California — 1940 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1940 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentRooseveltD+16.1
How it voted
Share of the 1940 vote
| Franklin D. Roosevelt ✓Democratic | 57.4% | 1,877,618 |
|---|---|---|
| Wendell WillkieRepublican | 41.3% | 1,351,419 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 1.2% | 39,754 |
1940presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1940 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 22 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+11.6 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+33.5 |
| Amador County, CA | Democratic | D+33.3 |
| Butte County, CA | Democratic | D+17.7 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Democratic | D+18.5 |
| Colusa County, CA | Democratic | D+19.7 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+24.5 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+8.6 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Democratic | D+34.1 |
| Fresno County, CA | Democratic | D+39.3 |
| Glenn County, CA | Democratic | D+11.0 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+13.0 |
| Imperial County, CA | Democratic | D+5.9 |
| Inyo County, CA | Democratic | D+10.1 |
| Kern County, CA | Democratic | D+24.5 |
| Kings County, CA | Democratic | D+35.7 |
| Lake County, CA | Republican | R+7.7 |
| Lassen County, CA | Democratic | D+39.0 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+17.6 |
| Madera County, CA | Democratic | D+36.4 |
| Marin County, CA | Democratic | D+1.7 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Democratic | D+30.0 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+13.6 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+26.2 |
| Modoc County, CA | Democratic | D+23.7 |
| Mono County, CA | Democratic | D+6.4 |
| Monterey County, CA | Democratic | D+11.0 |
| Napa County, CA | Democratic | D+6.6 |
| Nevada County, CA | Democratic | D+33.3 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+12.1 |
| Placer County, CA | Democratic | D+36.3 |
| Plumas County, CA | Democratic | D+45.3 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+4.2 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+37.3 |
| San Benito County, CA | Democratic | D+0.7 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Democratic | D+10.2 |
| San Diego County, CA | Democratic | D+12.3 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+20.3 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Democratic | D+6.2 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Democratic | D+8.1 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Democratic | D+5.8 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Democratic | D+9.9 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Democratic | D+0.4 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Republican | R+3.4 |
| Shasta County, CA | Democratic | D+37.3 |
| Sierra County, CA | Democratic | D+34.6 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Democratic | D+27.2 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+42.1 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Republican | R+4.9 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Democratic | D+5.3 |
| Sutter County, CA | Democratic | D+15.1 |
| Tehama County, CA | Democratic | D+10.6 |
| Trinity County, CA | Democratic | D+29.0 |
| Tulare County, CA | Democratic | D+13.1 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Democratic | D+27.3 |
| Ventura County, CA | Democratic | D+14.9 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+18.5 |
| Yuba County, CA | Democratic | D+30.3 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+31,263 | 148,22455.2% | 116,96143.6% | 3,3111.2% | 268,496 |
| Alpine County | Wendell Willkie+63 | 6233.0% | 12566.5% | 10.5% | 188 |
| Amador County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,390 | 2,76266.1% | 1,37232.9% | 421.0% | 4,176 |
| Butte County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,251 | 10,68458.2% | 7,43340.5% | 2551.4% | 18,372 |
| Calaveras County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+756 | 2,40558.9% | 1,64940.4% | 290.7% | 4,083 |
| Colusa County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+881 | 2,65559.5% | 1,77439.7% | 350.8% | 4,464 |
| Contra Costa County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+12,273 | 30,90061.8% | 18,62737.2% | 5131.0% | 50,040 |
| Del Norte County | Wendell Willkie+199 | 1,03444.9% | 1,23353.6% | 351.5% | 2,302 |
| El Dorado County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,125 | 4,14466.4% | 2,01932.4% | 741.2% | 6,237 |
| Fresno County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+27,787 | 48,86669.1% | 21,07929.8% | 8051.1% | 70,750 |
| Glenn County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+622 | 3,09555.0% | 2,47343.9% | 631.1% | 5,631 |
| Humboldt County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,859 | 12,32956.0% | 9,47043.0% | 2251.0% | 22,024 |
| Imperial County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+874 | 7,72852.5% | 6,85446.6% | 1300.9% | 14,712 |
| Inyo County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+337 | 1,82054.7% | 1,48344.5% | 270.8% | 3,330 |
| Kern County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+12,757 | 32,20261.8% | 19,44537.3% | 4790.9% | 52,126 |
| Kings County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+4,396 | 8,30767.4% | 3,91131.7% | 1020.8% | 12,320 |
| Lake County | Wendell Willkie+318 | 1,89745.7% | 2,21553.4% | 390.9% | 4,151 |
| Lassen County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,465 | 4,36769.2% | 1,90230.1% | 440.7% | 6,313 |
| Los Angeles County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+248,452 | 822,71858.1% | 574,26640.6% | 18,2851.3% | 1,415,269 |
| Madera County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,096 | 5,74967.6% | 2,65331.2% | 1011.2% | 8,503 |
| Marin County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+391 | 11,36550.2% | 10,97448.5% | 3011.3% | 22,640 |
| Mariposa County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+900 | 1,93564.4% | 1,03534.5% | 331.1% | 3,003 |
| Mendocino County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,710 | 7,05556.1% | 5,34542.5% | 1691.3% | 12,569 |
| Merced County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+4,400 | 10,50162.6% | 6,10136.4% | 1821.1% | 16,784 |
| Modoc County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+861 | 2,23261.5% | 1,37137.8% | 270.7% | 3,630 |
| Mono County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+64 | 52352.6% | 45946.1% | 131.3% | 995 |
| Monterey County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,948 | 14,75855.0% | 11,81044.0% | 2651.0% | 26,833 |
| Napa County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+847 | 6,77152.7% | 5,92446.1% | 1581.2% | 12,853 |
| Nevada County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,919 | 5,78266.0% | 2,86332.7% | 1141.3% | 8,759 |
| Orange County | Wendell Willkie+7,834 | 28,23643.4% | 36,07055.5% | 6911.1% | 64,997 |
| Placer County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+4,515 | 8,40267.6% | 3,88731.3% | 1471.2% | 12,436 |
| Plumas County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,148 | 3,41872.1% | 1,27026.8% | 521.1% | 4,740 |
| Riverside County | Wendell Willkie+1,776 | 20,00347.2% | 21,77951.4% | 5981.4% | 42,380 |
| Sacramento County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+28,150 | 51,35168.1% | 23,20130.8% | 8641.1% | 75,416 |
| San Benito County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+34 | 2,44150.0% | 2,40749.3% | 350.7% | 4,883 |
| San Bernardino County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+7,009 | 37,52054.5% | 30,51144.3% | 8471.2% | 68,878 |
| San Diego County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+15,754 | 71,18855.6% | 55,43443.3% | 1,4881.2% | 128,110 |
| San Francisco County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+63,158 | 185,60759.5% | 122,44939.3% | 3,8221.2% | 311,878 |
| San Joaquin County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,133 | 26,53652.5% | 23,40346.3% | 5591.1% | 50,498 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,295 | 8,49953.4% | 7,20445.3% | 2171.4% | 15,920 |
| San Mateo County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,292 | 29,83152.4% | 26,53946.6% | 5811.0% | 56,951 |
| Santa Barbara County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,130 | 17,23754.4% | 14,10744.5% | 3341.1% | 31,678 |
| Santa Clara County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+349 | 40,44949.6% | 40,10049.2% | 9471.2% | 81,496 |
| Santa Cruz County | Wendell Willkie+770 | 10,68347.5% | 11,45350.9% | 3501.6% | 22,486 |
| Shasta County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+4,753 | 8,66268.0% | 3,90930.7% | 1621.3% | 12,733 |
| Sierra County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+546 | 1,05767.0% | 51132.4% | 100.6% | 1,578 |
| Siskiyou County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,327 | 7,71463.2% | 4,38735.9% | 1110.9% | 12,212 |
| Solano County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+8,973 | 15,05470.6% | 6,08128.5% | 1930.9% | 21,328 |
| Sonoma County | Wendell Willkie+1,589 | 15,23047.0% | 16,81951.9% | 3301.0% | 32,379 |
| Stanislaus County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,691 | 16,49452.0% | 14,80346.6% | 4491.4% | 31,746 |
| Sutter County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,106 | 4,19557.1% | 3,08942.1% | 610.8% | 7,345 |
| Tehama County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+705 | 3,61854.6% | 2,91343.9% | 971.5% | 6,628 |
| Trinity County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+651 | 1,43163.8% | 78034.8% | 311.4% | 2,242 |
| Tulare County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+4,715 | 20,12956.0% | 15,41442.9% | 4281.2% | 35,971 |
| Tuolumne County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+1,537 | 3,54163.0% | 2,00435.6% | 791.4% | 5,624 |
| Ventura County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+3,957 | 15,18257.0% | 11,22542.1% | 2270.9% | 26,634 |
| Yolo County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,007 | 6,38058.8% | 4,37340.3% | 1010.9% | 10,854 |
| Yuba County | Franklin D. Roosevelt+2,189 | 4,66064.6% | 2,47134.2% | 861.2% | 7,217 |
Nominees: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) · Wendell Willkie (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1940 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Source. Compiled historical county records — 1940 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.