| Election Name: | 1940 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1912 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1939 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Previous Year: | 1939 |
| Next Election: | 1941 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Next Year: | 1941 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Seats won |
| Seats For Election: | 34 governorships |
| Election Date: | November 5, 1940; September 9, 1940 (ME) |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Seats Before1: | 30 |
| Seats After1: | 28 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| 1Data1: | 19 |
| 2Data1: | 17 |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Seats Before2: | 18 |
| Seats After2: | 20 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| 1Data2: | 15 |
| 2Data2: | 17 |
| Map Size: | 324px |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1940, in 34 states, concurrent with the House, Senate elections and presidential election, on November 5, 1940. Elections took place on September 9 in Maine.
This was the last time Georgia 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Republican | Defeated, 49.52% | Chase A. Clark (Democratic) 50.48% [10] | ||
| Illinois | 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 | 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) | 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 | 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 | 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 | Democratic | Defeated, 48.64% | Sam C. Ford (Republican) 50.67% Arvo Fredrickson (Communist) 0.70% [20] | ||
| Nebraska | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Dwight Griswold (Republican) 60.86% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 39.14% [21] | ||
| New Hampshire | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Robert O. Blood (Republican) 50.74% F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 49.26% [22] | ||
| New Jersey | 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 | 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 | 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 | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Herbert B. Maw (Democratic) 52.07% Don B. Colton (Republican) 47.69% Ada Williams Quinn (Independent) 0.24% [32] | ||
| Vermont | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | William Henry Wills (Republican) 64.03% John McGrath (Democratic) 35.97% [33] | ||
| Washington | 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 | 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] |