Election Recap

For all the talk of issues in the end it simply came down to this in New Jersey….we pay and pay and pay and don’t feel like we’re getting anything back. So Governor Jon Corzine will do like many others have in the Garden State and that is leave…at least leave his office in Trenton. In a race that was called a “toss-up” and predicted to drag well into the evening Republican Chris Christie prevailed by more than 100,000 votes and will make Corzine a one-term Governor.

I disagree with those who think that the popularity of President Obama was part of what was on the mind of voters when they cast their ballots Tuesday.
I truly believe this election was a mandate on the state of the New Jersey economy and many voters feel like things can’t get any worse so why not give Christie a chance where Corzine failed….to find property tax relief and somehow make our state more affordable to live and work in. Whether he will find a solution will largely determine what happens four years from now because the #1 issue is the economy and that’s not going to change. When times are good incumbents thrive but when they are not it’s tough to survive as Corzine found out yesterday.

You can also make the statement that it was the shore area which won the Governor’s office for the former U.S. Attorney. Christie carried Ocean County by 70,000 votes and Monmouth by 50,000….the 120,000 vote margin at the shore carried him to victory. It should mean we have a friend in Trenton because he knows that people like Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore delivered the majority he needed to prevail. I would think that would be a positive for us down the road.

Of course Ocean County is a Republican stronghold and last night was filled with victory parties as they won all but two of 44 races. The GOP domination of the Freeholder board continued as John Bartlett & Gerry Little coasted to victory and as much as some feel like it would be better to have two-party representation the fact is this current group has done a very good job even with the fiscal challenges they face.