Dukakis Stops Jackson Easily in Connecticut : Governor Gives Lagging Campaign a Boost; Gore Far Back in Third; Landslide for Bush

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts turned back a potent challenge from the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday to win a comfortable victory in the Connecticut primary, providing his lagging presidential campaign with a much-needed boost.

In final, unofficial returns, Dukakis had 139,968 votes, or 58% of the Democratic total. Jackson had 68,193 for 28%, Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. was a distant third with 18,542 or 8% and Illinois Sen. Paul Simon had 3,136 for 1%. The rest of the votes were divided among candidates who have withdrawn from the campaign.

Bush Gets 70% of Vote

In the Republican race, Vice President George Bush was winning in a landslide, with 72,630 votes, or 70%. Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who formally withdrew from the race Tuesday, had 20,899 for 20% and former religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who never campaigned here, had 3,404 or 3%. The rest were split by N.Y. Rep. Jack Kemp, who has quit the race, and “uncommitted.”

The margin of Dukakis’ victory provided his campaign with the romp it had expected before being shaken by Jackson’s stunning victory in Michigan on Saturday.

The victory completes a sweep by Dukakis of primaries and caucuses in his native New England, and, more important, provides his campaign with its first major victory since the Super Tuesday primaries on March 8.

“This is 15 rounds and it’s going to be a decision, not a knockout,” Dukakis told supporters in Boston.

“I won the state because an overwhelming majority of the people of Connecticut voted for me and responded to a very strong message, which I think is building strength all across the country,” he added.

The big loser in the contest appeared to be not Jackson, whose campaign never expected to win more than 30% of the vote, but Gore, who once hoped to win here and whose campaign spent more on television commercials here than the other Democrats combined.

Dukakis benefited from a 35% voter turnout that exceeded all expectations and met his campaign’s hope for widespread participation to dilute the committed core of Jackson support.

The turnout of black voters, who compose just 6% of the adult population in the state, was lighter than the Jackson campaign had sought, but there was good news for Jackson in the exit polls conducted by ABC, which said Jackson won support from 22% of the state’s white Democratic voters.

Pronouncing himself satisfied with the outcome, Jackson said: “Our message of hope continues to expand, continues to grow.”

Jackson tried to call his finish a victory, saying: “We ran another very strong campaign.” Dukakis, he said, “did well in his neighboring state. He invested the most money and staff and advertising. We came in a strong No. 2 again.”

“Suffice it to say we continue to win votes, continue to win delegates. We have reason to be hopeful,” he said.

The primary offered 35 delegates to the Republican National Convention, and 52 on the Democratic side. Bush was winning 25 to 10 for Dole on the GOP side and Dukakis led for 36 and Jackson 16 among the Democrats, according to calculations by the Associated Press.

The results moved Dukakis back into the lead in convention delegates chosen to date. According to the AP tally, Dukakis now has 647.55 delegates and Jackson has 634.55. Gore, who won no delegates in Connecticut, remains a distant third with 364.8. To win the nomination, a candidate needs 2,082 delegates.

Bush’s allocation boosted him to 813 delegates, moving him another step closer to the 1,139 he needs to clinch mathematically the GOP nomination and leaving the date he will do so as the only mystery remaining in the Republican contest. With Dole’s withdrawal, the delegates he qualified for will fall into the “uncommitted” column.

Bush, in a phone call to supporters at a victory party in Wallingford, Conn., said: “What you did today . . . really put the icing on the cake.”

The complexion of the Connecticut contest changed markedly after Jackson, who was far behind Dukakis in the only major pre-primary poll here, upset him in Michigan.

After Jackson roared into the state the next day, attracting crowds numbering in the thousands, the shaken Dukakis campaign doubled its budget for television advertising, saturating news shows with ads trumpeting Dukakis’ elective experience.

“Jackson had some great momentum going into today,” said Paul Pezzella, Dukakis’ Connecticut field director. “We increased our buy to try and stop it.”

But Jackson’s national campaign manager, Gerald F. Austin, played down the role that last-minute momentum could play in the state next door to Dukakis’ home.

Expectations of a strong Jackson showing were boosted by a last-minute surge in voter registration Monday that state officials said was clearly inspired by Jackson’s victory in Michigan and his massive rallies here.

Most of the state’s Democratic leadership, including Gov. William A. O’Neill and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, as well as two of the state’s three Democratic congressmen, threw their support to Dukakis early last week when he appeared the certain winner.

But Jackson’s victory in Michigan suddenly altered the race, and aides to both Dukakis and Gore said they would have campaigned differently here if they had known that Dukakis would lose in Michigan.