United States Senate elections, 1940

November 5, 1940^[1]

36 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Alben Barkley	Charles McNary
Party	Democratic	Republican	Progressive
Leader's seat	Kentucky	Oregon	Wisconsin
Last election	69 seats	23 seats	1 seat
Seats before	69	25	1
Seats won	66	28	1
Seat change	3	4
Popular vote	19,715,831	19,831,926	605,609
Percentage	47.5%	47.8%	1.5%

Republican hold

Republican gain

Democratic hold

Democratic gain

Progressive hold

Majority Leader before election

Alben Barkley
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Alben Barkley
Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1940 coincided with the election of Franklin Roosevelt to his third term as President.

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D₅₀	D₅₁	D₅₂	D₅₃	D₅₄	D₅₅	D₅₆	D₅₇	D₅₈
D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈
D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉
D₂₉	D₃₀	D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇	D₃₈
D₄₈	D₄₇	D₄₆	D₄₅	D₄₄	D₄₃	D₄₂	D₄₁	D₄₀	D₃₉
D₄₉	← Majority
D₆₈	D₆₇	D₆₆	D₆₅	D₆₄	D₆₃	D₆₂	D₆₁	D₆₀	D₅₉
D₆₉	FL₁	R₂₄	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇
R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆
R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁	I₁	P₁

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D₅₀√	D₅₁√	D₅₂√	D₅₃√	D₅₄√	D₅₅√	D₅₆√	D₅₇√	D₅₈√
D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈
D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉
D₂₉	D₃₀	D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇	D₃₈
D₄₈√	D₄₇√	D₄₆√	D₄₅√	D₄₄	D₄₃	D₄₂	D₄₁	D₄₀	D₃₉
D₄₉√	← Majority
R₂₇+	R₂₈+	D₆₆+	D₆₅O	D₆₄O	D₆₃O	D₆₂O	D₆₁√	D₆₀√	D₅₉√
R₂₆+	R₂₅+	R₂₄@	R₂₃O	R₂₂O	R₂₁O	R₂₀√	R₁₉√	R₁₈√	R₁₇√
R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆√
R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁	I₁	P₁

Key:

D_#	Democratic
FL_#	Farmer-Labor
I_#	Independent
P_#	Progressive
R_#	Republican

√	Incumbent re-elected
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party
@	Party gain: Incumbent elected from a different party

Summary

Although Roosevelt was re-elected, support for his administration had dropped somewhat after eight years, and the Republican opposition gained three seats from the Democrats. However, the New Dealers regained firm control of both the US House of Representative and US Senate because Progressives dominated the election.^[2] The Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party also disappeared from the Senate, as Henrik Shipstead joined the Republican party and Ernest Lundeen had died during the preceding term.

Gains and losses

Incumbent John G. Townsend, Jr. (R-DE) was defeated by a Democrat, but Republicans defeated two incumbents James M. Slattery (D-IL) and Sherman Minton (D-IN), and took two open seats in Nebraska and Ohio.

Notable frehmen were future Governor of Arizona Ernest W. McFarland (D-AZ), future Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler (D-KY) and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harold H. Burton (R-OH).

Senate contests in 1940

Separate elections

Date	State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
November 22, 1940	Illinois Special: Class 2	James M. Slattery	Democratic	Appointee lost election to finish term Republican gain	C. Wayland Brooks (Republican) 50.1% James M. Slattery (Democratic) 49.6%

November 5 elections

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Arizona	Henry F. Ashurst	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Ernest W. McFarland (Democratic) 71.6% I. A. Jennings (Republican) 28.0% A. Walter Gehres (Prohibition) 0.4%
California	Hiram W. Johnson	Republican	Re-elected	Hiram W. Johnson (Republican) 82.5% Fred Dyster (Prohibition) 13.5% Anita Whitney (Communist) 3.6%
Connecticut	Francis T. Maloney	Democratic	Re-elected	Francis T. Maloney (Democratic) 53.2% Paul L. Cornell (Republican) 45.7%
Delaware	John G. Townsend, Jr.	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	James M. Tunnell (Democratic) 50.6% John G. Townsend, Jr. (Republican) 47.3% William F Allen (Liberal Democratic) 2.1%
Florida	Charles O. Andrews	Democratic	Re-elected	Charles O. Andrews (Democratic) Unopposed
Idaho Special: Class 2	John W. Thomas	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term	John W. Thomas (Republican) 53.0% Glen H. Taylor (Democratic) 47.1%
Indiana	Sherman Minton	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Raymond E. Willis (Republican) 50.5% Sherman Minton (Democratic) 49.1% Carl W. Thompson (Prohibition) 0.3% John H. Kingsbury (Socialist) 0.1%
Kentucky Special: Class 2	Happy Chandler	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term	Happy Chandler (Democratic) 58.3% Walter B. Smith (Republican) 41.7%
Maine	Frederick Hale	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Ralph O. Brewster (Republican) 58.6% Louis J. Brann (Democratic) 41.3%
Maryland	George L. P. Radcliffe	Democratic	Re-elected	George L. P. Radcliffe (Democratic) 64.7% Harry W. Nice (Republican) 33.5%
Massachusetts	David I. Walsh	Democratic	Re-elected	David I. Walsh (Democratic) 55.6% Henry Parkman, Jr. (Republican) 42.8%
Michigan	Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	Re-elected	Arthur H. Vandenberg (Republican) 52.7% Frank Fitzpatrick (Democratic) 47.0%
Minnesota	Henrik Shipstead	Farmer-Labor	Re-elected as a Republican Republican gain	Henrik Shipstead (Republican) 53.0% Elmer Austin Benson (Farmer-Labor) 25.7% John E. Regan (Democratic) 20.6%
Mississippi	Theodore G. Bilbo	Democratic	Re-elected	Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic) Unopposed
Missouri	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	Re-elected	Harry S. Truman (Democratic) 51.2% Manvel H. Davis (Republican) 48.7% W. F. Rinck (Socialist) 0.1% Theodore Baeff (Socialist Labor) 0.01%
Montana	Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	Re-elected	Burton K. Wheeler (Democratic) 73.4% E. K. Cheadle (Republican) 26.6%
Nebraska	Edward R. Burke	Democratic	Lost renomination Republican gain	Hugh Butler (Republican) 57.0% R. L. Cochran (Democratic) 41.5%
Nevada	Key Pittman	Democratic	Re-elected	Key Pittman (Democratic) 60.5% Samuel Platt (Republican) 39.5%
New Jersey	W. Warren Barbour	Republican	Re-elected	W. Warren Barbour (Republican) 55.1% James H. R. Cromwell (Democratic) 44.1%
New Mexico	Dennis Chavez	Democratic	Re-elected	Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 56.0% Albert K. Mitchell (Republican) 44.1%
New York	James M. Mead	Democratic	Re-elected	James M. Mead (Democratic) 53.3% Bruce Barton (Republican) 46.7%
North Dakota	Lynn J. Frazier	Republican	Lost renomination Republican hold	William Langer (Republican) 38.1% William Lemke (Independent) 35.1% Charles V. Vogel (Democratic) 26.5%
Ohio	Vic Donahey	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Harold H. Burton (Republican) 52.4% John McSweeney (Democratic) 47.6%
Pennsylvania	Joseph F. Guffey	Democratic	Re-elected	Joseph F. Guffey (Democratic) 51.8% Jay Cooke (Republican) 47.4%
Rhode Island	Peter G. Gerry	Democratic	Re-elected	Peter G. Gerry (Democratic) 55.2% James O. McManus (Republican) 44.8%
Tennessee	Kenneth D. McKellar	Democratic	Re-elected	Kenneth D. McKellar (Democratic) 70.8% Howard H. Baker, Sr. (Republican) 29.2%
Texas	Tom Connally	Democratic	Re-elected	Tom Connally (Democratic) 94.3% George I. Shannon (Republican) 5.7%
Utah	William H. King	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Abe Murdock (Democratic) 62.9% Philo T. Farnsworth, Jr. (Republican) 37.2%
Vermont	Warren R. Austin	Republican	Re-elected	Warren R. Austin (Republican) 66.5% Ona S. Searles (Democratic) 33.6%
Vermont Special: Class 3	Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.	Republican	Appointee retired Republican hold	George D. Aiken (Republican) 61.6% Herbert B. Comings (Democratic) 38.4%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Democratic	Re-elected	Harry F. Byrd (Democratic) 93.3
Washington	Lewis B. Schwellenbach	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Monrad Wallgren (Democratic) 54.2% Stephen F. Chadwick (Republican) 45.8%
West Virginia	Rush D. Holt	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Harley M. Kilgore (Democratic) 56.3% Thomas Sweeney (Republican) 43.7%
Wisconsin	Robert M. La Follette, Jr.	Progressive	Re-elected	Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (Progressive) 45.3% Fred H. Clausen (Republican) 41.4% James E. Finnegan (Democratic) 13.2%
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	Re-elected	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Democratic) 58.7% Milward Simpson (Republican) 41.3%

References

↑ September 9, 1940 in Maine
↑ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,849318,00.html