1964 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary
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The 1964 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary was held on April 21, 1964, in New Jersey as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1964 United States presidential election.
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April 21, 1964
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Presidential delegate primary | |||||||||||||||||||||
80 Democratic National Convention delegates[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential preference primary (non-binding) | |||||||||||||||||||||
No Democratic National Convention delegates | |||||||||||||||||||||
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In the binding delegate primary, competing slates of uncommitted delegates contested the election on a ballot The New York Times called "one of the most confusing in the state's recent history."[1] In most districts, however, the "Regular Democratic Organization" slate assembled by state and local party leaders ultimately ran unopposed.
In the preference primary held at the same time, no candidate filed to run,[1] but President Johnson easily received a large majority of write-in votes, though fewer than six thousand were cast.[2] In some counties, a write-in vote was difficult or impossible to cast due to the nature of the voting machines used, and no vote was recorded in Cape May or Essex counties.
Background
Procedure
Thirty-five delegates were elected at-large on a statewide ticket, and another three were elected from each of the state's 15 congressional districts.[2]
On March 9, the legislature passed an act authorizing voters to vote for delegates as a bloc, if they chose to be grouped together, if a county clerk found that the capacity of voting machines made it impossible to vote for individual delegates. Nine counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset) opted for this system, but on April 2, Superior Court judge Nelson K. Mintz ruled that adapters for voting machines used in the state were available and that the county clerks could not "substitute their standard for the standard of 'impossibility' prescribed by the Legislature".[3]
Results
Preference primary results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lyndon B. Johnson (inc.; write-in) | 4,863 | 82.30% | |
| Democratic | George Wallace (write-in) | 491 | 8.31% | |
| Democratic | Robert F. Kennedy (write-in) | 431 | 7.29% | |
| Republican | Henry Cabot Lodge (write-in) | 69 | 1.17% | |
| Republican | Barry Goldwater (write-in) | 30 | 0.51% | |
| Republican | Richard Nixon (write-in) | 19 | 0.32% | |
| Republican | Nelson Rockefeller (write-in) | 3 | 0.05% | |
| Republican | William Scranton (write-in) | 3 | 0.05% | |
| Total votes | 5,909 | 100.00% | ||
Delegate primary results
| Delegate slate | Candidate | Delegate candidates | Delegates | Aggregate votes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | District | Total | Of total (%) | Total | Of total (%) | |||
| Regular Democratic Organization | Uncommitted | 35 | 45 | 80 | 100.00 | 4,920,735 | 93.50% | |
| Regular Democrats Real Democracy | Uncommitted | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 337,648 | 6.41% | |
| No Slogan | Uncommitted | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 2,963 | 0.06% | |
| Regular Conference Democrat | Uncommitted | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 1,157 | 0.02% | |
| Tax Cut Equal Opportunity Now | Uncommitted | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 477 | 0.01% | |
| Total | 49 | 50 | 80 | 100.0 | 5,262,980 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters, and turnout | ||||||||
Delegate primary results by contest
| Contest | Delegates and popular vote |
Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Democratic Organization |
Other | ||
| Delegates at-large | 35 4,428,453 (92.92%) |
337,648 (7.08%)[a] |
4,766,101 |
| 1st district | 3 45,862 (100.00%) |
N/a | 45,862 |
| 2nd district | 3 13,907 (89.49%) |
1,634 (10.51%)[b] |
15,541 |
| 3rd district | 3 27,622 (100.00%) |
N/a | 27,622 |
| 4th district | 3 26,884 (90.07%) |
2,963 (9.93%)[c] |
29,847 |
| 5th district | 3 12,459 (100.00%) |
N/a | 12,459 |
| 6th district | 3 55,715 (100.00%) |
N/a | 55,715 |
| 7th district | 3 29,098 (100.00%) |
N/a | 29,098 |
| 8th district | 3 14,544 (100.00%) |
N/a | 14,544 |
| 9th district | 3 30,836 (100.00%) |
N/a | 30,836 |
| 10th district | 3 32,238 (100.00%) |
N/a | 32,238 |
| 11th district | 3 21,176 (100.00%) |
N/a | 21,176 |
| 12th district | 3 23,033 (100.00%) |
N/a | 23,033 |
| 13th district | 3 54,633 (100.00%) |
N/a | 54,633 |
| 14th district | 3 56,055 (100.00%) |
N/a | 56,055 |
| 15th district | 3 48,220 (100.00%) |
N/a | 48,220 |
| District subtotal | 45 492,282 (99.07%) |
4,597 (0.93%) |
496,879 |
- All votes cast for the "Regular Democrats Real Democracy" slate led by James J. Mack.
- 477 votes (3.07%) cast for Herod E. McLeod, running with the slogan "Tax Cut Equal Opportunity Now" and 1,157 votes (7.44%) cast for the "Regular Conference Democrat" ticket.
Aftermath
At the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, the New Jersey delegates joined a voice vote nominating Lyndon B. Johnson for election to a full term.