1940 United States presidential election in Montana explained

See main article: 1940 United States presidential election.

The 1940 United States presidential election in Montana took place on November 5, 1940 as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Montana voted powerfully to give Democratic nominee, President Franklin D. Roosevelt an unprecedented third term, over the Republican nominee, corporate lawyer Wendell Willkie, a dark horse candidate that had never before run for a political office. Roosevelt won Montana by a convincing 18.61% margin., this remains the last election in which the following counties have voted for a Democratic presidential nominee: Broadwater, Madison, Meagher and Garfield.^[1]

Results

1940 United States presidential election in Montana[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	145,698	58.78%	4
	Republican	Wendell Willkie	99,579	40.17%	0
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	1,443	0.58%	0
	Prohibition	Roger Babson	664	0.27%	0
	Communist	Earl Browder	489	0.20%	0
Totals			247,783	100.00%	4

Results by county

County	Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic		Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast[3]
		%		%		%		%
	Beaverhead		1,632		48.41%		1,725		51.17%		14		0.42%		-93		-2.76%		3,371
	Big Horn		1,926		54.10%		1,616		45.39%		18		0.51%		310		8.71%		3,560
	Blaine		2,129		63.99%		1,165		35.02%		33		0.99%		964		28.98%		3,327
	Broadwater		854		52.94%		755		46.81%		4		0.25%		99		6.14%		1,613
	Carbon		2,678		51.89%		2,421		46.91%		62		1.20%		257		4.98%		5,161
	Carter		734		56.81%		556		43.03%		2		0.15%		178		13.78%		1,292
	Cascade		13,637		67.10%		6,443		31.70%		244		1.20%		7,194		35.40%		20,324
	Chouteau		2,213		63.68%		1,235		35.54%		27		0.78%		978		28.14%		3,475
	Custer		2,782		57.55%		2,017		41.73%		35		0.72%		765		15.83%		4,834
	Daniels		1,086		56.53%		807		42.01%		28		1.46%		279		14.52%		1,921
	Dawson		1,765		52.03%		1,612		47.52%		15		0.44%		153		4.51%		3,392
	Deer Lodge		4,916		66.93%		2,397		32.63%		32		0.44%		2,519		34.30%		7,345
	Fallon		686		42.24%		925		56.96%		13		0.80%		-239		-14.72%		1,624
	Fergus		3,873		58.51%		2,706		40.88%		40		0.60%		1,167		17.63%		6,619
	Flathead		5,127		52.96%		4,403		45.48%		151		1.56%		724		7.48%		9,681
	Gallatin		4,718		57.55%		3,430		41.84%		50		0.61%		1,288		15.71%		8,198
	Garfield		644		50.67%		625		49.17%		2		0.16%		19		1.49%		1,271
	Glacier		2,399		63.80%		1,352		35.96%		9		0.24%		1,047		27.85%		3,760
	Golden Valley		351		46.25%		402		52.96%		6		0.79%		-51		-6.72%		759
	Granite		917		53.63%		784		45.85%		9		0.53%		133		7.78%		1,710
	Hill		3,700		65.87%		1,842		32.79%		75		1.34%		1,858		33.08%		5,617
	Jefferson		1,259		60.04%		830		39.58%		8		0.38%		429		20.46%		2,097
	Judith Basin		1,215		63.51%		670		35.02%		28		1.46%		545		28.49%		1,913
	Lake		2,379		45.92%		2,718		52.46%		84		1.62%		-339		-6.54%		5,181
	Lewis and Clark		5,814		54.42%		4,762		44.58%		107		1.00%		1,052		9.85%		10,683
	Liberty		550		55.33%		434		43.66%		10		1.01%		116		11.67%		994
	Lincoln		2,150		62.35%		1,250		36.25%		48		1.39%		900		26.10%		3,448
	Madison		1,674		51.41%		1,557		47.82%		25		0.77%		117		3.59%		3,256
	McCone		928		61.83%		529		35.24%		44		2.93%		399		26.58%		1,501
	Meagher		621		53.67%		520		44.94%		16		1.38%		101		8.73%		1,157
	Mineral		645		60.39%		402		37.64%		21		1.97%		243		22.75%		1,068
	Missoula		7,747		57.23%		5,640		41.66%		150		1.11%		2,107		15.56%		13,537
	Musselshell		1,807		61.21%		1,086		36.79%		59		2.00%		721		24.42%		2,952
	Park		2,833		53.26%		2,433		45.74%		53		1.00%		400		7.52%		5,319
	Petroleum		316		50.08%		313		49.60%		2		0.32%		3		0.48%		631
	Phillips		2,225		66.10%		1,110		32.98%		31		0.92%		1,115		33.13%		3,366
	Pondera		1,899		63.72%		1,038		34.83%		43		1.44%		861		28.89%		2,980
	Powder River		561		46.29%		633		52.23%		18		1.49%		-72		-5.94%		1,212
	Powell		1,765		60.82%		1,116		38.46%		21		0.72%		649		22.36%		2,902
	Prairie		554		47.72%		597		51.42%		10		0.86%		-43		-3.70%		1,161
	Ravalli		2,773		52.19%		2,483		46.73%		57		1.07%		290		5.46%		5,313
	Richland		2,095		57.48%		1,497		41.07%		53		1.45%		598		16.41%		3,645
	Roosevelt		2,418		60.72%		1,503		37.74%		61		1.53%		915		22.98%		3,982
	Rosebud		1,399		52.26%		1,252		46.77%		26		0.97%		147		5.49%		2,677
	Sanders		1,634		58.48%		1,088		38.94%		72		2.58%		546		19.54%		2,794
	Sheridan		2,108		69.07%		892		29.23%		52		1.70%		1,216		39.84%		3,052
	Silver Bow		17,467		67.88%		7,932		30.82%		335		1.30%		9,535		37.05%		25,734
	Stillwater		1,201		48.53%		1,255		50.71%		19		0.77%		-54		-2.18%		2,475
	Sweet Grass		741		46.00%		861		53.45%		9		0.56%		-120		-7.45%		1,611
	Teton		1,735		59.95%		1,132		39.12%		27		0.93%		603		20.84%		2,894
	Toole		1,954		61.41%		1,218		38.28%		10		0.31%		736		23.13%		3,182
	Treasure		321		52.62%		287		47.05%		2		0.33%		34		5.57%		610
	Valley		3,493		67.67%		1,597		30.94%		72		1.39%		1,896		36.73%		5,162
	Wheatland		948		54.42%		786		45.12%		8		0.46%		162		9.30%		1,742
	Wibaux		576		55.23%		461		44.20%		6		0.58%		115		11.03%		1,043
	Yellowstone		9,036		51.18%		8,479		48.03%		140		0.79%		557		3.15%		17,655
Totals	145,608	58.76%	99,579	40.19%	2,596	1.05%	46,029	18.58%	247,783

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Beaverhead
  • • • • • • Fallon Golden Valley Lake Powder River Prairie Stillwater Sweet Grass

See also

• United States presidential elections in Montana

Notes and References

1. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
2. Web site: David Leip. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. 1940 Presidential General Election Results – Montana.
3. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 271