The 2016 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary was held on June 7 in the U.S. state of New Jersey as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
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 Election results by county. | |||||||||||||||||||
The Democratic Party's primaries in California, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota were held the same day, as were Republican primaries in the same five states, including their own New Jersey primary. Additionally, the Democratic Party held North Dakota caucuses the same day.
Clinton had won the state eight years prior and had support from most of the state's Democratic Congressional delegation,[2] including Senator Cory Booker.[3] Feeling confident about her chances in the primary, Clinton cancelled campaign events in the state in favor of delegate-rich California ahead of the primary.[4]
Opinion polling
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official Primary results | June 7, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 63.3% | Bernie Sanders 36.7% | |
| CBS/YouGov[5] Margin of error: ± 5.4% | May 31 – June 3, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 61% | Bernie Sanders 34% | Others / Undecided 5% |
| American Research Group[6] Margin of error: ± -% | May 31 – June 2, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 60% | Bernie Sanders 37% | Others / Undecided 3% |
| Quinnipiac[7] Margin of error: ± 3.7% | May 10-16, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 54% | Bernie Sanders 40% | Others / Undecided 6% |
| Monmouth University[8] Margin of error: ± 5.7% | May 1-3, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 60% | Bernie Sanders 32% | Others / Undecided 8% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll[9] Margin of error: ± 6.3% | April 1-8, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 51% | Bernie Sanders 42% | Others / Undecided 7% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll[10] Margin of error: ± 6.2% | February 6–15, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 55% | Bernie Sanders 32% | Others / Undecided 13% |
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll[11] Margin of error: ± ?% | November 30 – December 6, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 60% | Bernie Sanders 19% | Martin O'Malley 1% | Other 3%, Don't know 17% |
| Farleigh Dickenson University[12] Margin of error: ± 3.9% | November 9–15, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 64% | Bernie Sanders 27% | Martin O'Malley 2% | DK/Refused 3%, Wouldn't Vote 3%, Other 1% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll[13] Margin of error: ± 5.7% | October 3–10, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 49% | Bernie Sanders 19% | Joe Biden 10% | Other 3%, Don't know 20% |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University[14] Margin of error: ± 5.5% | June 15–21, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 63% | Bernie Sanders 15% | Martin O'Malley 3% | Lincoln Chafee 0%, Other 1%, Wouldn't vote 3%, DK/Refused 14% |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University Margin of error: ± 5.5% | April 13–19, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 62% | Another Democratic candidate 9%, Don't know 27%, Refused 1% | ||
| Quinnipiac University Margin of error: ± 4.2% | April 9–14, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 63% | Elizabeth Warren 12% | Joe Biden 10% | Bernie Sanders 3%, Martin O'Malley 1%, Jim Webb 1%, Lincoln Chafee 0%, Other 1%, Wouldn't vote 3%, Don't know 7% |
| Joe Biden 36% | Elizabeth Warren 28% | Bernie Sanders 6% | Martin O'Malley 3%, Jim Webb 1%, Lincoln Chafee 0%, Other 1%, Wouldn't vote 4%, Don't know 21% | ||
| Quinnipiac University Margin of error: ± ? | January 15–19, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 65% | Elizabeth Warren 11% | Joe Biden 7% | Bernie Sanders 3%, Jim Webb 1%, Martin O'Malley 0%, Other 1%, Wouldn't vote 3%, Don't know 11% |
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton Margin of error: ± ? | December 3–10, 2014 | Hillary Clinton 54% | Elizabeth Warren 6% | Cory Booker 2% | Joe Biden 1%, Martin O'Malley 1%, Other 3%, Don't know 34% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Margin of error: ± ? | July 28 – August 5, 2014 | Hillary Clinton 59% | Joe Biden 3% | Elizabeth Warren 3% | Cory Booker 2%, Other 4%, Don't know 30% |
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairleigh Dickinson University Margin of error: ± 5.3% | August 21–27, 2013 | Hillary Clinton 63% | Joe Biden 10% | Andrew Cuomo 6% | Elizabeth Warren 4%, Other 4%, Undecided 13% |
| Kean University Margin of error: ± ?% | April 25–29, 2013 | Hillary Clinton 67% | Joe Biden 13% | Andrew Cuomo 8% | Martin O'Malley 2%, Other 4%, Undecided 6% |
Results
| New Jersey Democratic primary, June 7, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Popular vote | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 566,247 | 63.32% | 79 | 12 | 91 |
| Bernie Sanders | 328,058 | 36.68% | 47 | 2 | 49 |
| Uncommitted | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 894,305 | 100% | 126 | 16 | 142 |
| Source: The Green Papers, New Jersey Democratic Primary Official Results - New Jersey Department of State | |||||
Results by county
Hillary Clinton won every county except for Sussex and Warren.
| County[15] | Clinton | % | Sanders | % | Totals | Turnout | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 13,556 | 60.62% | 8,805 | 39.38% | 22,361 | ||
| Bergen | 57,319 | 63.47% | 32,994 | 36.53% | 90,313 | ||
| Burlington | 33,166 | 63.02% | 19,461 | 36.98% | 52,627 | ||
| Camden | 44,400 | 62.27% | 26,905 | 37.73% | 71,305 | ||
| Cape May | 3,969 | 54.83% | 3,269 | 45.17% | 7,238 | ||
| Cumberland | 6,894 | 64.18% | 3,847 | 35.82% | 10,741 | ||
| Essex | 77,836 | 73.07% | 28,679 | 26.93% | 105,915 | ||
| Gloucester | 18,011 | 56.12% | 14,082 | 43.88% | 32,093 | ||
| Hudson | 50,875 | 66.34% | 25,815 | 33.66% | 76,690 | ||
| Hunterdon | 5,794 | 51.93% | 5,362 | 48.07% | 11,156 | ||
| Mercer | 29,650 | 66.00% | 15,276 | 34.00% | 44,926 | ||
| Middlesex | 48,202 | 61.01% | 30,800 | 38.99% | 79,002 | ||
| Monmouth | 30,967 | 58.07% | 22,360 | 41.93% | 53,327 | ||
| Morris | 24,285 | 58.32% | 17,355 | 41.68% | 41,640 | ||
| Ocean | 19,663 | 54.49% | 16,424 | 45.51% | 36,087 | ||
| Passaic | 29,997 | 67.63% | 14,356 | 32.37% | 44,353 | ||
| Salem | 2,821 | 56.46% | 2,175 | 43.54% | 4,996 | ||
| Somerset | 19,838 | 61.56% | 12,385 | 38.44% | 32,223 | ||
| Sussex | 3,986 | 42.91% | 5,303 | 57.09% | 9,289 | ||
| Union | 41,605 | 68.82% | 18,853 | 31.18% | 60,458 | ||
| Warren | 3,413 | 49.00% | 3,552 | 51.00% | 6,965 | ||
| Total | 566,247 | 63.32% | 328,058 | 36.68% | 894,305 |
Analysis
With its coalition of African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, and college-educated, affluent Caucasian progressive/liberal professionals, New Jersey was seen as a state Clinton would win in the final batch of primaries on June 7. Having won the state eight years earlier against Barack Obama, Clinton managed a 26-point-routing against Bernie Sanders in 2016 despite the Sanders campaign's efforts in the state. She carried all counties in New Jersey but two, winning large victories in the cities of Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City.