1940 Michigan gubernatorial election

The 1940 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Democratic nominee Murray Van Wagoner defeated incumbent Republican Luren Dickinson with 53.06% of the vote.

1940 Michigan gubernatorial election

← 1938 November 5, 1940 1942 →

Nominee Murray Van Wagoner Luren Dickinson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,077,065 945,784 Percentage 53.06% 46.59%

County results Van Wagoner:      50–60%      60–70% Dickinson:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election Luren Dickinson Republican Elected Governor Murray Van Wagoner Democratic

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Murray Van Wagoner, Democratic
• Luren Dickinson, Republican

Other candidates

• Seth Whitmore, Socialist
• Philip Raymond, Communist
• Ralph Naylor, Socialist Labor

Results

Michigan gubernatorial election, 1940^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Murray Van Wagoner	1,077,065	53.06
	Republican	Luren Dickinson (incumbent)	945,784	46.59
	Socialist	Seth Whitmore	4,124	0.20
	Communist	Philip Raymond	2,387	0.12
	Socialist Labor	Ralph Naylor	702	0.04
	Write-ins		7	0.00
Total votes			2,027,682	100
	Democratic gain from Republican

Primaries

The primary elections occurred on September 10, 1940.^[2]

Democratic primary

Michigan gubernatorial Democratic primary, 1940^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Murray Van Wagoner	281,023	79.30
	Democratic	Eugene Van Antwerp	73,340	20.70
	Democratic	Write-ins	12	0.00
Total votes			354,375	100.00

Republican primary

Michigan gubernatorial Republican primary, 1940^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Luren Dickinson (incumbent)	241,717	43.68
	Republican	Thomas Read	108,113	19.54
	Republican	Ora Lynn Smith	92,236	16.67
	Republican	Miller Dunckel	62,874	11.36
	Republican	Melville B. McPherson	28,332	5.12
	Republican	Ernest T. Conlon	12,909	2.33
	Republican	Charles Renaud	7,226	1.31
	Republican	Write-ins	31	0.00
Total votes			553,438	100.00

References

1. "Our Campaigns - MI Governor - Nov 05, 1940". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
2. Michigan (1943). Michigan manual. 1941-42 – via HathiTrust.