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| Turnout | 81.50% 1.70[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Montana |
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The 1940 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Governor of Montana Roy E. Ayers, who was first elected governor in 1936, ran for re-election. He narrowly won the Democratic primary by just over a thousand votes to win renomination, and advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by Sam C. Ford, a former Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and the Republican nominee. Ultimately, in spite of the fact that then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt comfortably won the state in that year's presidential election, Ford narrowly defeated Ayers to win his first of two terms as governor.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Ayers (incumbent) | 40,268 | 38.23 | |
| Democratic | Arthur F. Lamey | 39,010 | 37.04 | |
| Democratic | A. E. Kathan | 26,041 | 24.73 | |
| Total votes | 105,319 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sam C. Ford | 16,335 | 32.90 | |
| Republican | Charles A. Hauswirth | 14,397 | 29.00 | |
| Republican | Julius J. Wuerthner | 8,685 | 17.49 | |
| Republican | T. S. Stockdahl | 5,439 | 10.95 | |
| Republican | Martin P. Moe | 3,994 | 8.04 | |
| Republican | John H. Leuthold | 802 | 1.62 | |
| Total votes | 49,652 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sam C. Ford | 124,435 | 50.67% | +2.55% | |
| Democratic | Roy E. Ayers (incumbent) | 119,453 | 48.64% | −2.31% | |
| Communist | Arvo Fredrickson | 1,713 | 0.70% | +0.53% | |
| Majority | 4,982 | 2.03% | −0.80% | ||
| Turnout | 245,601 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | ||||
