Why was FDR weaker in the Midwest

[Motorcity]

FDR did well in the west, south and northeast all four elections

But he lost Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas in both 1940 and 1944 despite doing a lot during the dust bowl. Same with Colorado strangly enough

In 1940, he also lost Michigan

In 1944, he lost Ohio and Wisconsin and barely kept Michigan

Why was FDR weaker in the Mid West in the 1940s? Did they recover from the Great Depression sooner and thought the New Deal wasn't needed anymore? Or perhaps the German vote was still strong like with Wilson

That said I can't find any scholarly articles, newspapers, or books explaing the drop in support for FDR. And what about Colorado and Wyoming?

[Motorcity]

Anyone

[DINGO Joe]

Ancestral Republicanism, Isolationism and FDR fatigue would be a broad explanation

[One Term Floridian]

German Americans

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Ancestral Republicanism, Isolationism and FDR fatigue would be a broad explanation

Agree with this interpretation, as the Midwest was something of a center of the "old right" and those things certainly played a role there as a result.

There is also the large numbers of Germans as was said and there was a noticeable trend among Germans towards the Republicans beginning in 1940.

Lastly, a lot of people left Tornado alley for other states during the Dust bowl so it kind of cuts both ways in that regards. Help on the one hand balanced with a much more conservative remaining population.

[DINGO Joe]

Ancestral Republicanism, Isolationism and FDR fatigue would be a broad explanation

Agree with this interpretation, as the Midwest was something of a center of the "old right" and those things certainly played a role there as a result.

There is also the large numbers of Germans as was said and there was a noticeable trend among Germans towards the Republicans beginning in 1940.

Lastly, a lot of people left Tornado alley for other states during the Dust bowl so it kind of cuts both ways in that regards. Help on the one hand balanced with a much more conservative remaining population.

I wonder what the Germans thought about Wilkie though, as he won the nomination largely because Rs thought an isolationist would get crushed.  Granted neither Wilkie or FDR were running on a platform of joining the war but they both wanted substantial aid to England.

[junior chįmp]

Besides the reasons listed above (incumbency aka FDR fatigue, certain demographics swinging against FDR, ancestral GOP areas shifting back, etc...), a large part of why these states:

But he lost Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas in both 1940 and 1944 despite doing a lot during the dust bowl. Same with Colorado strangely enough

...swung against FDR because their economies didn't get much benefit from FDR's New Deal and failed to fully recover. ND, SD, NE, and KS (excluded from your list is Iowa which also swung against FDR) began to swing against FDR in the 1936 elections and just continued doing so in 1940. Part of the reason is simple: those states economies were worse off in 1936 relative to the nation as a whole as evidenced by their continued decline in income:



It should be noted that FDR's powerful aides James Farely and Harry Hopkins conspired to strategically disperse relief funds in the run up to the 1936 election. Spending on government transfers jumped significantly in 1936 after remaining steady from 1933 to 1935 and most New Deal spending ended after the 1938 midterms. If at the peak of New Deal spending in 1936, states like ND, SD, NE, IA, and KS couldn't recover then they just simply voted against the incumbent.

Did they recover from the Great Depression sooner and thought the New Deal wasn't needed anymore?

The answer is the opposite: Plains area states got no benefit from the New Deal and economic hardship continued under FDR while most of the rest of the country benefited and recovered. In response, they just simply voted against the incumbent in 1936, 1940, 1944. Very similar to what happened in Iowa during the Reagan/Bush years.