1940 United States presidential election in Nebraska

1940 United States presidential election in Nebraska

← 1936 November 5, 1940[1] 1944 →
All 7 Nebraska votes to the Electoral College
Nominee Wendell Willkie Franklin D. Roosevelt Party Republican Democratic Home state New York New York Running mate Charles L. McNary Henry A. Wallace Electoral vote 7 0 Popular vote 352,201 263,677 Percentage 57.19% 42.81%
County Results Willkie   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Roosevelt   50-60%
President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

Elections in Nebraska
Federal offices Presidential elections 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate elections 1867 1869 1870 1875 1877 1880 1883 1886 1888 1889 1893 1895 1899 1899 sp 1901 1901 sp 1905 1907 1911 1913 1916 1918 1922 1924 1928 1930 1934 1934 sp 1936 1940 1942 1946 1948 1952 1952 sp 1954 1954 sp 1958 1960 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 2020 2024 2024 sp 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1889 2nd sp 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1899 6th sp 1900 1902 1904 1905 1st sp 1906 1908 1910 1911 3rd sp 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1st sp 6th sp 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1st sp 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1951 3rd sp 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 1st sp 2024
State government State elections 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Gubernatorial elections 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Lieutenant Gubernatorial elections 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 Secretary of State elections 2022 Attorney General elections 2022 State Legislature elections 2018 2020 2022 2024
Ballot measures 2000 Initiative 416 2008 Initiative 424 2024 Initiative 434 Initiative 439
Lincoln Mayoral elections 2019 2023
Omaha Mayoral elections 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Government
v t e

The 1940 United States presidential election in Nebraska took place on November 5, 1940, as part of the 1940 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven^[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Nebraska was won by the Republican candidate, business man Wendell Willkie, running with Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary, with 57.19% of the popular vote, against incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, running with Secretary Henry A. Wallace, with 42.81% of the popular vote.^[3][4]

Though he had carried the state by over 16 points just four years earlier in 1936, Roosevelt's popularity with Nebraskans completely eroded in 1940, and with 57.19% of the popular vote, the state would prove to be Willkie's second strongest state in the 1940 election, after neighboring South Dakota. Roosevelt lost the state by almost exactly the same margin as he had carried it four years prior.^[5] This constituted a Republican victory margin of 14.4%, with the results in Nebraska representing a very large 30.8% shift to the right from 1936. Nebraska weighed in as a drastic 24.3% more Republican than the nation as whole. Roosevelt became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win the presidency without carrying Nebraska.

Key to Willkie's landslide victory was his overperformance among rural farmers in Nebraska, whom Roosevelt had carried decisively in 1936. Willkie flipped 39 counties that had been reliably Democratic just 4 years earlier, those being: Banner, Blaine, Box Butte, Boyd, Burt, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Cuming, Custer, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Dodge, Dundy, Frontier, Gosper, Grant, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Keith, Kimball, Knox, Madison, Merrick, Morrill, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Red Willow, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sioux, Stanton, Thomas and Wayne.

The 1940 election would mark a turning point in Nebraska's politics; the state has voted for the Republican nominee by double digits in every election since, except for when Lyndon B. Johnson carried it by a fairly narrow margin of 5.2% amidst a national landslide victory. FDR's implosion among farmers can likely be attributed to his New Deal programs that paid farmers not to produce food and to destroy some crops, which was an attempt to cure the problem of food overproduction; the policy instead resulted in the United States needing to import food from other countries and paying more for it.^[6][7] Additionally, as Roosevelt was running for his third consecutive term, many voters were warying of breaking the long-standing two term tradition.