1940 Louisiana gubernatorial election

1940 Louisiana Democratic gubernatorial primary

← 1936 February 20, 1940 1944 →
 
Candidate Sam H. Jones Earl Long
Party Democratic Democratic
Alliance Anti-Long Longite
Popular vote 284,437 265,403
Percentage 51.73% 48.27%

Parish results
Jones:      50–60%      60–70%
Long:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90%

Governor before election

Earl K. Long
Democratic

Elected Governor

Sam H. Jones
Democratic

The 1940 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held in two rounds on January 16 and February 20, 1940. Like most Southern states between the Reconstruction Era and the Civil Rights Movement, Louisiana's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral support. This meant that the two Democratic Party primaries held on these dates were the real contest over who would be governor. The election resulted in the narrow defeat of Earl K. Long and the election of Sam H. Jones as governor of Louisiana on a reform platform.