Election 1940 Results
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1940 governor election results by state and county
Franklin D. Roosevelt's third-term win came with 19 Democratic governorships, as Kansas, Indiana and Massachusetts were each decided by under half a point.
35 governor races were held in 1940. Democrats won 18 and Republicans 17.
The closest were Kansas (R+0.1), Missouri (R+0.2) and Indiana (D+0.2). 10 governorships changed party: Connecticut to the Democrats, Delaware to the Republicans, Idaho to the Democrats, Illinois to the Republicans, Michigan to the Democrats, Missouri to the Republicans, Montana to the Republicans, Nebraska to the Republicans, Rhode Island to the Democrats and Washington to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1940 governor elections
Franklin D. Roosevelt broke the two-term tradition in 1940, beating Wendell Willkie as war spread in Europe. The governor races were close, with Democrats winning 19 and Republicans 16, and several decided by a fraction of a point. Payne Ratner held Kansas for the Republicans by about 0.1 points, and Leverett Saltonstall was re-elected in Massachusetts by 0.3 points over Paul A. Dever. In Indiana, Democrat Henry F. Schricker won by 0.2 points. Arthur B. Langlie gained Washington for the Republicans by under a point over Clarence C. Dill, a former senator, and Republicans also took Illinois, Nebraska, Delaware and Montana, where Sam C. Ford won by about 2 points. Missouri produced a disputed count. Republican Forrest C. Donnell finished narrowly ahead of Larry McDaniel, but the Democratic legislature delayed his inauguration while it pursued a contest, until the state supreme court ordered him seated. Democrats gained Michigan, Rhode Island and Idaho, where Chase A. Clark won by about a point, and Robert A. Hurley took Connecticut from Raymond E. Baldwin. Charles Edison won New Jersey by about 3 points.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Sidney Preston Osborn | 97,606 (65.5%) | Jerrie W. Lee | 50,358 (33.8%) | 1,003 | D+31.7 |
| Arkansas | Homer M. Adkins | 184,578 (91.4%) | H. C. Stump | 16,600 (8.2%) | 869 | D+83.1 |
| Colorado | George E. Saunders | 245,292 (45.0%) | Ralph L. Carr | 296,671 (54.4%) | 3,673 | R+9.4 |
| Connecticut flip | Robert A. Hurley | 388,361 (49.5%) | Raymond E. Baldwin | 373,799 (47.7%) | 21,828 | D+1.9 |
| Delaware flip | Josiah Marvel Jr. | 61,237 (45.4%) | Walter W. Bacon | 70,629 (52.4%) | 2,958 | R+7.0 |
| Florida | Spessard Holland | 334,152 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Georgia | Eugene Talmadge | 289,877 (99.6%) | none | 1,171 | D+99.6 | |
| Idaho flip | Chase A. Clark | 120,420 (50.5%) | C. A. Bottolfsen | 118,117 (49.5%) | D+1.0 | |
| Illinois flip | Harry B. Hershey | 1,940,833 (46.7%) | Dwight H. Green | 2,197,778 (52.9%) | 13,990 | R+6.2 |
| Indiana | Henry F. Schricker | 889,620 (49.9%) | Glenn R. Hillis | 885,657 (49.7%) | 6,975 | D+0.2 |
| Iowa | John Valentine | 553,941 (47.1%) | George Wilson | 620,480 (52.7%) | 2,547 | R+5.7 |
| Kansas | William H. Burke | 425,498 (49.6%) | Payne Ratner | 425,928 (49.6%) | 6,863 | R+0.1 |
| Louisiana | Sam H. Jones | 225,841 (99.4%) | Republican | 1,367 (0.6%) | D+98.8 | |
| Maine | Fulton J. Redman | 92,053 (36.1%) | Sumner Sewall | 162,719 (63.8%) | 325 | R+27.7 |
| Massachusetts | Paul A. Dever | 993,635 (49.5%) | Leverett Saltonstall | 999,223 (49.7%) | 15,962 | R+0.3 |
| Michigan flip | Murray D. Van Wagoner | 1,077,065 (53.1%) | Luren D. Dickinson | 945,784 (46.6%) | 7,220 | D+6.5 |
| Minnesota | Edward Murphy | 140,021 (11.1%) | Harold Stassen | 654,686 (52.0%) | Hjalmar Petersen (Farmer-Labor) 459,609 (36.5%) |
R+40.9 |
| Missouri flip | Larry McDaniel | 907,917 (49.9%) | Forrest C. Donnell | 911,530 (50.1%) | 1,760 | R+0.2 |
| Montana flip | Roy E. Ayers | 119,453 (48.6%) | Samuel C. Ford | 124,435 (50.7%) | 1,713 | R+2.0 |
| Nebraska flip | Terry Carpenter | 235,167 (39.1%) | Dwight Griswold | 365,638 (60.9%) | R+21.7 | |
| New Hampshire | F. Clyde Keefe | 109,093 (49.3%) | Robert O. Blood | 112,386 (50.7%) | R+1.5 | |
| New Jersey | Charles Edison | 984,407 (51.4%) | Robert C. Hendrickson | 920,512 (48.0%) | 11,146 | D+3.3 |
| New Mexico | John E. Miles | 103,035 (55.6%) | Mauricio F. Miera | 82,306 (44.4%) | D+11.2 | |
| North Carolina | J. Melville Broughton | 608,742 (75.7%) | Robert H. McNeill | 195,402 (24.3%) | D+51.4 | |
| North Dakota | John Moses | 173,278 (63.1%) | Jack A. Patterson | 101,287 (36.9%) | D+26.2 | |
| Ohio | Martin L. Davey | 1,460,396 (44.5%) | John W. Bricker | 1,824,863 (55.5%) | R+11.1 | |
| Rhode Island flip | J. Howard McGrath | 177,938 (55.8%) | William H. Vanderbilt | 140,480 (44.1%) | 257 | D+11.8 |
| South Dakota | Lewis W. Bicknell | 136,428 (44.9%) | Harlan J. Bushfield | 167,686 (55.1%) | R+10.3 | |
| Tennessee | Prentice Cooper | 323,466 (72.1%) | C. Arthur Bruce | 125,245 (27.9%) | D+44.2 | |
| Texas | W. Lee O'Daniel | 1,019,338 (94.4%) | George C. Hopkins | 59,895 (5.5%) | 315 | D+88.9 |
| Utah | Herbert B. Maw | 128,519 (52.1%) | Don B. Colton | 117,713 (47.7%) | 580 | D+4.4 |
| Vermont | John McGrath | 49,068 (36.0%) | William H. Wills | 87,346 (64.0%) | 2 | R+28.1 |
| Washington flip | Clarence Cleveland Dill | 386,706 (49.5%) | Arthur B. Langlie | 392,522 (50.2%) | 2,100 | R+0.7 |
| West Virginia | Matthew M. Neely | 496,028 (56.4%) | Daniel Boone Dawson | 383,698 (43.6%) | D+12.8 | |
| Wisconsin | Francis E. McGovern | 264,985 (19.3%) | Julius P. Heil | 558,678 (40.7%) | Orland S. Loomis (Progressive) 546,436 (39.8%) |
R+21.4 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.