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.
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.
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. 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
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 President 5 75 19 23.75 953,016 31.15Jesse Gray for President 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 Uncommitted McCarthy Gray OtherDelegates at-large51,611,517579,818545,388580,318580,007579,159577,2981473,759561,285588,076590,580598,347590,1615194,0985183,0395126,758District subtotal56191,448,091
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.
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