# 1940 United States gubernatorial elections

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.

## Results

| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| Florida | Fred P. Cone | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Spessard Holland (Democratic) 100.00% (Democratic primary runoff results) Spessard L. Holland 56.95% Francis P. Whitehair 43.05% |
| 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% (Democratic primary results) Eugene Talmadge 51.58% Columbus Roberts 35.95% Hosea Abit Nix 12.47% |
| Idaho | C. A. Bottolfsen | Republican | Defeated, 49.52% | Chase A. Clark (Democratic) 50.48% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| Montana | Roy E. Ayers | Democratic | Defeated, 48.64% | Sam C. Ford (Republican) 50.67% Arvo Fredrickson (Communist) 0.70% |
| Nebraska | Robert Leroy Cochran | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Dwight Griswold (Republican) 60.86% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 39.14% |
| New Hampshire | Francis P. Murphy | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Robert O. Blood (Republican) 50.74% F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 49.26% |
| 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% |
| New Mexico | John E. Miles | Democratic | Re-elected, 55.59% | Maurice Miera (Republican) 44.41% |
| North Carolina | Clyde R. Hoey | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | J. Melville Broughton (Democratic) 75.70% Robert H. McNeill (Republican) 24.30% |
| North Dakota | John Moses | Democratic | Re-elected, 63.11% | Jack A. Patterson (Republican) 36.89% |
| Ohio | John W. Bricker | Republican | Re-elected, 55.55% | Martin L. Davey (Democratic) 44.45% |
| Rhode Island | William Henry Vanderbilt III | Republican | Defeated, 44.08% | J. Howard McGrath (Democratic) 55.84% Wilfred J. Boissy (Communist) 0.08% |
| South Dakota | Harlan J. Bushfield | Republican | Re-elected, 55.14% | Lewis W. Bicknell (Democratic) 44.86% |
| Tennessee | Prentice Cooper | Democratic | Re-elected, 72.09% | C. Arthur Bruce (Republican) 27.91% |
| Texas | W. Lee O'Daniel | Democratic | Re-elected, 94.43% | George C. Hopkins (Republican) 5.55% Ben H. Lauderdale (Communist) 0.03% |
| 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% |
| Vermont | George Aiken | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | William Henry Wills (Republican) 64.03% John McGrath (Democratic) 35.97% |
| 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% |
| West Virginia | Homer A. Holt | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 56.38% Daniel Boone Dawson (Republican) 43.62% |
| 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% |