-	-	4%	-	-
		4%	-	-	-	-	-	11%	3%	5%	-	-	22%	-	-	5%	-	-
Gallup	Dec. 7-28, 1987	3%	-	-	-	-	-	10%	2%	5%	31%	-	13%	-	-	10%	-	26%

1988

Poll source	Publication	Bruce Babbitt	Michael Dukakis	Dick Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Jesse Jackson	Paul Simon	Other/Undecided
YCS	Jan. 3–6, 1988	–	11%	4%	–	28%	17%	13%	27%
CBS News/New York Times	Jan. 17–21, 1988	2%	6%	4%	4%	23%	17%	9%	35%
Washington Post/ABC	Jan. 17–23, 1988	3%	11%	4%	–	23%	25%	12%	22%
Gallup	Jan. 22–24, 1988	3%	16%	9%	6%	23%	15%	9%	19%
Harris Interactive	Jan. 7–26, 1988	–	15%	6%	–	19%	15%	8%	37%
Gordon Black	Jan. 21–28, 1988	–	13%	9%	–	17%	13%	7%	41%
CBS News/New York Times	Jan. 30–31, 1988	–	8%	4%	–	18%	16%	6%	48%
February 8: Iowa caucus
February 16: New Hampshire primary
CBS News/New York Times	Feb. 17–21, 1988	1%	21%	12%	8%	10%	13%	6%	30%
March 8: Super Tuesday
CBS News/New York Times	Mar. 19–22, 1988	–	29%	8%	14%	–	22%	6%	21%

Head-to-head polling

Poll source	Publication	Sample size	Margin of error	Mario Cuomo	Gary Hart	Lee Iacocca	Jesse Jackson	Other/Undecided
Gallup	June 9–16, 1986	452 RV	±6.0%	30%	55%	–	—	15%
				–	59%	28%	—	13%
				—	75%	–	14%	11%

Statewide and regional polling

South

Poll source	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Bruce Babbitt	Joe Biden	Mario Cuomo	Michael Dukakis	Dick Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Jesse Jackson	Paul Simon	Other/Undecided
Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Sep. 18–28, 1987	6,452 A	±2.0%	3%	3%	–	9%	5%	13%	–	27%	5%	35%
				–	–	17%	–	–	–	27%	11%	–	45%

California

Poll source	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Bruce Babbitt	Joe Biden	Michael Dukakis	Dick Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Jesse Jackson	Paul Simon	Other/Undecided
Teichner/Sacramento Bee	May 8–9, 1987	510 RV	±4.0%	3%	4%	5%	2%	2%	34%	9%	2%	39%
				2%	4%	8%	5%	5%	–	13%	3%	40%

Maryland

Poll source	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Bruce Babbitt	Joe Biden	Michael Dukakis	Dick Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Jesse Jackson	Paul Simon	Other/Undecided
Savitz Research Center	October 9–14, 1987	559 RV	±4.0%	2%	–	12%	5%	6%	–	35%	6%	35%

New Hampshire

Poll source	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Bruce Babbitt	Joe Biden	Mario Cuomo	Michael Dukakis	Dick Gephardt	Al Gore	Gary Hart	Jesse Jackson	Chuck Robb	Paul Simon	Other/Undecided
Bannon Research	Sep.–Oct. 1986	501 LV	±5.0%	1%	1%	26%	–	1%	–	47%	6%	1%	–	19%
				1%	1%	19%	27%	1%	—	33%	3%	–	–	17%

Pre-primary events

The Hart-Rice affair

The Democratic front-runner for most of 1987 was former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. Hart had made a strong showing in the 1984 primaries and, after Mondale's defeat in the presidential election, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist many Democrats felt their party would need to win.

However, questions and rumors about possible extramarital affairs and about past debts dogged Hart's campaign. One of the great myths is that Senator Hart challenged the media to "put a tail" on him and that reporters then took him up on that challenge. In fact, Hart had told E. J. Dionne of The New York Times that if reporters followed him around, they would "be bored". However, in a separate investigation, the Miami Herald claimed to have received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice that Rice was involved with Hart. It was only after Hart had been discovered that the Herald reporters found Hart's quote in a pre-print of The New York Times Magazine.

On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race.

In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign. He again led in the polls for the Democratic nomination, both nationally and in Iowa. However, the allegations of adultery and reports of irregularities in his campaign financing had delivered a fatal blow to his candidacy, and he fared poorly in the early primaries before dropping out again.

The Hart scandal would later be depicted in the 2018 film The Front Runner, with Hugh Jackman portraying Hart.

Biden plagiarism scandals

Delaware Senator Joe Biden led a highly competitive campaign which ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one of which he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video and sent to the press by members of the Dukakis campaign. In the video Biden is filmed repeating a stump speech by Kinnock, with only minor modifications. Michael Dukakis later acknowledged that his campaign was responsible for leaking the tape, and two members of his staff resigned.

It was also discovered that Biden had been guilty of plagiarism years before, while a student at the Syracuse University College of Law in the 1960s. Though Biden professed his integrity, the impression lingering in the media as the result of this double punch would lead him to drop out of the race. He formally suspended his campaign on September 28, 1987.

The Delaware Supreme Court's Board on Professional Responsibility would later clear Biden of the law school plagiarism charges.

After campaigns in 2008 and 2020, Biden was elected the 47th vice president in 2008 and 2012 and the 46th president in 2020.

Endorsements

Results

In the Iowa caucuses, Gephardt finished first, Simon finished second, and Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis finished first, Gephardt finished second, and Simon finished third. Dukakis and Gore campaigned hard against Gephardt with negative ads, and eventually the United Auto Workers retracted their endorsement of Gephardt, who was heavily dependent on labor union backing.

In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis won six primaries, Gore five, Jackson five and Gephardt one, with Gore and Jackson splitting the southern states. The next week, Simon won Illinois. 1988 is tied with 1992 as the race with the most candidates winning primaries since the McGovern reforms of 1971. Gore's effort to paint Dukakis as too liberal for the general election proved unsuccessful and he eventually withdrew. Jackson focused more on getting enough delegates to make sure African-American interests were represented in the platform than on winning outright. Dukakis eventually emerged as the party's nominee.

Date (daily totals)	Total pledged delegates	Contest	Delegates won and popular vote						Total
			Michael Dukakis	Jesse Jackson	Al Gore	Paul Simon	Dick Gephardt	Others
February 8	45	Iowa caucus	12 27,750 (22.2%)	11,000 (8.8%)	80 (0.0%)	15 33,375 (26.7%)	18 39,125 (31.3%)	13,625 (10.9%)	124,955
February 16	16	New Hampshire	8 44,112 (35.9%)	9,615 (7.8%)	8,400 (6.8%)	4 21,094 (17.2%)	4 24,513 (19.9%)	15,179 (12.3%)	122,913
February 23	68	Minnesota	25 8,990 (33.9%)	15 5,270 (19.8%)	274 (1.0%)	13 4,766 (18.0%)	1,970 (7.4%)	5,281 (19.9%)	26,551
	17	South Dakota	7 22,349 (31.2%)	3,867 (5.4%)	5,993 (7.0%)	3,992 (5.6%)	10 31,184 (43.5%)	4,221 (5.9%)	71,606
February 28	20	Maine primary	8 3,170 (36.3%)	7 2,722 (31.1%)	139 (1.6%)	378 (4.3%)	282 (3.2%)	2,053 (23.5%)	8,744
March 1	12	Vermont Caucus	6 582 (41.5%)	6 696 (49.6%)	6 (0.0%)	—	—	120 (8.5%)	1,404
March 5	11	Wyoming caucus	4 76 (28.1%)	38 (14.1%)	4 88 (32.6%)	6 (2.2%)	3 61 (22.6%)	1 (0.0%)	270
March 8 (Super Tuesday) (1099)	47	Alabama	31,206 (7.7%)	25 176,764 (43.6%)	22 151,739 (37.4%)	3,063 (0.8%)	30,214 (7.4%)	12,845 (3.2%)	405,831
	32	Arkansas	8 94,103 (18.9%)	7 85,003 (17.1%)	16 185,758 (37.3%)	9,020 (1.8%)	59,711 (12.0%)	63,949 (12.9%)	497,544
	101	Florida	68 520,868 (41.1%)	33 254,825 (20.1%)	161,106 (12.7%)	27,592 (2.2%)	182,779 (14.4%)	121,606 (9.6%)	1,268,776
	64	Georgia	97,179 (15.6%)	29 247,831 (39.8%)	24 201,490 (32.4%)	8,388 (1.3%)	41,489 (6.7%)	26,375 (4.2%)	622,752
	17	Hawaii caucus	10 2,716	7 1,739	58	46	98	318
	16	Idaho caucus	7 144	4 73	32	16	3	112
	48	Kentucky	11 59,433 (18.6%)	9 49,667 (16.6%)	27 145,988 (45.8%)	9,393 (2.9%)	28,982 (9.1%)	25,258 (7.9%)	318,721
	52	Louisiana	10 95,661 (15.3%)	23 221,522 (35.4%)	18 174,971 (28.0%)	5,153 (0.8%)	67,029 (10.7%)	60,683 (9.7%)	625,019
	56	Maryland	34 242,479 (47.0%)	22 152,642 (29.6%)	46,063 (8.9%)	16,013 (3.1%)	42,059 (8.2%)	16,631 (3.2%)	515,887
	93	Massachusetts	71 418,256 (58.6%)	22 133,385 (18.7%)	31,631 (4.4%)	26,176 (3.7%)	72,943 (10.2%)	31,552 (4.4%)	713,943
	40	Mississippi	1 29,941 (8.3%)	24 160,651 (44.7%)	15 120,364 (33.5%)	2,118 (0.6%)	19,693 (5.5%)	26,650 (7.4%)	359,417
	71	Missouri	61,303 (11.6%)	18 106,386 (20.2%)	14,549 (2.8%)	21,433 (4.1%)	53 305,287 (57.8%)	18,857 (3.6%)	527,815
	12	Nevada caucus	3 427	3 382	4 491	20	33	2 285
	68	North Carolina	16 137,993 (20.3%)	25 224,177 (33.0%)	27 235,669 (34.7%)	8,032 (1.2%)	37,553 (5.5%)	36,534 (5.4%)	679,958
	39	Oklahoma	9 66,278 (16.9%)	52,417 (13.3%)	20 162,584 (41.4%)	6,901 (1.8%)	10 82,596 (21.0%)	21,951 (5.6%)	392,727
	20	Rhode Island	16 34,159 (70.0%)	4 7,369 (15.1%)	1,932 (4.0%)	1,392 (2.9%)	2,013 (4.1%)	1,958 (4.0%)	48,823
	56	Tennessee	19,348 (3.4%)	12 119,248 (20.7%)	44 416,861 (72.3%)	2,647 (0.5%)	8,470 (1.5%)	9,740 (1.7%)	576,314
	145	Texas	61 579,713	46 433,335	38 357,764	34,499	240,158	121,576
	62	Virginia	15 80,183 (22.0%)	32 164,709 (45.1%)	15 81,419 (22.3%)	7,045 (1.9%)	15,935 (4.4%)	15,608 (4.3%)	364,899
	53	Washington	29 3,784	24 3,083	166	300	78	1,074
	6	American Samoa caucus	4 (39%)	(7%)	—	—	2 (22%)	(32%)
March 10	10	Alaska caucus	3 774	4 882	48	18	15	791
March 12	36	Colorado caucus	17 4,852	13 3,720	307	14	—	6 1,867
	37	South Carolina	1,018	22 8,114	7 2,777	36	307	8 2,853
March 15	160	Illinois	29 245,289	57 484,233	77,265	74 635,219	35,108	23,816
March 19	34	Kansas caucus	15 278	13 235	7 125	—	12	114
March 20	40	Puerto Rico	11 70,733	13 87,757	7 45,361	9 57,639	9,159	3,753
March 26	127	Michigan caucus	45 61,674	82 113,777	4,253	4,466	27,222	326
March 29	63	Connecticut	35 (58%)	17 (28%)	(8%)	(1%)	—	11 (5%)
April 5	81	Wisconsin	44 (47%)	24 (30%)	13 (17%)	(5%)	—	(1%)
April 16	36	Arizona caucus	(54%)	(38%)	(5%)	(1%)	—	(2%)
April 18	15	Delaware caucus	51.5 (27.3%)	86.5 (45.8%)	4 (2.1%)	—	—	47 (24.9%)
April 19	243	New York	142 801,457	87 585,076	5 157,559	17,011	–	14,083
April 25	23	Utah caucus	19 (72%)	4 (15%)	–	–	–	(13%)
April 26	161	Pennsylvania	114 1,002,480	47 411,260	44,542	9,692	7,254	32,462
May 3	79	Indiana	63 (70%)	16 (22%)	(3%)	(2%)	(3%)	—
	159	Ohio	115 (63%)	41 (27%)	(2%)	(1%)	–	3 (7%)
	16	Washington, D.C.	3 (18%)	13 (80%)	(1%)	(1%)	–	—
May 10	25	Nebraska	18 (63%)	7 (26%)	(1%)	(1%)	(3%)	(6%)
	37	West Virginia	36 (75%)	1 (13%)	(3%)	(1%)	(2%)	(6%)
May 17	45	Oregon	27 (57%)	18 (38%)	(1%)	(1%)	(2%)	(1%)
June 7	272	California	173 1,910,808	99 1,102,093	56,645	43,771	–	25,417
	19	Montana	15 (69%)	4 (22%)	(2%)	(1%)	(3%)	(3%)
	100	New Jersey	66 414,829	34 213,705	18,062	—	—	7,706
	24	New Mexico	16 (61%)	8 (28%)	(3%)	(2%)	–	(6%)
June 14	?	North Dakota	(85%)	(15%)	–	–	–	–
Total			1,427 10,024,101 (42.37%)	1,046 6,941,816 (29.34%)	307 3,190,992 (13.49%)	115 1,452,331 (6.14%)	98 1,107,692 (4.68%)	30 940,431 (3.98%)

Convention and general election

The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia, July 18–21. The Dukakis nominating speech delivered by Arkansas governor and future president Bill Clinton was widely criticized as too long and tedious.

Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards, (who two years later became the state governor in 1990), delivered a memorable keynote address in which she uttered the lines "Poor George [Bush], he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." Six years later, Bush's son George W. Bush would deny Richards re-election as Texas Governor in 1994.

With most candidates having withdrawn and asking their delegates to vote for Dukakis, the tally for president was as follows:

• Michael Dukakis - 2,877 (70.09%)
• Jesse Jackson - 1,219 (29.70%)
• Richard Stallings - 3 (0.07%)
• Joe Biden - 2 (0.05%)
• Dick Gephardt - 2 (0.05%)
• Lloyd Bentsen - 1 (0.02%)
• Gary Hart - 1 (0.02%)

Jesse Jackson's campaign believed that since they had come in a respectable second, Jackson was entitled to the vice presidential spot. Dukakis refused, and gave the spot to Lloyd Bentsen.

Bentsen was selected in large part to secure the state of Texas and its large electoral vote for the Democrats. During the vice-presidential debate, Republican candidate and Senator Dan Quayle ignored a head-on confrontation with Bentsen (aside from the "Jack Kennedy" comparison) and spent his time attacking Dukakis.

See also

• 1988 Republican Party presidential primaries