1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana

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1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana
Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg
←  1936 November 5, 1940 [1] 1944  →
All 10 Louisiana votes to the Electoral College
  FDRoosevelt1938.png WendellWillkie.jpg
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Wendell Willkie
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York New York
Running mate Henry A. Wallace Charles L. McNary
Electoral vote100
Popular vote319,75152,446
Percentage85.88%14.09%
Louisiana Presidential Election Results 1940.svg
Parish Results
Roosevelt
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%
  90-100%

The 1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten [2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Until the rise of Huey P. Long, post-disenfranchisement Louisiana politics was dominated by the New Orleans-based “Choctaw Club”, [3] which overcame Socialist, Wobbly, and Progressive challenges from the outlying upcountry, Imperial Calcasieu and Acadiana regions between the late 1900s and early 1920s. [4] The three presidential elections between 1916 and 1924 saw a rebellion in Acadiana over sugar tariffs and Woodrow Wilson’s foreign and domestic policies; however, the nomination of Catholic Al Smith in 1928 rapidly restored their Democratic loyalty without causing significant upheaval in the remainder of the state, which was too focused on control of black labour to worry about Smith’s Catholicism. [5]

Following the 1928 gubernatorial primary, Louisiana politics until Brown v. Board of Education would be governed by a system of coherent “Long” and “anti-Long” Democratic factionalism, [6] as the administration of Huey Long introduced significant economic reforms, which were strongly opposed by the remnants of the old Choctaws. During the first term of Roosevelt, Long sought to capture the Presidency for himself under a “Share-Our-Wealth” program involving the confiscation of wealthy fortunes, family allowances, and government storage of agricultural surpluses. [7] However, in the ensuing years Long’s fortunes dwindled as a result of 1934 losses in the Sixth Congressional District and the New Orleans city council, [8] before Senator Long launched a siege on New Orleans and the Choctaws, combined with abolition of the state’s poll tax, in effort to regain his control over the state. [9]

Long’s assassination in 1935 meant he could not launch his planned presidential campaign against incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The 1936 election had seen sugar-dependent Assumption and Lafourche parishes defect to the GOP at a presidential level due to disagreements with Democratic tariff policy. [5] However, as in 1928, this rebellion would be reversed, this time by Roosevelt’s strong support for aid to distressed France in World War II by those parishes’ Creole and Cajun populations who were strongly tied to France. [10] Roosevelt and Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace thus won Louisiana with 85.88 percent of the popular vote, against Republican nominees Wendell Willkie and Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary, with 14.09 percent. [11] [12]

By percentage of the vote carried, Louisiana was the third-most lopsided contest in the nation, only behind South Carolina and Mississippi, whose margins both exceeded 90% in favor of Roosevelt.

Results

1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt (inc.) 319,751 85.88%
Republican Wendell Willkie 52,44614.09%
Write-ins—1080.03%
Total votes372,305 100%

Results by parish

1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana by parish [13]
ParishFranklin Delano Roosevelt
Democratic		Wendell Lewis Willkie
Republican		Various candidates
Write-ins		MarginTotal votes cast
#%#%#%#%
Acadia 5,05887.52%71912.44%20.03%4,33975.08%5,779
Allen 2,59290.35%2779.65%2,31580.69%2,869
Ascension 2,45186.42%38513.58%2,06672.85%2,836
Assumption 1,75970.90%72229.10%1,03741.80%2,481
Avoyelles 4,88396.39%1833.61%4,70092.78%5,066
Beauregard 2,67783.53%52816.47%2,14967.05%3,205
Bienville 2,88388.82%36211.15%10.03%2,52177.66%3,246
Bossier 3,04591.17%2758.23%200.60%2,77082.93%3,340
Caddo 17,19284.50%3,12415.36%290.14%14,06869.15%20,345
Calcasieu 6,99382.96%1,42516.91%110.13%5,56866.06%8,429
Caldwell 1,66883.99%31816.01%1,35067.98%1,986
Cameron 1,17596.08%483.92%1,12792.15%1,223
Catahoula 1,51291.86%1348.14%1,37883.72%1,646
Claiborne 3,04994.22%1875.78%2,86288.44%3,236
Concordia 1,17390.79%1199.21%1,05481.58%1,292
De Soto 2,87293.16%2116.84%2,66186.31%3,083
East Baton Rouge 13,30388.30%1,76211.70%11,54176.61%15,065
East Carroll 1,02579.15%27020.85%75558.30%1,295
East Feliciana 1,05986.59%16413.41%89573.18%1,223
Evangeline 3,56994.19%2205.81%3,34988.39%3,789
Franklin 3,15991.54%2928.46%2,86783.08%3,451
Grant 2,53491.61%2328.39%2,30283.22%2,766
Iberia 4,09170.57%1,70629.43%2,38541.14%5,797
Iberville 2,50583.47%49616.53%2,00966.94%3,001
Jackson 2,73490.71%2809.29%2,45481.42%3,014
Jefferson 8,33489.46%98210.54%7,35278.92%9,316
Jefferson Davis 2,53170.60%1,05429.40%1,47741.20%3,585
Lafayette 6,32377.36%1,85022.64%4,47354.73%8,173
Lafourche 3,53176.83%1,06523.17%2,46653.66%4,596
LaSalle 2,03988.38%25811.18%100.43%1,78177.20%2,307
Lincoln 2,96986.86%44913.14%2,52073.73%3,418
Livingston 2,97192.18%2527.82%2,71984.36%3,223
Madison 1,01784.82%18215.18%83569.64%1,199
Morehouse 2,41791.59%2228.41%2,19583.18%2,639
Natchitoches 3,82484.83%68415.17%3,14069.65%4,508
Orleans 97,93085.63%16,40614.35%280.02%81,52471.28%114,364
Ouachita 8,50684.93%1,50915.07%6,99769.87%10,015
Plaquemines 1,97990.66%2049.34%1,77581.31%2,183
Pointe Coupee 1,87788.37%24711.63%1,63076.74%2,124
Rapides 9,10091.28%8698.72%8,23182.57%9,969
Red River 1,89289.12%23110.88%1,66178.24%2,123
Richland 2,41788.63%31011.37%2,10777.26%2,727
Sabine 3,02683.73%58816.27%2,43867.46%3,614
Saint Bernard 1,71593.97%1106.03%1,60587.95%1,825
Saint Charles 1,55091.02%1538.98%1,39782.03%1,703
Saint Helena 1,00792.64%807.36%92785.28%1,087
Saint James 1,46374.30%50625.70%95748.60%1,969
Saint John the Baptist 1,19280.70%28519.30%90761.41%1,477
Saint Landry 6,35891.89%5618.11%5,79783.78%6,919
Saint Martin 3,25284.38%60215.62%2,65068.76%3,854
Saint Mary 3,68683.30%73916.70%2,94766.60%4,425
Saint Tammany 4,47587.01%66812.99%3,80774.02%5,143
Tangipahoa 5,90082.09%1,28417.87%30.04%4,61664.23%7,187
Tensas 95790.97%959.03%86281.94%1,052
Terrebonne 3,21784.26%60115.74%2,61668.52%3,818
Union 2,84288.45%37111.55%2,47176.91%3,213
Vermilion 4,96965.47%2,62134.53%2,34830.94%7,590
Vernon 3,43991.71%3118.29%3,12883.41%3,750
Washington 6,06295.08%3144.92%5,74890.15%6,376
Webster 3,77791.83%3328.07%40.10%3,44583.76%4,113
West Baton Rouge 1,18589.37%14110.63%1,04478.73%1,326
West Carroll 1,87683.82%36216.18%1,51467.65%2,238
West Feliciana 63383.29%12716.71%50666.58%760
Winn 2,55286.98%38213.02%2,17073.96%2,934
Totals319,75185.88%52,44614.09%1080.03%267,30571.80%372,305

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "United States Presidential election of 1940 — Encyclopædia Britannica" . Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ "1940 Election for the Thirty-ninth Term (1941-45)" . Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ Wall, Bennett H.; Rodriguez, John C. Louisiana: A History. pp. 274–275. ISBN   1118619293.
  4. ↑ Collin, Richard H. (Winter 1971). "Theodore Roosevelt's Visit to New Orleans and the Progressive Campaign of 1914". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 12 (1): 5–19.
  5. 1 2 Wingo, Barbara C. (Autumn 1977). "The 1928 Presidential Election in Louisiana". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 18 (4). Louisiana Historical Association: 405–435.
  6. ↑ Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo, Hirano; Snyder Jr., James M. "Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980". In Gerber, Alan S.; Schickler, Eric (eds.). Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America. pp. 165–168. ISBN   978-1-107-09509-0.
  7. ↑ Sindler, Allan P. (1956). Huey Long’s Louisiana: State politics, 1920-1952. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 84–85.
  8. ↑ Sindler. Huey Long’s Louisiana, pp. 87-88
  9. ↑ Sindler. Huey Long’s Louisiana, pp. 90-95
  10. ↑ Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 67. ISBN   0786422173.
  11. ↑ "1940 Presidential General Election Results ± Louisiana" . Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The American Presidency Project — Election of 1940" . Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  13. ↑ "LA US President Race, November 05, 1940". Our Campaigns.
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