Nebraska was won by incumbent United States Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, who was running against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

Even in this drought-influenced election, Nebraska remained largely immune to any significant softening of the Republican vote, as occurred in nearby, generally solidly Republican states at the time such as South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, and Kansas.

The election was very partisan, with more than 99 percent of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot.

[1] As has been typical ever since the 1950s, nearly every county in Nebraska turned out a majority for the Republican Party.

To date, this remains the last time that Nebraska has voted under a winner-take-all system in a presidential election; it would start allocating its electoral votes by congressional district in 1992.