1940 United States presidential election in New York

Main article: 1940 United States presidential election

1940 United States presidential election in New York

←  1936 November 5, 1940 1944  →
Turnout	75.7% [1] 3.1 pp
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Wendell Willkie Party Democratic Republican Alliance American Labor Home state New York New York Running mate Henry A. Wallace Charles L. McNary Electoral vote 47 0 Popular vote 3,251,918 3,027,478 Percentage 51.50% 47.95%
County Results Roosevelt   50–60%   60–70% Willkie   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%
President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

The 1940 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 5, 1940. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1940 United States presidential election. Voters had chosen 47 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New York was won by incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, who was running against Republican businessman Wendell Willkie of New York. Roosevelt ran with Henry A. Wallace of Iowa, and Willkie ran with Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon. A former Governor of New York who had easily carried the state in his previous two presidential campaigns, Franklin Roosevelt again won New York State in 1940, but by a much closer margin. Roosevelt took 51.50% of the vote versus Wendell Willkie's 47.95%, a margin of 3.55%. This is the only one of his four elections in which New York was decided by less than 5%.

New York weighed in for this election as 6% more Republican than the national average. The presidential election of 1940 was a very partisan election for New York, with 99.45% of the electorate casting votes for either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. ^[2] In typical form for the time, the highly populated centers of New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester voted primarily Democratic, while the majority of smaller counties in New York turned out for Willkie as the Republican candidate. Much of Roosevelt's margin of victory was provided by his dominance in New York City. Roosevelt took over 60% of the vote in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and decisively won New York City as a whole.

However, the boroughs of Queens and Staten Island flipped to the Republican side in 1940 after voting for FDR in 1932 and 1936, a major contributing factor as to why the race was much closer than the 20-point margin that FDR had won the state by in 1936, along with Willkie also winning the counties of Schenectady, Montgomery, Rockland and Sullivan, all of which Roosevelt had won in 1936. This was the first time since 1836 that a Democrat won the presidency without carrying Staten Island.

Primaries

American Labor Party

Members of the Communist Party USA started joining the American Labor Party and Israel Amter, chair of the Communist Party, called for the "building of the American Labor Party". Communists in the ALP opposed reelecting Roosevelt in the 1940 election and the party's leadership started an attempt to remove them from the party. Fights broke out at the convention on September 14, 1940, where Roosevelt was given the nomination despite an attempted resolution condemning Roosevelt. ^[3]

1940 American Labor Party presidential ballot ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	American Labor	Franklin D. Roosevelt	442	64.34%
	American Labor	No candidate	234	34.06%
	American Labor	Norman Thomas	11	1.60%
Total votes			687	100.00%

Results

1940 United States presidential election in New York
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	2,834,500	44.98%
	American Labor	Franklin D. Roosevelt	417,418	6.62%
	Total	Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	3,251,918	51.50%	47
	Republican	Wendell Willkie	3,027,478	47.95%	0
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	18,950	0.30%	0
	Communist	Earl Browder	11,289	0.18%	0
	Prohibition	Roger Babson	3,250	0.05%	0
	N/A	Others	1,012	0.02%	0
Totals			6,313,897	100.0%	47

New York City results

1940 Presidential Election in New York City			Manhattan	The Bronx	Brooklyn	Queens	Staten Island	Total
	Democratic- American Labor	Franklin D. Roosevelt	478,153	418,931	742,668	288,024	38,307	1,966,083	60.69%
			61.45%	67.11%	64.83%	46.91%	49.45%
	Republican	Wendell Willkie	292,480	198,293	394,534	323,406	38,911	1,247,624	38.52%
			37.59%	31.77%	34.44%	52.68%	50.23%
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	3,496	2,990	3,951	1,749	208	12,394	0.38%
			1.48%	1.30%	1.20%	1.69%	1.62%
	Prohibition	Aaron S. Watkins	378	304	460	153	22	1,317	0.04%
			0.05%	0.05%	0.04%	0.02%	0.03%
TOTAL			778,099	624,204	1,145,567	613,954	77,467	3,239,291	100.00%

Results by county

County	Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic/American Labor		Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast [5]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Albany	77,052	56.58%	58,912	43.26%	210	0.15%	18,140	13.32%	136,174
Allegany	5,077	24.45%	15,611	75.17%	79	0.38%	-10,534	-50.72%	20,767
Bronx	418,931	67.11%	198,293	31.77%	6,980	1.12%	220,638	35.35%	624,204
Broome	32,092	42.07%	44,013	57.70%	179	0.23%	-11,921	-15.63%	76,284
Cattaraugus	11,924	34.02%	22,987	65.57%	144	0.41%	-11,063	-31.56%	35,055
Cayuga	13,985	39.76%	21,032	59.80%	156	0.44%	-7,047	-20.04%	35,173
Chautauqua	21,524	37.55%	35,536	62.00%	256	0.45%	-14,012	-24.45%	57,316
Chemung	15,203	40.54%	22,156	59.08%	140	0.37%	-6,953	-18.54%	37,499
Chenango	5,241	26.94%	14,168	72.84%	43	0.22%	-8,927	-45.89%	19,452
Clinton	11,378	52.19%	10,369	47.56%	53	0.24%	1,009	4.63%	21,800
Columbia	8,591	38.76%	13,527	61.04%	44	0.20%	-4,936	-22.27%	22,162
Cortland	5,147	29.56%	12,233	70.26%	31	0.18%	-7,086	-40.70%	17,411
Delaware	5,968	27.50%	15,684	72.28%	48	0.22%	-9,716	-44.77%	21,700
Dutchess	25,598	44.10%	32,329	55.69%	122	0.21%	-6,731	-11.60%	58,049
Erie	189,779	50.68%	183,664	49.05%	992	0.26%	6,115	1.63%	374,435
Essex	5,545	31.77%	11,868	68.01%	38	0.22%	-6,323	-36.23%	17,451
Franklin	9,479	45.23%	11,446	54.61%	33	0.16%	-1,967	-9.39%	20,958
Fulton	9,040	37.64%	14,896	62.03%	79	0.33%	-5,856	-24.38%	24,015
Genesee	6,664	31.39%	14,503	68.32%	62	0.29%	-7,839	-36.93%	21,229
Greene	6,425	38.67%	10,153	61.10%	38	0.23%	-3,728	-22.44%	16,616
Hamilton	840	29.24%	2,029	70.62%	4	0.14%	-1,189	-41.39%	2,873
Herkimer	13,013	42.45%	17,590	57.38%	54	0.18%	-4,577	-14.93%	30,657
Jefferson	14,581	36.22%	25,584	63.54%	97	0.24%	-11,003	-27.33%	40,262
Kings	742,668	64.83%	394,534	34.44%	8,365	0.73%	348,134	30.39%	1,145,567
Lewis	3,466	30.06%	8,049	69.80%	17	0.15%	-4,583	-39.74%	11,532
Livingston	6,397	33.52%	12,629	66.18%	58	0.30%	-6,232	-32.66%	19,084
Madison	6,301	29.09%	15,262	70.46%	99	0.46%	-8,961	-41.37%	21,662
Monroe	120,613	51.09%	114,383	48.45%	1,099	0.47%	6,230	2.64%	236,095
Montgomery	15,079	49.18%	15,546	50.71%	34	0.11%	-467	-1.52%	30,659
Nassau	73,171	33.67%	143,672	66.12%	450	0.21%	-70,501	-32.45%	217,293
New York	478,153	61.45%	292,480	37.59%	7,466	0.96%	185,673	23.86%	778,099
Niagara	33,207	47.37%	36,729	52.39%	165	0.24%	-3,522	-5.02%	70,101
Oneida	49,109	48.27%	52,362	51.47%	271	0.27%	-3,253	-3.20%	101,742
Onondaga	67,481	42.44%	91,056	57.26%	485	0.30%	-23,575	-14.82%	159,022
Ontario	9,110	32.35%	18,932	67.23%	120	0.43%	-9,822	-34.88%	28,162
Orange	27,632	41.43%	38,913	58.35%	145	0.22%	-11,281	-16.92%	66,690
Orleans	4,525	29.16%	10,958	70.61%	36	0.23%	-6,433	-41.45%	15,519
Oswego	13,459	37.15%	22,688	62.62%	83	0.23%	-9,229	-25.47%	36,230
Otsego	7,798	31.64%	16,771	68.04%	78	0.32%	-8,973	-36.41%	24,647
Putnam	4,794	39.96%	7,164	59.71%	39	0.33%	-2,370	-19.75%	11,997
Queens	288,024	46.91%	323,406	52.68%	2,524	0.41%	-35,382	-5.76%	613,954
Rensselaer	32,387	44.90%	39,648	54.97%	97	0.13%	-7,261	-10.07%	72,132
Richmond	38,307	49.45%	38,911	50.23%	249	0.32%	-604	-0.78%	77,467
Rockland	14,897	42.20%	20,040	56.77%	362	1.03%	-5,143	-14.57%	35,299
Saratoga	15,037	41.27%	21,298	58.46%	98	0.27%	-6,261	-17.18%	36,433
Schenectady	32,041	48.20%	34,101	51.30%	334	0.50%	-2,060	-3.10%	66,476
Schoharie	4,073	35.68%	7,316	64.10%	25	0.22%	-3,243	-28.41%	11,414
Schuyler	2,211	30.83%	4,936	68.83%	24	0.33%	-2,725	-38.00%	7,171
Seneca	4,203	33.36%	8,364	66.39%	31	0.25%	-4,161	-33.03%	12,598
St. Lawrence	15,569	38.93%	24,339	60.86%	82	0.21%	-8,770	-21.93%	39,990
Steuben	14,651	34.58%	27,587	65.12%	127	0.30%	-12,936	-30.53%	42,365
Suffolk	33,853	34.60%	63,712	65.12%	270	0.28%	-29,859	-30.52%	97,835
Sullivan	9,785	45.01%	11,877	54.64%	76	0.35%	-2,092	-9.62%	21,738
Tioga	4,081	29.66%	9,618	69.91%	59	0.43%	-5,537	-40.25%	13,758
Tompkins	7,118	32.81%	14,325	66.04%	250	1.15%	-7,207	-33.22%	21,693
Ulster	20,403	42.78%	27,186	57.00%	107	0.22%	-6,783	-14.22%	47,696
Warren	7,226	34.54%	13,657	65.27%	40	0.19%	-6,431	-30.74%	20,923
Washington	7,977	33.27%	15,960	66.57%	38	0.16%	-7,983	-33.30%	23,975
Wayne	7,358	27.65%	19,196	72.12%	62	0.23%	-11,838	-44.48%	26,616
Westchester	110,114	37.49%	182,883	62.27%	694	0.24%	-72,769	-24.78%	293,691
Wyoming	4,393	27.88%	11,323	71.87%	39	0.25%	-6,930	-43.99%	15,755
Yates	2,170	23.40%	7,084	76.38%	21	0.23%	-4,914	-52.98%	9,275
Totals	3,251,918	51.50%	3,027,478	47.95%	34,501	0.55%	224,440	3.55%	6,313,897

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Richmond (coterminous with Staten Island, a borough of New York City)
• Queens
• Rockland
• Montogmery
• Schenectady
• Sullivan

See also

• United States presidential elections in New York
• Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt

References

1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
2. "1940 Presidential General Election Results – New York". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
3. Soyer 2021, p. 29-31.
4. Soyer 2021, p. 31.
5. New York, ‘Vote, New York State, By Counties, November 5, 1940 For Highest Elector for President and Vice President’, The New York Red Book 1941 (Albany, 1941)

Works cited

• Soyer, Daniel (2021). Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN   9781501759888. JSTOR   10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2.