1940 Texas gubernatorial election

The 1940 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940.

Incumbent Democratic Governor W. Lee O'Daniel defeated Republican nominee George C. Hopkins with 94.42% of the vote.

Nominations

The Democratic primary election was held on July 27, 1940. By winning over 50% of the vote, O'Daniel avoided a run-off.

Arlon Barton "Cyclone" Davis, son of James Harvey "Cyclone" Davis^[1]^[2]
Miriam A. Ferguson, former Governor
Harry Hines, incumbent Highway Commissioner^[3]
W. Lee O'Daniel, incumbent Governor
Jerry Sadler, incumbent Railroad Commissioner
Ernest O. Thompson, incumbent Railroad Commissioner and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for Governor in 1938

R. P. "Rip" Condron, theater owner from La Feria (endorsed Thompson).^[4]^[5]
Albert L. Derden, incumbent member of the Texas House of Representatives from Falls County (endorsed Hines).^[5]

Democratic primary results^[6]^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. Lee O'Daniel (incumbent)	645,646	54.29
	Democratic	Ernest O. Thompson	256,923	21.60
	Democratic	Harry Hines	119,121	10.02
	Democratic	Miriam A. Ferguson	100,578	8.46
	Democratic	Jerry Sadler	61,396	5.16
	Democratic	Arlon B. Davis	3,623	0.31
	Democratic	R. P. Condron	2,003	0.17
Total votes			1,189,290	100.00

The Republican state convention was held at Beaumont on August 13, 1940.^[9]^[10]

George C. Hopkins, businessman, was nominated for Governor.^[11]

1940 Texas gubernatorial election^[8]^[13]^[14]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. Lee O'Daniel (incumbent)	1,019,338	94.42%
	Republican	George C. Hopkins	59,895	5.55%
	Communist	Ben H. Lauderdale	202	0.02%
	Scattering		113	0.01%
Majority			959,453	88.87%
Turnout			1,079,538	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.
Texas Almanac, 1954-1955. Dallas, Texas: A. H. Belo Corporation. 1953.