1968 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary

none June 2025 January 2025 1968 New Jersey Democratic presidential primaries New Jersey 1964 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary 1964 1972 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary 1972 CA SD June 4, 1968 yes Presidential delegate primary primary Yes 82 Democratic National Convention delegates 250px File:NOTA Option Logo 3x4.svg Uncommitted 000000 61 200,986 62.4% File:1964 Portrait Eugene McCarthy (cropped).jpg Eugene McCarthy Minnesota 37c837 19 95,837 29.7% yes primary Presidential preference primary (non-binding) Yes No Democratic National Convention delegates File:1964 Portrait Eugene McCarthy (cropped).jpg Eugene McCarthy(write-in) 37c837 Minnesota 9,906 36.1% File:Portrait of Robert Kennedy (cropped2).jpg Robert F. Kennedy(write-in) 80b3ff New York 8,603 31.3% File:Hubert Humphrey in New York, 1968 (3x4 crop1).jpg Hubert Humphrey(write-in) FFA500 Minnesota 5,578 20.3% File:George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg George Wallace(write-in) 008000 Alabama 1,399 5.1% File:Nixon 30-0316a (cropped).jpg Richard Nixon(write-in) FF8080 New York 1,364 5.0% 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries The 1968 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary was held on June 4, 1968, in New Jersey as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1968 United States presidential election. In the binding delegate primary, uncommitted delegates won a large majority over delegates pledged to support Eugene McCarthy. McCarthy captured nineteen delegates by narrowly winning several of the state's suburban congressional districts, including nine out of ten delegates from Bergen County. The uncommitted delegates were expected to determine internally whether to support Hubert Humphrey or Robert F. Kennedy. However, Kennedy was assassinated on the night of the primary, leading the New Jersey delegation to support Humphrey at the convention.Wildstein David 2024-07-22 What happened in N.J. when LBJ dropped out of the race? https://newjerseyglobe.com/presidential-election/what-happened-in-n-j-when-lbj-dropped-out-of-the-race/ 2025-06-03 New Jersey Globe en-US In the preference primary held at the same time, McCarthy won with 36.1 percent of the vote. However, no candidate appeared on the ballot and far fewer voters participated in the write-in preference primary, which had no binding effect on the delegates.Results of the Primary Election held June 4, 1968 https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1920-1970//1968-primary-election.pdf New Jersey Department of State Background Primary campaign After Lyndon B. Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek or accept the Democratic nomination for president, Democratic leaders in New Jersey formed an uncommitted "Regular Democratic Organization" slate. Ahead of the April 25 filing deadline, only Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy fielded an opposing slate of delegates; his chief competitors, Hubert Humphrey and Robert F. Kennedy, chose not to enter the New Jersey primary and instead focus on swaying the party leaders and uncommitted delegates once elected. Procedure Five delegates were elected at-large with five more elected from each of the state's congressional districts. Delegates were elected individually, rather than as a slate, with each voter selecting up to five choices in each race. They were permitted to run as pledged or unpledged delegates. Typically, the state and county party organizations attempted to elect unpledged slates.1967 History, Conditions of the 15 Presidential Primaries https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal67-1311524#H2_13 July 13, 2025 CQ Press Library Congressional Quarterly In addition, New Jersey's two Democratic National Committee members were entitled to a delegate seat ex officio. In addition to the delegate election, a nonbinding preference poll was held, as had been in every presidential year since 1912, with the exceptions of 1948, 1960 and 1964. The preference primary was often disregarded by convention delegates. The filing deadline was April 25. In 1965, the legislature rescheduled the primary date from the third Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in June. Candidates Jesse Gray, New York City tenants' advocate Hubert Humphrey, Vice President of the United States and former U.S. senator from Minnesota Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. senator from New York and former U.S. Attorney General Eugene McCarthy, U.S. senator from Minnesota Withdrew Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States Results Preference primary results 1968 New Jersey presidential preference primary Eugene McCarthy (write-in) Democratic Party (US) 9,906 36.09% Robert F. Kennedy (write-in) Democratic Party (US) 8,603 31.35% Hubert Humphrey (write-in) Democratic Party (US) 5,578 20.32% George Wallace (write-in) Democratic Party (US) 1,399 5.10% Richard Nixon (write-in) Republican Party (US) 1,364 4.97% Lyndon B. Johnson (write-in) Democratic Party (US) 380 1.38% Nelson Rockefeller (write-in) Republican Party (US) 176 0.64% Ronald Reagan (write-in) Republican Party (US) 40 0.15% 27,446 100.00% Delegate primary results +1968 New Jersey Democratic primaryDelegate slateCandidateDelegate candidatesDelegatesAggregate votesStateCountyTotalOf total (%)TotalOf total (%)Other/Uncommitted 10 88 61 76.25 2,070,819 67.68McCarthy for PresidentEugene McCarthy 5 75 19 23.75 953,016 31.15Jesse Gray for PresidentJesse Gray 5 5 0 0.0 35,773 1.17Total2016880100.0 3,059,608100.00Registered voters, and turnout Delegate primary results by contest +1968 New Jersey Democratic primaryContestDelegatesand popular voteTotal UncommittedUncommitted totals in the county elections are the totals of the top slate of uncommitted delegate candidates. Additional delegate candidates are listed under "other". McCarthy Gray OtherDelegates at-large51,004,931 (62.36%)479,185 (29.74%)32,817 (2.04%)94,584 (5.87%)All votes cast for the "United Democrats" slate led by Frank Hague Eggers Jr.1,611,517NJ 1 C557,161 (71.61%)22,657 (28.39%)79,818NJ 2 C533,609 (74.05%)11,333 (24.97%)446 (0.98%)All votes cast for Joseph T. Wilkins, running with the slogan "Challenge '68".45,388NJ 3 C553,072 (66.08%)27,246 (33.92%)80,318NJ 4 C542,033 (52.54%)37,657 (47.07%)317 (0.39%)All votes cast for Thomas D. Walsh, running with no slogan.80,007NJ 5 C37,269 (47.08%)541,890 (52.92%)79,159NJ 6 C546,449 (60.09%)30,849 (39.91%)77,298NJ 7 C136,362 (49.30%)437,397 (50.70%)73,759NJ 8 C540,075 (65.39%)21,210 (34.61%)61,285NJ 9 C42,716 (48.50%)545,360 (51.50%)88,076NJ 10 C563,169 (69.74%)27,411 (30.26%)90,580NJ 11 C561,345 (62.38%)36,240 (36.85%)762 (0.77%)All votes cast for Robert R. Detore, running with no slogan.98,347NJ 12 C42,676 (47.33%)547,485 (52.67%)90,161NJ 13 C5139,502 (71.87%)26,503 (13.65%)2,956 (1.52%)25,137 (12.95%)All votes cast for the "United Democrats" slate led by Edward Muzikowski.194,098NJ 14 C5131,553 (71.87%)23,037 (12.59%)28,449 (15.54%)All votes cast for the "United Democrats" slate led by Edward Lombardi.183,039NJ 15 C589,202 (70.37%)37,556 (29.63%)126,758District subtotal56916,193 (63.27%)19473,831 (32.72%)2,956 (0.20%)55,111 (3.81%)1,448,091 Aftermath At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, New Jersey cast 62 votes for Humphrey and 18 for McCarthy on the first ballot. One delegate who had been pledged to McCarthy, Fairleigh Dickinson economic professor Robert S. Browne, cast his vote for Channing E. Phillips. References New Jersey Category:1968 New Jersey elections 1968