RFK DEFEATS McCARTHY IN CALIFORNIA PRIMARY
Los Angeles, California (JFK+50) On June 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-New York) won the Democratic California Primary by defeating Senator Eugene J. McCarthy (D-Minnesota) by four percentage points. The final totals were...RFK 46% EJM 42%.
The California vote gave Senator Kennedy four primary wins and a three to one advantage over Senator McCarthy in head-to-head contests.
As of June 4, 1968, RFK had accumulated 393 delegates to 258 for EJM. Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey, however, still held the lead at 561 delegates.
Historians and politicians of the day disagree as to whether or not the Vice-President's lead could have been overcome. Arthur L. Cyr wrote in 2008, however, that...
"there is just a chance that RFK could have secured the nomination" or that "Humphrey could have picked him for Vice-President."
SOURCE
"RFK in 1968: a hard struggle against long odds," by Arthur L. Cyr, The Seattle Times, 2008.
