NJ polls close in choice on 2nd Murphy term or change to GOP
TRENTON, N.J. » New Jersey voters had their say Tuesday on whether Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy will win a second term after enacting much of his progressive agenda or if they will chart a new direction with Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli.
Polls have closed in New Jersey in one of just two statewide contests for governor in the country. Before polls opened Tuesday, already some 700,000 votes — about a third of the total in 2017 — had been cast by mail-in ballots or in early inperson voting.
Murphy has been leading in the polls, has a 1 millionvoter registration advantage and had more cash in his campaign coffers than Ciattarelli in the final days of the race. But the Republican has far surpassed his predecessor four years ago in fundraising and has seen the gap in public polls move in his favor — if only by a few points.
At the Washington Township Senior Center, Joseph Buono wore his red Make America Great Again hat to vote. He voted for Ciattarelli for governor largely because of his promise to address property taxes in a state where the average bill is more than $9,000 — and because he doesn’t want incumbent Murphy to remain in charge of the state’s pandemic response.
“The fear is he’s going to mandate everything if he does win,” said Buono, a 31-year-old accountant. His wife, Nadia Buono, 37, who works in finance, said she doesn’t want their two young children to be required to be vaccinated when they turn five.
Washington Township is the biggest town in Gloucester County, home to middleclass suburbs of Philadelphia.
The county, generally more conservative than the state, has been a bellwether, voting for the winner in the last five gubernatorial elections.
Outside the bustling senior center, home to voting for several precincts, Murphy voters said they approve of the governor’s handling of the pandemic.
“I think he did an excellent job with COVID,” said Julie Steinman, 60, a secondgrade teacher in a nearby community. Steinman said she’s an unaffiliated voter but usually supports Democrats running for governor, largely because they’re friendlier to teachers and their unions.
In Franklin Township in Ciattarelli’s home county of Somerset, some Murphy voters were focused more on the national political scene than his stewardship of the state.
“This is an election where there is no way in hell where I would vote for a Republican. I’m so frustrated with the division in this country,” said Elizabeth Ranney, 89, of the Kingston section of Franklin Township. “It just breaks my heart.”
Somerset County is a battleground, which Democrats won in 2017 after Republicans had held it for decades.
In nearby Bridgewater, also in the county, Republican voters mentioned the Murphy administration’s socalled immigrant trust directive, which limits the assistance local and state police can provide to federal immigration authorities.
“Murphy’s a pretty mediocre governor and I’m not gonna settle,” said John Buxbaum, 54, a network engineer from Bridgewater. “I think we need to not be a sanctuary state. I think we need to be more fiscally responsible. I think we need to not be focused on mandates — I want to eliminate government control.”