| Election Name: | 1940 Montana gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Montana |
| Flag Year: | 1905 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1936 Montana gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1936 |
| Next Election: | 1944 Montana gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1944 |
| Election Date: | November 5, 1940 |
| Image1: | File:Sam C. Ford.jpg |
| Nominee1: | Sam C. Ford |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 124,435 |
| Percentage1: | 50.67% |
| Nominee2: | Roy E. Ayers |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 119,453 |
| Percentage2: | 48.64% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Roy E. Ayers |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Sam C. Ford |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 81.50%1.70[1] |
The 1940 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Governor of Montana Roy E. Ayers, who was first elected governor in 1936, ran for re-election. He narrowly won the Democratic primary by just over a thousand votes to win renomination, and advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by Sam C. Ford, a former Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and the Republican nominee. Ultimately, in spite of the fact that then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt comfortably won the state in that year's presidential election, Ford narrowly defeated Ayers to win his first of two terms as governor.