New Jersey
Key moment for Nixon was when 18 New Jersey Republicans bolted from Case – New Jersey Globe
For some time, presidential primaries in New Jersey where nothing more than beauty contests where the preferred candidate of a voter was deemed so unimportant that their names did not appear on the ballot.
Instead, voters had to wrote in the name of their choice for president.
The real meat of the primary were races for delegate, which occurred at a time when the national and state parties had no rules to bind delegates to a specific presidential candidate.
Delegate slates were run by the county chairmen, who could then control votes as a national convention.
In 1968, there was no filing of petitions for presidential candidates to get on the ballot. Instead, the entire beauty contest primary was conducted through write-in votes.
On the Democratic side, Eugene McCarthy edged out Robert Kennedy by to win the presidential preference primary by 1,303 votes, 9,906 to 7,603. Hubert Humphrey finished third with 5,578 votes, followed by George Wallace (1,399). President Lyndon Johnson received 380 votes statewide, even though he had announced two months earlier that he would not seek re-election.
Those votes reflected the totals of 20 counties, since the Cape May County Clerk decided not to put the write-in option on the ballot.
Richard Nixon received 71,809 write-in votes, easily outdistancing Nelson Rockefeller (11,530) and Ronald Reagan (2,737). Scattered votes came in for John Lindsay (122) and Barry Goldwater (42).
In the at-large race for Democratic delegates, the Regular Democratic Organization slate of Gov. Richard Hughes, U.S. Senator Harrison Williams, former Gov. Robert Meyner, Jersey City Mayor John V. Kenny, and Democratic State Chairman/New Jersey Secretary of State Robert Burkhardt beat McCarthy’s candidates by a 2-1 margin. McCarthy won 19 of 76 district delegates.
At the tumultuous Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the party establishment delivered 62 first-ballot votes to Humphrey.
In Miami, where Republicans were holding their convention, New Jersey played a pivotal role in nominating Richard Nixon on the first ballot.
The plan was for all 40 New Jersey GOP delegates – elected as Republican Party Organization candidates — to vote for U.S. Senator Clifford Case on the first ballot as a way to help deny Nixon the nomination.
But Nixon, with the help of State Sen. William Hiering (R-Toms River), Bergen County GOP Chairman Nelson Gross, Monmouth County GOP Chairman J. Russell Woolley, and State Sen. Frank Farley and legendary Atlantic Republican boss Frank “Hap” Farley (R-Ventnor) peeled off 18 delegates to agreed to vote for him on the first ballot.
This caused one of the tenser moments in modern New Jersey political history.
Case and Republican State Chairman Webster Todd (the father of future Gov. Christine Todd Whitman) tried desperately to hold the 40-member delegation. Case told delegates that a vote for Nixon was a vote against him.
He told delegates there would be retribution, and when the convention came, he called for the delegation to be polled. One after another, in front of the entire convention and on national television, each of New Jersey’s 40 Republican delegates had to state their individual preference.
Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot by just 25 votes
New Jersey
Are all Freedom Fuel locations $3.47? Not anymore
Trump rolls out Freedom Fuel gas stations, what are they?
Trump’s Freedom Fuel is selling gas at $3.47/gal in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
President Donald Trump is touting a new fuel option for motorists: Freedom Fuel, advertising gas at a discount price to local consumers.
When the network was opened and announced on July 7, it advertised $3.47 per gallon regular gas at the pumps, a noticeable difference from national and state averages in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
But is the gas actually as cheap as the 47th President says?
According to some gas tracking platforms, it may not be.
On GasBuddy, a website tracking gas prices across the country with a pricing heat map based on user submissions, some of the Freedom Fuel locations’ pricing appeared to have risen.
Some still sporting the names of what appeared to be their previous sites, like a Gas N Go on Island Ave, the following addresses on GasBuddy match those listed as one of Trump’s 25 gas stations.
The pricing, however, varies:
- 2200 Island Ave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – $3.57 as of July 8
- 400 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, Pennsylvania – $3.57 as of July 9
- 6243 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – $3.57 as of July 9
- 6800 E. Baltimore Ave, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania – $3.57 as of July 9
- 6801 Tilton Rd., Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey – $3.89 as of July 8
- 6501 Delilah Rd., Egg Harbor Township New Jersey – $3.57 as of July 9
Much about the gas station network remains unknown, like how long they’ll be operating or where stations could be popping up next.
Administration officials told USA TODAY on July 8 that the federal government has no role in the Freedom Fuel Network, nor is it providing it with funding.
The White House also said that “no other entity or person” is subsidizing the cost of gasoline.
Contributing: Michelle Del Rey USA TODAY NETWORK
Kaitlyn McCormick is a Philadelphia-based reporter writing all things trending, breaking and city-related for USA TODAY’s Philadelphia Metro Connect Team.
New Jersey
Family describes frantic moments delivering baby on the NJ Turnpike
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Mile marker 113.3 on the eastern spur of the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus will forever be an incredible memory for one family, who scrambled to deliver their baby boy right on the side of the road.
Kristen Fast was in labor last week, with her husband driving her to the hospital on the turnpike, but when they got to the mile marker, baby Archer couldn’t wait any longer and had to be delivered on the highway.
Archer insisted on arriving three days before he was due, and maybe it was because his lovely big sister, 4-year-old Zelda, was waiting for him.
He was in such a hurry, he didn’t even let mom and dad get to the hospital for him to be born, although they tried.
“The doula said, ‘pull over, hang up, call 911.’ So we did that. We called 911. The operator started walking him through what to do,” said Archer’s mother, Kristen Fast.
“Next thing I know, I get in the back seat, and we’re making sure she’s comfortable, and I look down, and that baby is ready to go,” said Archer’s dad, Alex Fast.
New Jersey State Trooper Freddie Guacamaya responded to Alex’s 911 call.
“Cop comes, puts on his gloves, and he was fantastic,” Alex Fast said.
“I said, ‘Are you the EMT?’ And he didn’t answer. So I said, ‘You are not an EMT. I’m in danger.’ But he was fine, he was being very calm,” Kristen Fast said.
“They said, ‘you got to clamp that cord right away. If you have anything, if you have a string.’ So I panicked and just looked in the front and we just had an iPhone cable. So we just clamped the cord with an iPhone cable,” Alex Fast said.
“The EMTs came, and they said, ‘What is this?’” Kristen Fast said.
The loving, kind courtesies extended to the family just continued, helping to make their emergency experience flawless.
“There were three policemen who showed up. I said, ‘I’d love to be with her in the ambulance.’ And they were amazing. They drove our car to the hospital for us, which was so nice. They paid for our valet,” Alex and Kristen Fast said.
They were all welcomed to Hackensack University Medical Center with a healthy baby and a hearty story, backed by Archer’s exact birthplace, recorded accurately: New Jersey Turnpike I-95, mile marker 113.
“Archer’s healthy. He’s thriving. He’s a Jersey boy through and through. I don’t think you get more Jersey than being born on the New Jersey Turnpike,” Kristen Fast said.
New Jersey
What to know about Freedom Fuel Network as Trump urges cheaper gas prices in Pennsylvania, NJ
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — There are 25 new Freedom Fuel Network gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.
This comes after President Trump announced the privately-owned network on social media last week, saying it will help drivers save money at the pump.
There are 25 new Freedom Fuel gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.
The first location in Dresher, Montgomery County, opened on Friday, with the price of $3.47 per gallon.
This cost was a nod to President Trump serving as the nation’s 47th president.
However, that price has already started to rise after the president announced new U.S. strikes, sending oil and gas prices higher.
Some of those locations with gas stations participating in the Freedom Fuel Network include Lansdowne, Bensalem and Pottstown in Pennsylvania; and Marlton in New Jersey.
Gas Calculator: Find out how much it costs to fill your tank
A White House official told ABC News the administration is not involved with the company and is not providing any funding or subsidies.
Instead, the company says it is cutting its own profit margins to offer lower prices.
Some drivers are applauding this move while others, including gas analysts, are skeptical.
“$3.47 a gallon is a Godsend, honestly,” said one consumer. “Great price because this was a Sunoco before and prices were a lot higher.”
“I want Americans to be asking, ‘Where is that money coming from? Why are corporations and businesses willing to subsidize gas 50-cents a gallon for people, to make President Trump look good,” said another consumer.
Trump is also encouraging other gas retailers to lower their prices. He has not identified the company behind Freedom Fuel, saying only that it’s a private retailer.
Action News is still working to learn how long these lower prices will last and whether more stations will open.
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