The 1940 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

As a former Confederate state, North Carolina had a history of Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement of its African-American population and dominance of the Democratic Party in state politics. However, unlike the Deep South, the Republican Party had sufficient historic Unionist white support from the mountains and northwestern Piedmont to gain one-third of the statewide vote total in most general elections, where turnout was higher than elsewhere in the former Confederacy due substantially to the state's early abolition of the poll tax in 1920. Like Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, the relative strength of Republican opposition meant that North Carolina did not have statewide white primaries, although certain counties did use the white primary. North Carolina was one of five states that shifted left from 1936, alongside Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1940 Presidential General Election Data -- National

In 1928, anti-Catholicism in the Outer Banks and growing middle-class urban Republicanism in Piedmont cities caused North Carolina to turn to GOP nominee Herbert Hoover,Phillips. The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 212-215 but this was reversed in the following decade beginning with Hoover's failed nomination of John Johnston Parker to the Supreme Court. With the South having the highest unemployment in the nation and blaming the North and Wall Street, exceptionally heavy support was given to Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 everywhere except in a few rock-ribbed Republican mountain bastions. Nevertheless, there was virtually no change to the state's social structure during the New Deal,See and the conservative "Shelby Dynasty" was strong enough to prevent any populist challenge so much as developing. After the 1936 Democratic landslide and Roosevelt's failed "court-packing" plan, the state's leading federal officeholders came to increasingly oppose Roosevelt's policies.

Although the state's relatively numerous Republicans were highly active in support of nominees Wendell Willkie and Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary, early analysts said Roosevelt remained so popular with the state's voters that there was no chance of the incumbent losing. A poll in mid-October had Roosevelt carrying the state by a three-to-one margin after having given the incumbent 72 percent during the third week of September.

Results

Results by county +1940 United States presidential election in North Carolina by countyCountyFranklin Delano RooseveltDemocraticWendell Lewis WillkieRepublicanMargin % # % # % # Martin 97.76% 4,628 2.24% 106 95.52% 4,522 Northampton 97.33% 3,826 2.67% 105 94.66% 3,721 Bertie 97.10% 3,287 2.90% 98 94.21% 3,189 Greene 96.64% 2,990 3.36% 104 93.28% 2,886 Pitt 96.46% 10,067 3.54% 369 92.93% 9,698 Hertford 96.40% 2,464 3.60% 92 92.80% 2,372 Edgecombe 95.97% 7,516 4.03% 316 91.93% 7,200 Halifax 95.67% 7,982 4.33% 361 91.35% 7,621 Franklin 95.42% 4,724 4.58% 227 90.83% 4,497 Granville 94.85% 3,924 5.15% 213 89.70% 3,711 Chowan 94.68% 1,547 5.32% 87 89.35% 1,460 Hoke 94.21% 1,904 5.79% 117 88.42% 1,787 Currituck 93.76% 1,532 6.24% 102 87.52% 1,430 Lenoir 93.42% 6,247 6.58% 440 86.84% 5,807 Nash 93.24% 8,456 6.76% 613 86.48% 7,843 Wilson 93.13% 7,912 6.87% 584 86.25% 7,328 Gates 92.78% 1,388 7.22% 108 85.56% 1,280 Anson 92.46% 4,552 7.54% 371 84.93% 4,181 Scotland 92.26% 2,981 7.74% 250 84.52% 2,731 Union 91.89% 7,179 8.11% 634 83.77% 6,545 Vance 91.80% 4,252 8.20% 380 83.59% 3,872 Warren 91.55% 2,676 8.45% 247 83.10% 2,429 Robeson 90.86% 9,251 9.14% 931 81.71% 8,320 Onslow 89.79% 2,383 10.21% 271 79.58% 2,112 Richmond 89.34% 6,530 10.66% 779 78.68% 5,751 Craven 88.70% 4,916 11.30% 626 77.41% 4,290 Person 88.23% 3,239 11.77% 432 76.46% 2,807 Pender 88.06% 2,249 11.94% 305 76.12% 1,944 Camden 87.76% 961 12.24% 134 75.53% 827 Lee 87.48% 3,682 12.52% 527 74.96% 3,155 Wake 87.16% 18,083 12.84% 2,665 74.31% 15,418 Caswell 86.93% 2,335 13.07% 351 73.86% 1,984 Pasquotank 86.75% 3,314 13.25% 506 73.51% 2,808 Columbus 86.33% 5,900 13.67% 934 72.67% 4,966 Durham 85.60% 14,810 14.40% 2,491 71.20% 12,319 Beaufort 85.52% 5,528 14.48% 936 71.04% 4,592 Jones 85.47% 1,371 14.53% 233 70.95% 1,138 Cumberland 84.40% 6,050 15.60% 1,118 68.81% 4,932 Bladen 84.34% 2,925 15.66% 543 68.69% 2,382 New Hanover 84.03% 8,600 15.97% 1,635 68.05% 6,965 Perquimans 83.76% 1,176 16.24% 228 67.52% 948 Washington 82.65% 1,724 17.35% 362 65.29% 1,362 Cleveland 82.59% 9,346 17.41% 1,970 65.18% 7,376 Rockingham 82.51% 11,315 17.49% 2,398 65.03% 8,917 Cabarrus 82.03% 11,776 17.97% 2,579 64.07% 9,197 Wayne 81.41% 7,222 18.59% 1,649 62.82% 5,573 Duplin 81.06% 5,394 18.94% 1,260 62.13% 4,134 Mecklenburg 80.40% 28,768 19.60% 7,013 60.80% 21,755 Gaston 80.08% 17,262 19.92% 4,294 60.16% 12,968 Hyde 79.55% 1,202 20.45% 309 59.10% 893 Dare 79.40% 1,214 20.60% 315 58.80% 899 Haywood 78.55% 8,631 21.45% 2,357 57.10% 6,274 Alamance 77.17% 11,429 22.83% 3,382 54.33% 8,047 Orange 76.95% 3,673 23.05% 1,100 53.91% 2,573 Rowan 76.24% 13,023 23.76% 4,059 52.48% 8,964 Forsyth 74.36% 20,664 25.64% 7,125 48.72% 13,539 Harnett 74.33% 6,602 25.67% 2,280 48.66% 4,322 Buncombe 74.04% 24,878 25.96% 8,723 48.08% 16,155 Tyrrell 73.31% 1,140 26.69% 415 46.62% 725 Guilford 73.11% 26,565 26.89% 9,770 46.22% 16,795 Iredell 73.00% 10,328 27.00% 3,820 46.00% 6,508 McDowell 70.48% 5,290 29.52% 2,216 40.95% 3,074 Johnston 70.41% 9,976 29.59% 4,192 40.82% 5,784 Chatham 68.76% 4,025 31.24% 1,829 37.51% 2,196 Carteret 68.53% 3,896 31.47% 1,789 37.06% 2,107 Surry 67.98% 8,871 32.02% 4,178 35.96% 4,693 Rutherford 67.84% 8,869 32.16% 4,204 35.68% 4,665 Caldwell 67.82% 6,334 32.18% 3,005 35.65% 3,329 Catawba 66.51% 11,233 33.49% 5,656 33.02% 5,577 Pamlico 66.48% 1,448 33.52% 730 32.97% 718 Jackson 65.44% 4,563 34.56% 2,410 30.88% 2,153 Brunswick 64.10% 2,717 35.90% 1,522 28.19% 1,195 Henderson 63.06% 6,336 36.94% 3,712 26.11% 2,624 Swain 62.96% 2,422 37.04% 1,425 25.92% 997 Montgomery 62.70% 3,007 37.30% 1,789 25.40% 1,218 Moore 62.60% 4,330 37.40% 2,587 25.20% 1,743 Transylvania 62.13% 3,312 37.87% 2,019 24.25% 1,293 Polk 61.63% 2,454 38.37% 1,528 23.25% 926 Alleghany 61.60% 1,952 38.40% 1,217 23.19% 735 Davidson 61.37% 11,084 38.63% 6,978 22.73% 4,106 Lincoln 61.26% 4,901 38.74% 3,099 22.53% 1,802 Stokes 61.18% 4,274 38.82% 2,712 22.36% 1,562 Burke 59.70% 7,242 40.30% 4,889 19.40% 2,353 Yancey 58.10% 3,489 41.90% 2,516 16.20% 973 Stanly 58.04% 6,321 41.96% 4,569 16.09% 1,752 Graham 56.32% 1,404 43.68% 1,089 12.64% 315 Macon 55.99% 2,941 44.01% 2,312 11.97% 629 Alexander 55.27% 2,739 44.73% 2,217 10.53% 522 Randolph 54.51% 8,455 45.49% 7,056 9.02% 1,399 Cherokee 54.32% 3,180 45.68% 2,674 8.64% 506 Clay 53.43% 1,349 46.57% 1,176 6.85% 173 Davie 53.35% 2,896 46.65% 2,532 6.71% 364 Ashe 53.04% 4,716 46.96% 4,175 6.08% 541 Watauga 49.16% 3,615 50.84% 3,739 -1.69% -124 Yadkin 47.31% 3,660 52.69% 4,077 -5.39% -417 Sampson 46.96% 5,107 53.04% 5,769 -6.09% -662 Wilkes 46.36% 7,299 53.64% 8,446 -7.28% -1,147 Madison 40.72% 3,171 59.28% 4,617 -18.57% -1,446 Mitchell 30.59% 1,450 69.41% 3,290 -38.82% -1,840 Avery 28.85% 1,194 71.15% 2,944 -42.29% -1,750

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Clay Davie

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Sampson Watauga

Analysis Large portions of the interior of the United States – heavily populated by German Americans – opposed increasing "tension" with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and would switch support to Willkie. North Carolina, however, was historically one of the least isolationist states, and its almost entirely English and Scotch-Irish descended electorate strongly favored as much aid to Britain's World War II effort as possible.See Thus, North Carolina's electorate did not merely resist the GOP shift in the heartland – in many Appalachian counties with normally substantial Republican support, FDR gained on what he had achieved in his 1932 and 1936 national landslides.

North Carolina was thus won in a landslide by incumbent President Roosevelt and running mate Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace, with 74.03 percent of the popular vote, against Willkie's 25.97 percent.

, this is the last election in which Davie County and Randolph County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the best Democratic performance in the state since Andrew Jackson in 1832.

References