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1940 United States presidential election in California

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1940 United States presidential election in California

← 1936 November 5, 1940 1944 →
Turnout81.44% (of registered voters) Decrease 1.92 pp
78.32% (of eligible voters) Increase 7.76 pp[1]
 
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Wendell Willkie
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York New York
Running mate Henry A. Wallace Charles L. McNary
Electoral vote 22 0
Popular vote 1,877,618 1,351,419
Percentage 57.44% 41.34%

County Results

President before election

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

Elected President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

The 1940 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. State voters chose 22 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Democratic incumbent, Franklin Roosevelt, over the Republican challenger, businessman Wendell Willkie.

Willkie did nonetheless make considerable gains vis-à-vis the previous Republican nominee, Alf Landon, who remains the solitary Republican nominee to not carry a single county in the state. Willkie carried seven counties scattered across the state and gained ten percentage points on Landon's performance.

This is the last election where the Democrats won Sutter County, which, as of the 2020 presidential election,[2] stands as the longest run voting for one party by any California county.[3] Mono County would not vote Democratic again until John Kerry in 2004,[4] and Orange County would not vote Democratic again until Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Results

[edit]
1940 United States presidential election in California[5]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent) 1,877,618 57.44% 22
Republican Wendell Willkie 1,351,419 41.34% 0
Progressive[a] Norman Thomas 16,506 0.50% 0
Communist Earl Russell Browder 13,586 0.42% 0
Prohibition Roger Babson 9,400 0.29% 0
No party Write-ins 262 0.01% 0
Invalid or blank votes
Totals 3,268,791 100.00% 22
Voter turnout

Results by county

[edit]
County Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic
Wendell Willkie
Republican
Norman Thomas
Progressive
Earl Browder
Communist
Roger Babson
Prohibition
Scattering
Write-in
Margin Total votes cast[5]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 148,224 55.21% 116,961 43.56% 1,618 0.60% 1,285 0.48% 408 0.15% 0 0.00% 31,263 11.64% 268,496
Alpine 62 32.98% 125 66.49% 0 0.00% 1 0.53% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -63 -33.51% 188
Amador 2,762 66.14% 1,372 32.85% 15 0.36% 9 0.22% 18 0.43% 0 0.00% 1,390 33.29% 4,176
Butte 10,684 58.15% 7,433 40.46% 117 0.64% 77 0.42% 61 0.33% 0 0.00% 3,251 17.70% 18,372
Calaveras 2,405 58.90% 1,649 40.39% 21 0.51% 4 0.10% 4 0.10% 0 0.00% 756 18.52% 4,083
Colusa 2,655 59.48% 1,774 39.74% 15 0.34% 5 0.11% 15 0.34% 0 0.00% 881 19.74% 4,464
Contra Costa 30,900 61.75% 18,627 37.22% 238 0.48% 209 0.42% 63 0.13% 3 0.01% 12,273 24.53% 50,040
Del Norte 1,034 44.92% 1,233 53.56% 26 1.13% 5 0.22% 4 0.17% 0 0.00% -199 -8.64% 2,302
El Dorado 4,144 66.44% 2,019 32.37% 37 0.59% 15 0.24% 22 0.35% 0 0.00% 2,125 34.07% 6,237
Fresno 48,866 69.07% 21,079 29.79% 354 0.50% 143 0.20% 308 0.44% 0 0.00% 27,787 39.27% 70,750
Glenn 3,095 54.96% 2,473 43.92% 31 0.55% 2 0.04% 30 0.53% 0 0.00% 622 11.05% 5,631
Humboldt 12,329 55.98% 9,470 43.00% 92 0.42% 78 0.35% 55 0.25% 0 0.00% 2,859 12.98% 22,024
Imperial 7,728 52.53% 6,854 46.59% 64 0.44% 25 0.17% 41 0.28% 0 0.00% 874 5.94% 14,712
Inyo 1,820 54.65% 1,483 44.53% 12 0.36% 3 0.09% 12 0.36% 0 0.00% 337 10.12% 3,330
Kern 32,202 61.78% 19,445 37.30% 219 0.42% 106 0.20% 154 0.30% 0 0.00% 12,757 24.47% 52,126
Kings 8,307 67.43% 3,911 31.75% 41 0.33% 9 0.07% 52 0.42% 0 0.00% 4,396 35.68% 12,320
Lake 1,897 45.70% 2,215 53.36% 23 0.55% 5 0.12% 11 0.26% 0 0.00% -318 -7.66% 4,151
Lassen 4,367 69.17% 1,902 30.13% 20 0.32% 11 0.17% 13 0.21% 0 0.00% 2,465 39.05% 6,313
Los Angeles 822,718 58.13% 574,266 40.58% 6,971 0.49% 6,914 0.49% 4,151 0.29% 249 0.02% 248,452 17.56% 1,415,269
Madera 5,749 67.61% 2,653 31.20% 32 0.38% 35 0.41% 34 0.40% 0 0.00% 3,096 36.41% 8,503
Marin 11,365 50.20% 10,974 48.47% 151 0.67% 130 0.57% 20 0.09% 0 0.00% 391 1.73% 22,640
Mariposa 1,935 64.44% 1,035 34.47% 13 0.43% 11 0.37% 9 0.30% 0 0.00% 900 29.97% 3,003
Mendocino 7,055 56.13% 5,345 42.53% 70 0.56% 66 0.53% 33 0.26% 0 0.00% 1,710 13.60% 12,569
Merced 10,501 62.57% 6,101 36.35% 84 0.50% 27 0.16% 71 0.42% 0 0.00% 4,400 26.22% 16,784
Modoc 2,232 61.49% 1,371 37.77% 14 0.39% 4 0.11% 6 0.17% 3 0.08% 861 23.72% 3,630
Mono 523 52.56% 459 46.13% 2 0.20% 5 0.50% 6 0.60% 0 0.00% 64 6.43% 995
Monterey 14,758 55.00% 11,810 44.01% 120 0.45% 76 0.28% 69 0.26% 0 0.00% 2,948 10.99% 26,833
Napa 6,771 52.68% 5,924 46.09% 60 0.47% 34 0.26% 64 0.50% 0 0.00% 847 6.59% 12,853
Nevada 5,782 66.01% 2,863 32.69% 57 0.65% 27 0.31% 30 0.34% 0 0.00% 2,919 33.33% 8,759
Orange 28,236 43.44% 36,070 55.49% 255 0.39% 82 0.13% 354 0.54% 0 0.00% -7,834 -12.05% 64,997
Placer 8,402 67.56% 3,887 31.26% 73 0.59% 35 0.28% 39 0.31% 0 0.00% 4,515 36.31% 12,436
Plumas 3,418 72.11% 1,270 26.79% 34 0.72% 10 0.21% 8 0.17% 0 0.00% 2,148 45.32% 4,740
Riverside 20,003 47.20% 21,779 51.39% 197 0.46% 56 0.13% 345 0.81% 0 0.00% -1,776 -4.19% 42,380
Sacramento 51,351 68.09% 23,201 30.76% 452 0.60% 225 0.30% 187 0.25% 0 0.00% 28,150 37.33% 75,416
San Benito 2,441 49.99% 2,407 49.29% 17 0.35% 11 0.23% 7 0.14% 0 0.00% 34 0.70% 4,883
San Bernardino 37,520 54.47% 30,511 44.30% 320 0.46% 138 0.20% 389 0.56% 0 0.00% 7,009 10.18% 68,878
San Diego 71,188 55.57% 55,434 43.27% 684 0.53% 348 0.27% 456 0.36% 0 0.00% 15,754 12.30% 128,110
San Francisco 185,607 59.51% 122,449 39.26% 1,513 0.49% 1,935 0.62% 374 0.12% 0 0.00% 63,158 20.25% 311,878
San Joaquin 26,536 52.55% 23,403 46.34% 239 0.47% 141 0.28% 179 0.35% 0 0.00% 3,133 6.20% 50,498
San Luis Obispo 8,499 53.39% 7,204 45.25% 79 0.50% 67 0.42% 71 0.45% 0 0.00% 1,295 8.13% 15,920
San Mateo 29,831 52.38% 26,539 46.60% 290 0.51% 211 0.37% 80 0.14% 0 0.00% 3,292 5.78% 56,951
Santa Barbara 17,237 54.41% 14,107 44.53% 182 0.57% 91 0.29% 61 0.19% 0 0.00% 3,130 9.88% 31,678
Santa Clara 40,449 49.63% 40,100 49.20% 458 0.56% 294 0.36% 195 0.24% 0 0.00% 349 0.43% 81,496
Santa Cruz 10,683 47.51% 11,453 50.93% 175 0.78% 71 0.32% 104 0.46% 0 0.00% -770 -3.42% 22,486
Shasta 8,662 68.03% 3,909 30.70% 66 0.52% 71 0.56% 25 0.20% 0 0.00% 4,753 37.33% 12,733
Sierra 1,057 66.98% 511 32.38% 7 0.44% 2 0.13% 1 0.06% 0 0.00% 546 34.60% 1,578
Siskiyou 7,714 63.17% 4,387 35.92% 56 0.46% 18 0.15% 36 0.29% 1 0.01% 3,327 27.24% 12,212
Solano 15,054 70.58% 6,081 28.51% 83 0.39% 53 0.25% 57 0.27% 0 0.00% 8,973 42.07% 21,328
Sonoma 15,230 47.04% 16,819 51.94% 145 0.45% 119 0.37% 60 0.19% 6 0.02% -1,589 -4.91% 32,379
Stanislaus 16,494 51.96% 14,803 46.63% 155 0.49% 58 0.18% 236 0.74% 0 0.00% 1,691 5.33% 31,746
Sutter 4,195 57.11% 3,089 42.06% 26 0.35% 15 0.20% 20 0.27% 0 0.00% 1,106 15.06% 7,345
Tehama 3,618 54.59% 2,913 43.95% 53 0.80% 13 0.20% 31 0.47% 0 0.00% 705 10.64% 6,628
Trinity 1,431 63.83% 780 34.79% 12 0.54% 15 0.67% 4 0.18% 0 0.00% 651 29.04% 2,242
Tulare 20,129 55.96% 15,414 42.85% 209 0.58% 41 0.11% 178 0.49% 0 0.00% 4,715 13.11% 35,971
Tuolumne 3,541 62.96% 2,004 35.63% 27 0.48% 29 0.52% 23 0.41% 0 0.00% 1,537 27.33% 5,624
Ventura 15,182 57.00% 11,225 42.15% 84 0.32% 64 0.24% 79 0.30% 0 0.00% 3,957 14.86% 26,634
Yolo 6,380 58.78% 4,373 40.29% 63 0.58% 19 0.18% 19 0.18% 0 0.00% 2,007 18.49% 10,854
Yuba 4,660 64.57% 2,471 34.24% 35 0.48% 33 0.46% 18 0.25% 0 0.00% 2,189 30.33% 7,217
Total 1,877,618 57.44% 1,351,419 41.34% 16,506 0.50% 13,586 0.42% 9,400 0.29% 262 0.01% 526,199 16.10% 3,268,791

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

[edit]

Electors

[edit]

Up through 1936, voters in California chose presidential electors directly. Starting in 1940, however, California adopted the modern "short ballot" where voters select from the actual candidates' names and each vote is treated as being for a candidate and his or her party's entire slate of electors. The individuals below were nominated by each party to serve as the state's members of the 1940 Electoral College should their party's ticket win the state:[5]

Franklin D. Roosevelt
& Henry A. Wallace
Democratic Party
Wendell Willkie
& Charles L. McNary
Republican Party
Norman Thomas
& Maynard Krueger
Progressive Party
Earl Browder
& James W. Ford
Communist Party
Roger Babson
& Edgar V. Moorman
Prohibition Party
  • C. M. Brown
  • Mrs. J. Frank Burke
  • Charles L. Culbert
  • Phil Davies
  • Hugh P. Donnelly
  • A. D. Erickson
  • John W. Evans
  • Mrs. O. P. Hanna
  • Edward Henderson
  • George C. Highley
  • Carl E. Johnston
  • James Kehoen
  • Mrs. George J. Knox
  • Elmer E. Lore
  • Clarence J. Novotny
  • Ann Patton
  • Charles J. Powers
  • Clyde C. Redwine
  • Harry See
  • Jack B. Tenney
  • Vincent Thomas
  • C. V. Whited
  • Joseph Bancroft
  • Mariana Bertola
  • Ralph W. Bull
  • H. L. Carnahan
  • Bartley W. Cavanaugh
  • Ford A. Chatters
  • Robert M. Clarke
  • Mrs. Jorn D. Fredericks
  • Betty Hill
  • Harold C. Holmes Jr.
  • Norman Huston
  • Edgar A. Luce
  • Jesse M. Mayo
  • Alexander McCabe
  • D. Jack Metzger
  • John Francis Neylan
  • Kathryn Niehouse
  • Olivia M. Redwine
  • Theodore J. Roche
  • Joseph Scott
  • William R. Sharkey
  • W. B. Williams
  • George Aranov
  • Erma Arnstein
  • Sigmund Arywitz
  • Herbert L. Coggins
  • Allan Darby
  • Alfred Fisk
  • Lilian Goodman
  • Bernice E. Harding
  • Otis Linn
  • Arvid Nelson
  • Margaret Paine
  • Joseph Plecarpo
  • Margaret Pomeroy
  • Gerald M. Rubin
  • Clarence E. Rust
  • Evelyn J. Sessions
  • Millie Shapiro
  • Willard F. Smith
  • W. Hilton Smith
  • Blanche F. Tipton
  • Andrew V. Tuvinall
  • Gilbert L. Willhite
  • Louretta Adams
  • George Ashby
  • Leo Baroway
  • Archie Brown
  • Emil Freed
  • Charles Gricus
  • Newell Johnson
  • Walter Lambert
  • Albert J. Lima
  • James McLean
  • Jack Moore
  • Elizabeth Nicholas
  • Clarence Paton
  • Pettis Perry
  • John Pollki
  • Esco Richardson
  • George Sandy
  • Celeste Strack
  • Anita Whitney
  • Allan Yates
  • Oleta Yates
  • Adele Young
  • Percy F. Adams
  • Lambert T. Adell
  • Russell S. Dingley
  • W. H. Easterling
  • J. W. Farr
  • W. P. Fassett
  • Joseph Fusch
  • Nellie S. Harriss
  • Virgil G. Hinshaw
  • E. Dow Hoffman
  • B. O. Hoover
  • Ethel Hubler
  • Gilbert G. Hudson
  • O. U. Hull
  • William I. Hull
  • J. C. Jeter
  • H. A. Johnson
  • Bertha Jones
  • Mary Stark Kerr
  • Frank G. H. Stevens
  • L. B. Steward
  • Edward P. Webster

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Thomas was the Socialist nominee on the national ticket but in California ran on the "Progressive" ticket. This Progressive Party is different both Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party and Robert M. La Follette's Progressive Party

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "California Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, p. 131 ISBN 0786422173
  5. ^ a b c California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote, General Election, November 5, 1940. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. pp. 4–6. Retrieved July 17, 2024.