Late in the race, Hart predicted that he could deny Mondale the nomination by sweeping all five states (New Jersey, California, New Mexico, North Dakota, and West Virginia) on June 5, the final day of popular voting. With 486 pledged delegates available, California and New Jersey in particular became points of focus for Hart and Mondale. The Mondale campaign predicted their candidate was likely to have secured 1,750 of the 1,967 delegates necessary for his nomination before the June 5 primaries. Jackson was less of a factor in New Jersey than he had been in previous primaries, despite its relatively large black population. By June, he had largely abandoned his hopes of being nominated, even as vice president, and instead focused on criticizing the front-runners, the press, and President
Ronald Reagan, particularly on foreign policy. Hart avoided directly coordinating with Jackson to stop Mondale and sought to assure Jewish voters that he would not pick Jackson as his running mate if nominated, unless Jackson abandoned his support for the Arab cause
against Israel. Compounding the problem, when his wife interjected, "I got to hold a koala bear," Hart replied, "I won't tell you what I got to holdsamples from a toxic-waste dump." The Bel Air comments, which were widely published, alienated many New Jerseyans and undercut Hart's argument that New Jersey epitomized his vision for the country, of a state successfully transitioning from
heavy industry to
high tech growth. Hart struggled to recover from the comments, initially claiming that he had merely meant that he wished he did not have to fly cross-country twice. He made a point of publicly praising New Jersey in his next public appearance with former California governor
Jerry Brown, and after filming a television commercial on a San Francisco area beach, he remarked, "I think New Jersey has wonderful beaches, very close to California's." At a press conference at
Newark Academy on May 27, Mondale initially said that he would not "press the point" on Hart's remark but then proceeded to read the remark from a printed sheet of paper and call on Hart to "make it clear that he did not intend any adverse implications there [and] make it clear that he's sorry for any adverse implications." Mocking Hart, he added to television cameras, "The good news is that Gary Hart is coming back to New Jersey. The bad news for Gary Hart is that the people of New Jersey are going to vote on June 5." Hart declined Mondale's call for an apology, stating, "The people of New Jersey know very well that I deeply admire the progress that state has made. I've said so throughout that state." On
Memorial Day, Mondale conducted a disastrous campaign swing through the state, visiting
Fort Lee, where he was heckled by
supporters of Lyndon LaRouche; the
Jersey Shore, where storms kept crowds home; and
Cherry Hill, where a waitress mistook him for Hart. Hart spent Memorial Day in
Atlantic City in a stated effort to evoke the image of the late
John F. Kennedy. (Similarly, he filmed a California campaign commercial on a San Francisco area beach.) Hart continued to stumble in the final days of the campaign, saying that he would consider Jesse Jackson as a running mate, and then ruling out the possibility on the grounds that Jackson was insufficiently supportive of Israel. Jackson accused Hart of "pandering" to black and Jewish voters, and Hart told reporters that Jackson "knew better". On the eve of the primary,
The New York Times estimated that Mondale need slightly more than 200 delegates in the June 5 contests to secure the nomination. Mondale finished his campaign in
Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he delivered what he termed "the last speech in the campaign." Hart remained in Jersey, where he made his final campaign appearances in the suburbs, including a stop in
Haddonfield. ==Results==