The 1968 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary was held on March 12, 1968, in New Hampshire as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1968 United States presidential election.
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 New Hampshire results by county Johnson McCarthy | |||||||||||||||||||
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President Lyndon Johnson, who had not officially entered the race for president, won the primary as a write-in, but finished with a shockingly low total of less than 50%.[1][2] Eugene McCarthy, then a little-known senator from Minnesota, won 42% of the primary vote. McCarthy's extremely strong showing gave his campaign legitimacy and momentum.[3] In addition, McCarthy's superior coordination led to a near sweep of the state's twenty-four pledged delegates; since Johnson had no formal campaign organization in the state, a number of competing pro-Johnson delegate candidates split his vote, allowing McCarthy to take twenty delegates.
Just 19 days later, President Johnson announced he would not seek a second bid for re-election, opening up the Democratic field to other candidates including Robert F. Kennedy (who was assassinated after winning the California primary)[4] and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the eventual nominee.[5]