In the 1984 Democratic Primary for President, when the late Jesse Jackson campaigned hard throughout Jersey City and Newark (see above) in a three-man contest, Gary Hart infamously torpedoed himself in New Jersey when he made a crack about the Garden State.

From The New York Times:

Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson of Newark, the chairman of Mr. Jackson's campaign in the state and the state's most prominent black elected official, said ''Without bragging,'' he said, ''I believe we have a better organization than any other state Jesse Jackson campaign.''

From the same NYT piece:

Lawrence Hamm, a former protege of Mr. Gibson who later associated himself with Amiri Baraka, the black activist, said he formed a citizens group - the New Jersey Citizens for Jesse Jackson - in March, two months after the official organization under Mr. Gibson was established.

''There was concern about the progress of the campaign and I acted in response to calls I was receiving from inside and outside of the state,'' Mr. Hamm said. His group has held a number of rallies with black civil-rights figures. 2 Goals Are Cited

''We are not trying to supplant Gibson,'' Mr. Hamm said. ''We have always recognized him as the state chairman of the Jackson campaign, but we feel the greatest need is a coordinated effort to build on the obvious interest generated by Jesse and to involve more people while there is still time.''

Via UPI:

...In Jersey City, N.J., Jackson spurned a proposal from Walter Mondale that they

have a two-way televised debate, an offer refused by Gary Hart.

'There are three persons in the race and all three should be a part of the debates,' Jackson told reporters. 'It sounds ... like either Mr. Mondale is panicking or just making a public appeal and not very serious,' he said.

Jackson denounced a proposal by the Reagan administration for a lower minimum wage during the summer that is supposed to help poor youths get jobs. He said Reagan had offered the nation 'sub-minimum housing, sub-minimum education, sub-minimum health care and sub-minimum streets.'

Now, he said, 'Reagan wants sub-minimum wages, we must reject that and go another way. Our youth must not be programmed to believe that they are sub-minimum material. Our youth must have maximum expectations.'