1940 United States presidential election in Alabama

none June 2025 September 2023 1940 United States presidential election 1940 United States presidential election in Alabama Alabama Presidential no 1936 United States presidential election in Alabama 1936 November 5, 1940 1944 United States presidential election in Alabama 1944 x200px Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Party (United States) New York Henry A. Wallace 11 250,726 85.22% President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Party (United States) Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Party (United States) 0 New York x200px Wendell Willkie Republican Party (United States) 14.34% 42,184 Charles L. McNary 1940 United States presidential election in Alabama results map by county.svg 300px County results Roosevelt #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666cb 70–80% #0645b4 80–90% #002b84 90–100% Willkie #e27f90 50–60% The 1940 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. Alabama voters chose 11 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states. Since the 1890s, Alabama had been effectively a one-party state ruled by the Democratic Party. Disenfranchisement of almost all African-Americans and a large proportion of Poor Whites via poll taxes, literacy testsPerman Michael Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888–1908 University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill, NC 2001 Introduction 9780807849095 and informal harassment had essentially eliminated opposition parties outside Unionist Winston County and a few nearby northern hill counties that had been Populist strongholds.Webb Samuel L. From Independents to Populists to Progressive Republicans: The Case of Chilton County, Alabama, 1880–1920 The Journal of Southern History 59 4 707–736 10.2307/2210539 2210539 The only competitive statewide elections became Democratic Party primaries that were limited by law to white voters. Unlike most other Confederate states, however, soon after black disenfranchisement Alabama's remaining white Republicans made rapid efforts to expel blacks from the state Republican Party.Heersink Jenkins Boris Jeffery A. Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968 251–253 9781107158436 2020 Cambridge University Press Indeed, under Oscar D. Street, who ironically was appointed state party boss as part of the pro-Taft "black and tan" faction in 1912,Paul D. Casdorph Republicans, Negroes, and Progressives in the South, 1912–1916 The University of Alabama Press 1981 70, 94–95 0817300481 the state GOP would permanently turn "lily-white", with the last black delegates from the state at any Republican National Convention serving in 1920. The 1920 election, aided by isolationism in AppalachiaPhillips Kevin P. The Emerging Republican Majority 255 1969 Arlington House 0870000586 and the whitening of the state GOP,Heersink and Jenkins, Republican Party Politics and the American South, p. 19 saw the Republicans even exceed forty percent in the House of Representatives races for the 4th, 7th and 10th congressional districts. However, funding issues meant the Republicans would not emulate this achievement for several decades subsequently.See G.O.P. Funds Are Reported Short: Forces "Counted On" Disappoint Republican Political Managers The Birmingham News August 19, 1922 5 Birmingham, Alabama Nevertheless, a bitter "civil war" over how best to maintain white supremacy after the Democrats nominated urban, anti-Prohibition Catholic Al Smith saw so many Democrats defect to dry, Protestant Republican Herbert Hoover that he came within seven thousand votes of winning the state.Feldman Glenn Epilogue. Ugly Roots: Race, Emotion and the Rise of the Modern Republican Party in Alabama and the South Feldman Glenn Before Brown: Civil Rights and White Backlash in the Modern South September 13, 2004 University of Alabama Press 270–273 9780817351342 However, the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression meant that this trend towards the GOP would be short-lived.Race, class and party; a history of Negro suffrage and white politics in the South Lewinson Paul 1965 167–168 The Depression had extremely severe effects in the South, which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation, and many Southerners blamed this on the North and on Wall Street.Ritchie Donald A. Electing FDR: the New Deal campaign of 1932 143 2007 Lawrence, Kansas University Press of Kansas 978-0700616879 Consequently, the South gave Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt hefty support in 1932 – he became the only presidential candidate to sweep all of Alabama's countiesThomas G. Scott The pursuit of the White House: a handbook of presidential election statistics and history 1987 390, 418 Bloomsbury Academic 0313257957 — and in 1936. For 1940, opposition amongst Alabama's ruling elite to the New Deal meant that planter and business interests led by former Congressman George Huddleston attempted to organize the "independent elector" movements that would increase after Harry S. Truman's civil rights proposals.Feldman Glenn The Irony of the Solid South: Democrats, Republicans, and Race, 1865–1944 150 2013 University of Alabama Press 9780817317935 Other "Big Mules" already supported Republican nominees, corporate lawyer Wendell Willkie and Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary.Feldman Glenn The Great Melding: War, the Dixiecrat Rebellion, and the Southern Model for America's New Conservatism 2015 60 University of Alabama Press 9780817318666 However, the hatred of the Republican label, in spite of five election cycles as a party exclusive of blacks,Heersink; Jenkins. Republican Party Politics and the American South, pp. 48–50 meant that the state Democratic Party was far too strong to allow such a revolt.Feldman. The Irony of the Solid South, pp. 151–152 Campaign No polls were carried out in the state until a Gallup poll in the middle of September, which had Roosevelt winning 85 percent of the two-party vote to.Willkie Campaigns in Roosevelt Territory The Des Moines Register September 22, 1940 10 Another poll from late October said that Willkie could gain around one hundred thousand votes or one-third of the expected statewide total.Rothermel J.F. Everyone Can Find His Choice on Alabama Ballot This Year: Most G.O.P. Electors Are Former Democrats While One Republican Is Now a Communist The Sunday Star Washington D.C. B-4 October 20, 1940 Alabama was won in a landslide by Roosevelt – now running with Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace of Iowa — with 85.22 percent of the popular vote against Willkie's 14.34 percent for a Democratic margin of 70.88 percent. Third-party candidates only managed to pick up 0.44 percent of the vote.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1940&fips=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 1940 Presidential General Election Results — Alabama Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas Roosevelt was undoubtedly helped, especially in Appalachian regions of the state, by support for aid to Britain in World War II, which he had emphasised in his campaign.Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 93 In many Appalachian rural counties, Roosevelt indeed improved upon his 1932 and 1936 performances for this reason. Results + General election resultsAlabama Official and Statistical Register, 1943 1943 Wetumpka Printing Co. Wetumpka, Alabama 671–684 https://archive.org/details/alabama-official-statistical-register-1943/page/n670/mode/1up Party Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Charles W. Edwards250,726 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Ben Bloodworth250,723 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Otis R. Burton250,714 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt W. F. Covington Jr.250,710 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Tully A. Goodwin250,709 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Roy Mayhall250,706 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Norvelle R. Leigh, III250,701 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Walter C. Lusk250,701 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt W. E. James250,692 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Bart J. Cowart250,687 Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Walter F. Miller250,682 Republican Party Wendell Willkie W. B. R. Pennington42,184 Republican Party Wendell Willkie R. M. Wilbanks42,180 Republican Party Wendell Willkie R. DuPont Thompson42,179 Republican Party Wendell Willkie James S. Coleman Sr.42,174 Republican Party Wendell Willkie J. E. Paterson42,174 Republican Party Wendell Willkie William H. Armbrecht42,172 Republican Party Wendell Willkie C. L. Burton42,170 Republican Party Wendell Willkie Morris B. Malone42,168 Republican Party Wendell Willkie David S. Anderson42,167 Republican Party Wendell Willkie T. M. Jones Sr.42,161 Republican Party Wendell Willkie G. C. Youngerman42,084 Prohibition Party Roger Babson W. C. McMachan700 Prohibition Party Roger Babson J. A. Fields699 Prohibition Party Roger Babson W. A. Wheeler699 Prohibition Party Roger Babson Frank Barnard698 Prohibition Party Roger Babson L. E. Barton698 Prohibition Party Roger Babson Charles Lehman696 Prohibition Party Roger Babson J. B. Lockhart696 Prohibition Party Roger Babson John C. Orr696 Prohibition Party Roger Babson Joseph K. Suggs695 Prohibition Party Roger Babson Leander M. Coop693 Prohibition Party Roger Babson George W. Crosby693 Communist Party USA Earl Browder John W. Campbell509 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Bob F. Hall345 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Reany Smith344 Communist Party USA Earl Browder A. M. Forsman343 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Anton Valla Jr.343 Communist Party USA Earl Browder D. W. Gilbert342 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Anna Kral341 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Theron Ward341 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Joseph Machulka339 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Frank Maildorf337 Communist Party USA Earl Browder Joe Stuchly337 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas D. R. Calloway100 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas John W. Estes Jr.96 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas Joseph Ciganek92 Socialist Party of America Norman Thomas W. H. Chichester91Total votes 294,219 Results by county CountyScammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920–1964; pp. 29–30 0405077114.Franklin D. RooseveltDemocraticWendell WillkieRepublicanRoger BabsonProhibitionEarl BrowderCommunistNorman ThomasSocialistMarginTotal votes casthttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1919 Our Campaigns AL US President Race, November 05, 1940#%#%#%#%#%#% Autauga 1,630 93.62% 99 5.69% 10 0.57% 2 0.11% 0 0.00% 1,531 87.94% 1,741 Baldwin 2,681 76.58% 617 17.62% 24 0.72% 12 0.36% 5 0.15% 2,064 61.85% 3,501 Barbour 2,328 95.88% 90 3.71% 7 0.29% 3 0.12% 0 0.00% 2,238 92.17% 2,428 Bibb 1,821 90.51% 173 8.60% 9 0.45% 9 0.45% 0 0.00% 1,647 81.90% 2,012 Blount 2,784 75.71% 855 23.25% 32 0.87% 5 0.14% 1 0.03% 1,929 52.46% 3,677 Bullock 1,301 98.64% 18 1.36% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,283 97.27% 1,319 Butler 2,732 97.99% 52 1.87% 1 0.04% 3 0.11% 0 0.00% 2,680 96.13% 2,788 Calhoun 4,408 86.89% 645 12.71% 16 0.32% 2 0.04% 0 0.00% 3,764 74.21% 5,073 Chambers 4,141 97.16% 110 2.58% 10 0.23% 1 0.02% 0 0.00% 4,031 94.58% 4,262 Cherokee 2,617 86.94% 381 12.66% 10 0.33% 1 0.03% 1 0.03% 2,236 74.29% 3,010 Chilton 2,746 57.80% 1,995 41.99% 5 0.11% 5 0.11% 0 0.00% 751 15.81% 4,751 Choctaw 2,023 96.52% 73 3.48% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,950 93.03% 2,096 Clarke 3,753 98.71% 48 1.26% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 3,705 97.45% 3,802 Clay 2,153 71.22% 854 28.25% 6 0.20% 10 0.33% 0 0.00% 1,299 42.97% 3,023 Cleburne 1,369 75.72% 434 24.00% 4 0.19% 1 0.05% 0 0.00% 1,205 57.99% 1,808 Coffee 2,226 93.88% 145 6.12% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,081 87.77% 2,371 Colbert 3,998 91.47% 365 8.35% 4 0.09% 1 0.02% 3 0.07% 3,633 83.12% 4,371 Conecuh 2,345 97.71% 50 2.08% 5 0.21% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,295 95.63% 2,400 Coosa 1,347 80.32% 317 18.90% 11 0.66% 2 0.12% 0 0.00% 1,030 61.42% 1,677 Covington 4,635 96.08% 186 3.86% 2 0.04% 1 0.02% 0 0.00% 4,449 92.23% 4,824 Crenshaw 2,680 96.65% 84 3.03% 7 0.25% 2 0.07% 0 0.00% 2,596 93.62% 2,773 Cullman 5,603 64.51% 3,057 35.19% 11 0.13% 11 0.13% 4 0.05% 2,546 29.31% 8,686 Dale 2,543 87.03% 374 12.80% 1 0.03% 4 0.14% 0 0.00% 2,169 74.23% 2,922 Dallas 3,106 95.10% 157 4.81% 2 0.06% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% 2,949 90.29% 3,266 DeKalb 5,432 65.77% 2,810 34.02% 13 0.16% 2 0.02% 2 0.02% 2,622 31.75% 8,259 Elmore 4,267 96.54% 144 3.26% 7 0.16% 2 0.05% 0 0.00% 4,123 93.28% 4,420 Escambia 2,772 95.03% 137 4.70% 5 0.17% 3 0.10% 0 0.00% 2,635 90.33% 2,917 Etowah 7,012 84.33% 1,270 15.27% 27 0.32% 4 0.05% 2 0.02% 5,742 69.06% 8,315 Fayette 2,091 73.42% 737 25.88% 10 0.35% 10 0.35% 0 0.00% 1,354 47.54% 2,848 Franklin 3,523 63.67% 1,989 35.95% 8 0.14% 12 0.22% 1 0.02% 1,534 27.72% 5,533 Geneva 2,565 87.19% 364 12.37% 6 0.20% 7 0.24% 0 0.00% 2,201 74.81% 2,942 Greene 894 92.07% 77 7.93% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 817 84.14% 971 Hale 1,691 98.14% 32 1.86% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,659 96.29% 1,723 Henry 1,960 96.50% 69 3.40% 2 0.10% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,891 93.11% 2,031 Houston 3,941 88.78% 483 10.88% 13 0.29% 2 0.05% 0 0.00% 3,458 77.90% 4,439 Jackson 3,818 80.01% 945 19.80% 7 0.15% 2 0.04% 0 0.00% 2,873 60.21% 4,772 Jefferson 37,110 84.34% 6,714 15.26% 105 0.24% 52 0.12% 19 0.04% 30,395 69.08% 44,001 Lamar 2,665 90.28% 275 9.32% 8 0.27% 4 0.14% 0 0.00% 2,391 80.97% 2,952 Lauderdale 5,065 90.35% 507 9.04% 19 0.34% 10 0.18% 4 0.07% 4,558 81.32% 5,606 Lawrence 2,277 82.23% 480 17.33% 2 0.07% 10 0.36% 0 0.00% 1,797 64.90% 2,769 Lee 2,566 95.96% 103 3.85% 4 0.15% 1 0.04% 0 0.00% 2,463 92.11% 2,674 Limestone 2,941 96.58% 95 3.12% 9 0.30% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,846 93.46% 3,045 Lowndes 1,132 98.86% 12 1.05% 1 0.09% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,120 97.82% 1,145 Macon 1,259 96.77% 41 3.15% 1 0.08% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,218 93.62% 1,301 Madison 5,515 90.44% 566 9.28% 9 0.15% 3 0.05% 5 0.08% 4,959 81.46% 6,098 Marengo 2,284 96.94% 70 2.97% 2 0.08% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,214 93.97% 2,356 Marion 2,654 69.64% 1,081 28.37% 12 0.31% 64 1.68% 0 0.00% 1,573 41.28% 3,811 Marshall 4,142 81.55% 913 17.98% 18 0.35% 4 0.08% 2 0.04% 3,229 63.58% 5,079 Mobile 11,480 85.08% 1,887 13.99% 89 0.66% 14 0.10% 14 0.10% 9,592 71.20% 13,493 Monroe 2,953 98.17% 40 1.33% 12 0.40% 3 0.10% 0 0.00% 2,913 96.84% 3,008 Montgomery 11,311 97.74% 230 1.99% 16 0.14% 16 0.14% 0 0.00% 11,081 95.75% 11,573 Morgan 5,345 90.93% 500 8.51% 22 0.37% 8 0.14% 1 0.02% 4,846 82.46% 5,878 Perry 1,509 97.17% 39 2.51% 5 0.32% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,470 94.66% 1,553 Pickens 1,714 92.00% 140 7.51% 7 0.45% 2 0.13% 0 0.00% 1,277 81.55% 1,863 Pike 3,049 95.94% 121 3.81% 1 0.03% 7 0.22% 0 0.00% 2,928 92.13% 3,178 Randolph 2,407 77.92% 670 21.69% 8 0.26% 4 0.13% 0 0.00% 1,737 56.23% 3,089 Russell 2,435 97.95% 48 1.93% 2 0.08% 1 0.04% 0 0.00% 2,387 96.02% 2,486 Shelby 2,777 74.61% 938 25.20% 5 0.13% 2 0.05% 0 0.00% 1,839 49.41% 4,024 St. Clair 2,462 61.18% 1,540 38.27% 9 0.22% 6 0.15% 7 0.17% 922 22.91% 3,722 Sumter 1,404 96.76% 46 3.17% 1 0.07% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,358 93.59% 1,451 Talladega 3,965 87.88% 534 11.84% 9 0.20% 4 0.09% 0 0.00% 3,431 76.04% 4,512 Tallapoosa 4,325 96.65% 139 3.11% 7 0.16% 3 0.07% 1 0.02% 4,186 93.54% 4,475 Tuscaloosa 6,284 93.35% 426 6.33% 14 0.21% 5 0.07% 3 0.04% 5,858 87.02% 6,732 Walker 5,940 74.52% 2,007 25.18% 17 0.21% 4 0.05% 3 0.04% 3,933 49.34% 7,971 Washington 1,892 95.65% 80 4.04% 5 0.25% 1 0.05% 0 0.00% 1,812 91.61% 1,978 Wilcox 1,534 98.71% 20 1.29% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,514 97.43% 1,554 Winston 1,394 45.10% 1,686 54.55% 6 0.19% 4 0.13% 0 0.00% -301 -9.78% 3,091Totals250,72685.22%42,18414.34%7000.24%5090.17%1000.03%208,54270.88%294,219 Analysis Earl Browder's visit Communist party candidate Earl Browder personally campaigned in the state giving speeches in Bullock County, Choctaw County, Clarke County, Coffee County, Conecuh County, Greene County and Hale County. Browder campaigned as an isolationist candidate advocating the United States not get involved in the war in Europe. Browder referred to the war as an "imperialist" war and he took a decidedly "anti-British tone" while campaigning in the aforementioned Alabama counties. In each of his speeches, he condemned Winston Churchill and praised Joseph Stalin.Isserman Maurice Which Side Were You On?: The American Communist Party During the Second World War 48 University of Illinois Press 1982 9780252063367The Southern Historian. United States: Alabama Media Planning Board and the Beta Omicron chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, 1997. However, Browder said he was "irked by how cold" the crowds there were towards him. In the seven counties where Browder campaigned he ultimately received zero votes in the election (however, in the state as a whole he won just over 500 votes in comparison to Roosevelt's 250,726 votes and Willkie's 42,184 votes.) See also United States presidential elections in Alabama References Alabama 1940 Category:1940 Alabama elections