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The 1988 Hawaii and Kansas Republican Primaries
February 4th, 1988
Due to the clout of the looming election in Iowa, the 1988 Hawaii Republican Caucus was completely overshadowed and ignored by all but one candidate.
Throughout the months of campaigning leading up to caucus in Hawaii, the main candidates of the Republican party had taken the Aloha State for granted. With it's limited delegates and lack of use in the general election, visits for most of the candidates were extremely sporadic, if at all.
Except for one.
Pete Du Pont, former governor of Deleware, had realized early in the race that he would struggle in a field which seemed destined for a Bush/Quayle/Dole showdown. In states like Iowa and New Hampshire, where the big three would campaign hard, Du Pont would have no chance unless he had already built up name recognition.
Du Pont utilized the strategy made popular by Jimmy Carter in 1976 and attempted by Ben Fernandez in 1980; he would focus heavily on one state and score a victory to propel his candidacy in the future. The state that his floundering campaign chose was Hawaii.
Hawaii was ideal for Du Pont; its Republican Party was notoriously centrist and its potential was untapped. Only time would tell if his strategy would pay off.
Meanwhile, the Quayle campaign was outraged. The original Hawaii caucus was scheduled for Wednesday, January 27th, when the two polls to leak out of the island both had their candidate in the lead. At the last moment, however, the state party decided it had to verify all of the new voters who had registered in the last few weeks before the election.
This was essentially the only effort the Quayle campaign put into the state, however. The campaign had almost noground game or money in the state. To say the least, they were confident in a victory.
The other main candidates, George H.W. Bush, Jack Kemp and Bob Dole spent no time in the state. Bush was trying to make up ground in Iowa, Dole wasassuring support in Kansas and Jack Kemp was attempting to save his campaign in New Hampshire on election day in Hawaii.
The votes came in slowly, and the eventual outcome was a contradiction - predictive but odd, straightforward yetconfusing.
Dan Quayle - 57% of the popular vote
Pete Du Pont - 32% of the popular vote
George H.W. Bush - 6% of the popular vote
Bob Dole - 5% of the popular vote
Jack Kemp - <1% of the popular vote
With the Hawaii caucus being a winner-take-all system, Dan Quayle scored 20 delegates to the national convention. The presumptive winner had not faltered, and his few representatives in Hawaii did enough to get him the win.
The biggest winner of the night, however, was Pete Du Pont. His hands-on campaign style had garnered him over 30% of the popular vote, and immediately gave him name recognition. Newspapers couldn't believe that a man who wasn't even getting 3% nationally could pick up so many votes in a state that wasn't even his home.
Pete Du Pont had hope.
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February 7th, 1988
In comparison, the Kansas primary was the most boring contest in the entire primary cycle.
Through some political tomfoolery by the Dole-backing Kansas legislature, the popular caucus was removed and it was decided that the state representatives would solely vote in the primary.
With Kansas being the home of Bob Dole, he received 99% of the vote from the state house, and all 34 delegates to the national convention.
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Heading into the all-important Iowa Caucus, the delegate count looked like this:
(1,128 delegates needed to win the nomination)
George H.W. Bush - 77 delegates
Bob Dole - 34 delegates
Dan Quayle - 20 delegates
Up next for the Republicans: Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Nevada.
For the Democrats: Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota, South Dakota.
Due to the clout of the looming election in Iowa, the 1988 Hawaii Republican Caucus was completely overshadowed and ignored by all but one candidate.
Throughout the months of campaigning leading up to caucus in Hawaii, the main candidates of the Republican party had taken the Aloha State for granted. With it's limited delegates and lack of use in the general election, visits for most of the candidates were extremely sporadic, if at all.
Except for one.
Pete Du Pont, former governor of Deleware, had realized early in the race that he would struggle in a field which seemed destined for a Bush/Quayle/Dole showdown. In states like Iowa and New Hampshire, where the big three would campaign hard, Du Pont would have no chance unless he had already built up name recognition.
Du Pont utilized the strategy made popular by Jimmy Carter in 1976 and attempted by Ben Fernandez in 1980; he would focus heavily on one state and score a victory to propel his candidacy in the future. The state that his floundering campaign chose was Hawaii.
Hawaii was ideal for Du Pont; its Republican Party was notoriously centrist and its potential was untapped. Only time would tell if his strategy would pay off.
Meanwhile, the Quayle campaign was outraged. The original Hawaii caucus was scheduled for Wednesday, January 27th, when the two polls to leak out of the island both had their candidate in the lead. At the last moment, however, the state party decided it had to verify all of the new voters who had registered in the last few weeks before the election.
This was essentially the only effort the Quayle campaign put into the state, however. The campaign had almost noground game or money in the state. To say the least, they were confident in a victory.
The other main candidates, George H.W. Bush, Jack Kemp and Bob Dole spent no time in the state. Bush was trying to make up ground in Iowa, Dole wasassuring support in Kansas and Jack Kemp was attempting to save his campaign in New Hampshire on election day in Hawaii.
The votes came in slowly, and the eventual outcome was a contradiction - predictive but odd, straightforward yetconfusing.
Dan Quayle - 57% of the popular vote
Pete Du Pont - 32% of the popular vote
George H.W. Bush - 6% of the popular vote
Bob Dole - 5% of the popular vote
Jack Kemp - <1% of the popular vote
With the Hawaii caucus being a winner-take-all system, Dan Quayle scored 20 delegates to the national convention. The presumptive winner had not faltered, and his few representatives in Hawaii did enough to get him the win.
The biggest winner of the night, however, was Pete Du Pont. His hands-on campaign style had garnered him over 30% of the popular vote, and immediately gave him name recognition. Newspapers couldn't believe that a man who wasn't even getting 3% nationally could pick up so many votes in a state that wasn't even his home.
Pete Du Pont had hope.
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February 7th, 1988
In comparison, the Kansas primary was the most boring contest in the entire primary cycle.
Through some political tomfoolery by the Dole-backing Kansas legislature, the popular caucus was removed and it was decided that the state representatives would solely vote in the primary.
With Kansas being the home of Bob Dole, he received 99% of the vote from the state house, and all 34 delegates to the national convention.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heading into the all-important Iowa Caucus, the delegate count looked like this:
(1,128 delegates needed to win the nomination)
George H.W. Bush - 77 delegates
Bob Dole - 34 delegates
Dan Quayle - 20 delegates
Up next for the Republicans: Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Nevada.
For the Democrats: Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota, South Dakota.
- Meyer London
- Word Count: 640