1940 United States presidential election in Maine

The 1940 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 5, 1940. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1940 United States presidential election. State voters chose five electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1940 United States presidential election in Maine

November 5, 1940

Nominee Wendell Willkie Franklin D. Roosevelt Party Republican Democratic Home state Indiana New York Running mate Charles L. McNary Henry A. Wallace Electoral vote 5 0 Popular vote 163,951 156,478 Percentage 51.10% 48.77%

County Results Willkie   50-60%   60-70% Roosevelt   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

Maine was won by Republican businessman Wendell Willkie of Indiana, who was running against incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York. Willkie ran with Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon while Roosevelt ran with Henry A. Wallace of Iowa.

Willkie won Maine by a narrow margin of 2.33%, a swing of 11.66% to Roosevelt during an election where FDR lost 697 counties that had supported him four years earlier, mostly because of German Americans opposition to increasing "tension" with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.[1] Contrariwise, the powerful "Anglophile" tendencies of Yankee and French-Canadian Maine meant that support for aid to the United Kingdom and France in ongoing World War II turned substantial numbers of normally rock-ribbed GOP voters to Roosevelt.[2] This was the first time Kennebec County had ever voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[3]

Results

1940 United States presidential election in Maine[4]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Popular vote		Electoral vote
				Count	%	Count	%
	Republican	Wendell Willkie of Indiana	Charles Linza McNary of Oregon	163,951	51.10%	5	100.00%
	Democratic	Franklin Delano Roosevelt of New York	Henry Agard Wallace of Iowa	156,478	48.77%	0	0.00%
	Communist	Earl Russell Browder of Kansas	James W. Ford of New York	411	0.13%	0	0.00%
Total				320,840	100.00%	5	100.00%

Results by county

County	Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican		Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic		Earl Russell Browder Communist		Total votes cast[5]
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Androscoggin	10,394	34.99%	19,273	64.88%	40	0.13%	29,707
Aroostook	13,888	58.34%	9,877	41.49%	39	0.16%	23,804
Cumberland	29,795	52.47%	26,911	47.39%	76	0.13%	56,782
Franklin	4,548	58.47%	3,224	41.44%	7	0.09%	7,779
Hancock	8,539	66.36%	4,315	33.54%	13	0.10%	12,867
Kennebec	14,877	48.36%	15,861	51.56%	27	0.09%	30,765
Knox	6,530	60.76%	4,197	39.05%	20	0.19%	10,747
Lincoln	5,244	68.42%	2,415	31.51%	5	0.07%	7,664
Oxford	8,656	53.49%	7,502	46.36%	25	0.15%	16,183
Penobscot	18,674	55.79%	14,757	44.09%	40	0.12%	33,471
Piscataquis	3,806	52.05%	3,499	47.85%	7	0.10%	7,312
Sagadahoc	3,504	43.30%	4,575	56.54%	13	0.16%	8,092
Somerset	7,526	53.42%	6,534	46.38%	28	0.20%	14,088
Waldo	5,170	61.56%	3,214	38.27%	14	0.17%	8,398
Washington	6,253	43.65%	8,048	56.18%	25	0.17%	14,326
York	16,547	42.59%	22,276	57.33%	32	0.08%	38,855
Totals	163,951	51.10%	156,478	48.77%	411	0.13%	320,840

See also

• United States presidential elections in Maine

References

1. Dunn, Susan; 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler–the Election Amid the Storm, p. 107 ISBN 0300190867
2. Phillips, Kevin; The Emerging Republican Majority; p. 93 ISBN 1400852293
3. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 68 ISBN 0786422173
4. "1940 Presidential General Election Results – Maine". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
5. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 203 ISBN 0405077114