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United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1940, in 34 states, concurrent with theHouse,Senate elections andpresidential election, on November 5, 1940. Elections took place on September 9 inMaine.
This was the last timeGeorgia elected its governors to 2-year terms, as it switched to 4-years terms from the 1942 election.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Robert Taylor Jones | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | Sidney Preston Osborn (Democratic) 65.52% Jerrie W. Lee (Republican) 33.81% Charles R. Osburn (Prohibition) 0.67% [1] |
| Arkansas | Carl E. Bailey | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | Homer Adkins (Democratic) 91.36% H. C. Stump (Republican) 8.22% Walter S. McNutt (Independent) 0.43% [2] |
| Colorado | Ralph Lawrence Carr | Republican | Re-elected, 54.37% | George E. Saunders (Democratic) 44.96% Carle Whitehead (Socialist) 0.41% Laurence W. Cofman (Prohibition) 0.27% [3] |
| Connecticut | Raymond E. Baldwin | Republican | Defeated, 47.78% | Robert A. Hurley (Democratic) 49.54% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 2.31% Joseph Mackay (Socialist Labor) 0.23% Michael A. Russo (Communist) 0.15% [4] |
| Delaware | Richard McMullen | Democratic | Won Democratic primary but retired as candidate, Republican victory | Walter W. Bacon (Republican) 52.38% Josiah Marvel Jr. (Democratic) 45.41% Ivan Culbertson (Liberal Democrat) 2.21% [5] |
| Florida | Fred P. Cone | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Spessard Holland (Democratic) 100.00% [6] (Democratic primary runoff results) Spessard L. Holland 56.95% Francis P. Whitehair 43.05% [7] |
| Georgia | Eurith D. Rivers | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Eugene Talmadge (Democratic) 99.60% J. L. R. Boyd (Prohibition) 0.30% Joe Wallace (Independent) 0.10% [8] (Democratic primary results) Eugene Talmadge 51.58% Columbus Roberts 35.95% Hosea Abit Nix 12.47% [9] |
| Idaho | C. A. Bottolfsen | Republican | Defeated, 49.52% | Chase A. Clark (Democratic) 50.48% [10] |
| Illinois | John Henry Stelle | Democratic | Retired, Republican victory | Dwight H. Green (Republican) 52.93% Harry Hershey (Democratic) 46.74% Arthur McDowell (Socialist) 0.18% Clay Freeman Gaumer (Prohibition) 0.16% [11] |
| Indiana | M. Clifford Townsend | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Henry F. Schricker (Democratic) 49.92% Glenn R. Hillis (Republican) 49.69% Mary Donovan Hapgood (Socialist) 0.27% Omer S. Whiteman (Prohibition) 0.08% Herman Barcus Barefield (Socialist Labor) 0.04% [12] |
| Iowa | George A. Wilson | Republican | Re-elected, 52.72% | John Valentine (Democratic) 47.07% M. M. Heptonstall (Prohibition) 0.11% Charles Speck (Communist) 0.11% [13] |
| Kansas | Payne Ratner | Republican | Re-elected, 49.63% | William H. Burke (Democratic) 49.58% David C. White (Prohibition) 0.61% Ida A. Beloof (Socialist) 0.19% [14] |
| Maine (held, 9 September 1940) | Lewis O. Barrows | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Sumner Sewall (Republican) 63.79% Fulton J. Redman (Democratic) 36.08% Helen Knudsen (Communist) 0.13% [15] |
| Massachusetts | Leverett Saltonstall | Republican | Re-elected, 49.74% | Paul A. Dever (Democratic) 49.46% Otis Archer Hood (Communist) 0.28% Jeffrey W. Campbell (Socialist) 0.23% Henning A. Blomen (Socialist Labor) 0.17% E. Tallmadge Root (Prohibition) 0.12% [16] |
| Michigan | Luren Dickinson | Republican | Defeated, 46.59% | Murray Van Wagoner (Democratic) 53.06% Seth Whitmore (Socialist) 0.20% Philip Raymond (Communist) 0.12% Ralph Naylor (Socialist Labor) 0.04% [17] |
| Minnesota | Harold Stassen | Republican | Re-elected, 52.06% | Hjalmar Petersen (Farmer-Labor) 36.55% Edward Murphy (Democratic) 11.14% John William Castle (Industrial) 0.25% [18] |
| Missouri | Lloyd C. Stark | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | Forrest C. Donnell (Republican) 50.05% Larry McDaniel (Democratic) 49.85% Jed A. High (Socialist) 0.09% William Wesley Cox (Socialist Labor) 0.01% [19] |
| Montana | Roy E. Ayers | Democratic | Defeated, 48.64% | Sam C. Ford (Republican) 50.67% Arvo Fredrickson (Communist) 0.70% [20] |
| Nebraska | Robert Leroy Cochran | Democratic | Retired torun for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Dwight Griswold (Republican) 60.86% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 39.14% [21] |
| New Hampshire | Francis P. Murphy | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Robert O. Blood (Republican) 50.74% F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 49.26% [22] |
| New Jersey | A. Harry Moore | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Charles Edison (Democratic) 51.38% Robert C. Hendrickson (Republican) 48.04% Marion Douglas (Socialist) 0.40% Manuel Cantor (Communist) 0.08% John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor) 0.07% Elmo L. Bateman (National Prohibition) 0.03% [23] |
| New Mexico | John E. Miles | Democratic | Re-elected, 55.59% | Maurice Miera (Republican) 44.41% [24] |
| North Carolina | Clyde R. Hoey | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | J. Melville Broughton (Democratic) 75.70% Robert H. McNeill (Republican) 24.30% [25] |
| North Dakota | John Moses | Democratic | Re-elected, 63.11% | Jack A. Patterson (Republican) 36.89% [26] |
| Ohio | John W. Bricker | Republican | Re-elected, 55.55% | Martin L. Davey (Democratic) 44.45% [27] |
| Rhode Island | William Henry Vanderbilt III | Republican | Defeated, 44.08% | J. Howard McGrath (Democratic) 55.84% Wilfred J. Boissy (Communist) 0.08% [28] |
| South Dakota | Harlan J. Bushfield | Republican | Re-elected, 55.14% | Lewis W. Bicknell (Democratic) 44.86% [29] |
| Tennessee | Prentice Cooper | Democratic | Re-elected, 72.09% | C. Arthur Bruce (Republican) 27.91% [30] |
| Texas | W. Lee O'Daniel | Democratic | Re-elected, 94.43% | George C. Hopkins (Republican) 5.55% Ben H. Lauderdale (Communist) 0.03% [31] |
| Utah | Henry H. Blood | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Herbert B. Maw (Democratic) 52.07% Don B. Colton (Republican) 47.69% Ada Williams Quinn (Independent) 0.24% [32] |
| Vermont | George Aiken | Republican | Retired torun for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | William Henry Wills (Republican) 64.03% John McGrath (Democratic) 35.97% [33] |
| Washington | Clarence D. Martin | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Republican victory | Arthur B. Langlie (Republican) 50.24% Clarence Dill (Democratic) 49.49% John Brockway (Communist) 0.21% P. J. Ater (Socialist Labor) 0.06% [34] |
| West Virginia | Homer A. Holt | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 56.38% Daniel Boone Dawson (Republican) 43.62% [35] |
| Wisconsin | Julius P. Heil | Republican | Re-elected, 40.67% | Orland Steen Loomis (Progressive) 39.78% Francis E. McGovern (Democratic) 19.29% Fred B. Blair (Communist) 0.17% Louis Fisher (Socialist Labor) 0.08% Scattering 0.01% [36] |
