1940 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

The 1940 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 17 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 1940 United States presidential election

1940 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

November 5, 1940
Turnout	78.7%[1] 2.8 pp
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Wendell Willkie Party Democratic Republican Home state New York Indiana Running mate Henry A. Wallace Charles L. McNary Electoral vote 17 0 Popular vote 1,076,522 939,700 Percentage 53.11% 46.36%
County Results Roosevelt   50–60%   60–70% Willkie   50–60%   60–70%
President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

Massachusetts voted for the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, over the Republican nominee, corporate lawyer Wendell Willkie of Indiana. Roosevelt ran with Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace of Iowa, while Willkie’s running mate was Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary of Oregon.

Roosevelt carried the state with 53.11% of the vote to Willkie’s 46.36%, a Democratic victory margin of 6.75%.

As Roosevelt was re-elected nationally to an unprecedented third term, Massachusetts weighed in as about 3% more Republican than the national average. Roosevelt’s win may have been aided by support in New England for aid to Britain during World War Two, as he maintained his votes better among those of English descent than the German-American populations of the interior.[2]

Once a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the Civil War, Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, when a coalition of Irish Catholic and other ethnic immigrant voters primarily based in urban areas turned Massachusetts and neighboring Rhode Island into New England's only reliably Democratic states. Massachusetts voted for Al Smith in 1928, and for Franklin Roosevelt in his national Democratic landslides of 1932 and 1936. Roosevelt’s 1940 victory thus marked the fourth straight win for the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, a state that had voted Democratic only once in its history prior to this series of consecutive Democratic wins.

Roosevelt and Willkie would split the state's 14 counties, winning 7 counties each. However Roosevelt won the most heavily populated parts of the state including the cities of Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, while most of Willkie’s wins were small or island counties.

Results

1940 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1,076,522	53.11%	17
	Republican	Wendell Willkie	939,700	46.36%	0
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	4,091	0.20%	0
	Communist	Earl Browder	3,806	0.19%	0
	Socialist Labor	John W. Aiken	1,492	0.07%	0
	Prohibition	Roger Babson	1,370	0.07%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins	12	0.00%	0
Totals			2,026,993	100.00%	17

Results by county

County	Franklin Delano Roosevelt		Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Total votes cast[4]
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Barnstable	5,351	29.53%	12,659	69.87%	108	0.60%	18,118
Berkshire	32,620	55.40%	25,973	44.11%	287	0.49%	58,880
Bristol	97,571	61.60%	60,143	37.97%	677	0.43%	158,391
Dukes	1,014	37.98%	1,643	61.54%	13	0.49%	2,670
Essex	125,998	51.69%	116,134	47.65%	1,603	0.66%	243,735
Franklin	9,472	39.92%	14,137	59.58%	119	0.50%	23,728
Hampden	89,477	57.80%	64,502	41.67%	817	0.53%	154,796
Hampshire	17,823	52.86%	15,651	46.42%	241	0.71%	33,715
Middlesex	218,662	47.18%	242,658	52.36%	2,116	0.46%	463,436
Nantucket	624	37.89%	1,015	61.63%	8	0.49%	1,647
Norfolk	67,654	40.75%	97,525	58.74%	838	0.50%	166,017
Plymouth	34,481	41.24%	48,617	58.15%	508	0.61%	83,606
Suffolk	243,233	63.32%	138,575	36.07%	2,337	0.61%	384,145
Worcester	132,541	56.62%	100,468	42.92%	1,099	0.47%	234,108
Totals	1,076,522	53.11%	939,700	46.36%	10,771	0.53%	2,026,993

References

1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
2. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 67-69 ISBN 0786422173
3. "1940 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
4. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 214 ISBN 0405077114

See also