Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 5, 1940.[ 1]
Primaries were held April 9, 1940.[ 1]
While the Democratic ticket of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry A. Wallace won the state's electors in the presidential election, the election overall saw significant victories for the Republican Party . The Republican Party retained their control of the Illinois House , and flipped control of the Illinois Senate , as well as control of the executive offices of Governor , Lieutenant Governor , Attorney General , Auditor of Public Accounts , and Treasurer , all of which had previously been under Democratic Party control. Democrats retained their hold on the executive office of Secretary of State . Additionally, Republicans won all seats up for election on the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois . Republicans also won the state's special United States Senate election and flipped 6 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives .
In the primaries, 2,647,467 ballots were cast (1,503,706 Democratic and 1,143,761 Republican ).[ 1]
In the general election, 4,262,196 ballots were cast.[ 1]
United States President [ edit ] Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry A. Wallace .
United States Senate [ edit ] Republican Charles W. Brooks unseated Democrat James M. Slattery , who had been appointed to the seat left vacant by the death in office of Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis .
United States House [ edit ] All 27 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1940.
Republicans flipped six Democratic-held seats, making the composition of Illinois' House delegation 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
1940 Illinois gubernatorial election County Results
Green: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Hershey: 50–60% 60–70%
Before the primary, incumbent governor Henry Horner , a Democrat, opted not to seek a third term. In October, before the general election, his death in office made John Henry Stelle assume the governorship. However, Stelle had previously failed to win the Democratic nomination in the primary.
Republican Dwight H. Green won the election.
Lieutenant governor [ edit ] 1940 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election
Incumbent lieutenant governor John Henry Stelle , a Democrat, did not seek reelection to a second term, instead opting to run for governor. Republican Hugh W. Cross was elected to succeed him.
1940 Illinois Attorney General election
Incumbent Attorney General John Edward Cassidy , a Democrat appointed in 1938 after fellow Democrat Otto Kerner Sr. resigned to accept a federal judgeship, did not seek reelection to a full term. Republican George F. Barrett was elected to succeed him.
1940 Illinois Secretary of State election County resultsHughes: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%Johnson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Incumbent second-term Secretary of State Edward J. Hughes , a Democrat, was reelected.
Justus L. Johnson won the Republican primary, defeating businessman Richard Yates Rowe and Illinois state senator Arthur J. Bidwill .
Auditor of Public Accounts [ edit ] 1940 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election
Incumbent third-term Auditor of Public Accounts Edward J. Barrett , lost renomination in the Democratic primary. Republican Arthur C. Lueder was elected to succeed him.
Incumbent Edward J. Barrett narrowly lost renomination to U.S. congressman and former Illinois state treasurer John C. Martin .
1940 Illinois State Treasurer election
Incumbent first-term Treasurer Louie E. Lewis , a Democrat, did not seek reelection, instead running for lieutenant governor. Republican Warren Wright was elected to succeed him in office.
Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1940. Republicans flipped control of the chamber.
State House of Representatives [ edit ] Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1940. Republicans retained control of the chamber.
University of Illinois trustees [ edit ] 1940 University of Illinois trustees elections
An election was held for three of the nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois to six year terms, and a special election was held to fill the partial term of a seat that was vacated.[ 1] Republicans swept all four seats in the two elections.[ 1] The election was for six-year terms.
1940 University of Illinois trustees (regular election) Majority party Minority party Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 5,957,269 5,806,332 Percentage 50.44% 49.16% Swing 2.59% 2.61% Seats up 0 3 Races won 3 0 [ 1] [ 6]
An election was held for three six-year terms to the board.
Former two-term Republican member Helen M. H. Grigsby was returned to the board.[ 1] [ 7] New Republican members John R. Fornof and Park Livingston were elected to the board.[ 1] [ 7]
Incumbent first-term Democrat Marie Coyle Plumb lost reelection.[ 1] [ 7]
First-term Democrats Oscar G. Mayer Sr. and Harold Pogue did not seek reelection.[ 1] [ 7]
Marie Coyle Plumb was listed on the ballot as "Mrs. Glenn E. Plumb", and Beulah Campbell was listed as "Belulah (Mrs. Bruce A.) Campbell".[ 1] [ 7]
1940 University of Illinois trustee special election
A special election was held to fill the term left vacant by the death in office of Democrat Louis Conrad Moschel in 1940.[ 1] [ 7] Republican Chester R. Davis was elected, defeating incumbent Kenny E. Williamson (who had been appointed to hold the seat after the death of Moschel).[ 1] [ 7]
On June 3, 1940, an election was held for judges of the Superior Court of Cook County .
On November 5, 1940, an election was held to fill a vacancy on the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
A legislatively referred state statute was brought before the voters.
Illinois Banking Law Amendment [ edit ] Voters approved the Illinois Banking Law Amendment, a legislatively referred state statute which made it easier to establish new banks in small municipalities that lack banks.[ 1] [ 8] It amended sections 11 and 12 of the general banking law.[ 1]
Illinois Banking Law Amendment[ 1] Candidate Votes % Yes 775,170 68.10 No 363,136 31.90 Total votes 1,138,306 100
Local elections were held.
^A 5,806,332½ in regular election and 1,910,902 in special election ^B 5,957,269½ in regular election and 1,943,117 in special election ^C 49.16% of regular election and 49.58% of special election ^D 50.44% of regular election and 50.42% of special election ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 5, 1940 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1939–1940 PRIMARY ELECTION General Primary, APRIL 9, 1940" (PDF) . Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020 . ^ "It's always campaign season" . The Visual Journal . November 24, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2020 . ^ "County of Will v. State, 5 Ill. Ct. Cl. 249 (1927) | Caselaw Access Project" . cite.case.law . Retrieved December 9, 2020 . ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 6, 1934 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1933-34 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 10, 1934" (PDF) . Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 27, 2022 . ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 3, 1936 PRIMARY ELECTIONS GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 14, 1936 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, APRIL 14, 1936" (PDF) . Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2020 .[permanent dead link ] ^ a b "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, November 8, 1938 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1937-1938 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, April 12, 1938" (PDF) . Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 14, 2020 .[permanent dead link ] ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF) . University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020 . ^ "Illinois General Banking Law Amendment (1940)" . Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 10, 2020 .