George H.W. Bush won the popular vote with 53.4% (48,886,097 votes), ahead of Michael Dukakis with 45.6% (41,809,074 votes). Presidents are chosen by the Electoral College, so the popular vote winner is not always the winner of the election.
The margin between the first two candidates was 7.7 percentage points (7,077,023 votes). The party margin (Republican share minus Democratic share) was a Republican lead of 7.7 points.
Compared with the previous comparable race in the same area, the party margin moved 10.5 points toward Democrats.
91,586,825 votes were counted in this race, for 17 candidates or options.
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