Vice President Bush recovered from an early third place showing in the Iowa's Caucuses, behind Senator Dole and Reverend Pat Robertson, to force all his opponents to withdraw from the race. He thus was unopposed at the Republican convention in New Orleans. The only major issue at the convention was his decision to have Senator Quayle be his running mate, a decision that was widely criticized.
Governor Dukakis of Massachusetts quickly became the front-runner after Gary Hart withdrew do to allegations of sexual improprieties, and Mario Cuomo of New York refused to run. One by one, Dukakis' opponents withdrew, until only Jesse Jackson was left when the convention took place in Atlanta. Dukakis won on the first ballot after receiving 2,876 votes as opposed to Jackson 1218. Dukakis chose Senator Loyd Benson of Texas as his running mate.
When the campaign began Governor Dukakis held a clear lead over Vice President Bush. The Republicans successfully attacked Dukakis in a number of ways. One of the most notable was an attack on Dukakis surrounding the furlough release of Willie Horton an African American convicted of murder who was released on a weekend furlough from prison while Dukakis was governor. Bush stated " don't let murders out on vacation to terrorize innocent people...Dukakis owes the people an explanation of why he supported this outrageous program". The Republicans then went on to sponsor a series of television ads with picutres of Horton and the crime scenes claiming that it was Dukakis who had let that happen. The fact that the program was started by Dukakis's Republican predecessor and that while President Reagan had been governor of California it had been instituted there was not mentioned. This and other attack ads were very effective and Bush won by a large margin.
Participation of Eligible Voters: 50.1%
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