The 1940 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 5, 1940. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1940 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
New Hampshire 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 as his running mate, and Willkie ran with Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon.
Roosevelt won New Hampshire by 6.44%, at the time the best performance by a Democratic presidential candidate in this traditionally Republican state since the latter party was foundedDave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New Hampshire and the first time since Franklin Pierce in 1852 that a Democrat won the state with an absolute majority of the vote. It had previously been won with a plurality by Roosevelt four years earlier and by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916.
Roosevelt's gain in New Hampshire and other New England states, in an election when Willkie carried almost 700 counties that the President had won during his landslide four years beforehand, was due to support in the region for helping Britain and France during World War II. New Hampshire was one of five states that shifted left from 1936, alongside Maine, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont.Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1940 Presidential General Election Data -- National
Results
Results by county CountyFranklin Delano RooseveltDemocraticWendell Lewis WillkieRepublicanMarginTotal votes castScammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 294 # % # % # % Belknap 5,653 48.04% 6,115 51.96% -462-3.93% 11,768 Carroll 2,870 33.66% 5,656 66.34% -2,786 -32.68% 8,526 Cheshire 6,916 45.45% 8,302 54.55% -1,386 -9.11% 15,218 Coös 10,100 60.30% 6,650 39.70% 3,450 20.60% 16,750 Grafton 9,761 45.96% 11,478 54.04% -1,717 -8.08% 21,239 Hillsborough 42,580 61.91% 26,201 38.09% 16,379 23.81% 68,781 Merrimack 14,692 49.61% 14,923 50.39% -231 -0.78% 29,615 Rockingham 14,001 46.32% 16,223 53.68% -2,222 -7.35% 30,224 Strafford 12,847 58.82% 8,996 41.18% 3,851 17.63% 21,843Sullivan 5,872 51.26% 5,583 48.74% 289 2.52% 11,455Totals125,29253.22%110,12746.78%15,1656.44%235,419
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Sullivan
See also United States presidential elections in New Hampshire
References