MEL EVANS / Associated Press
Gov. Corzine listens to a question at yesterday's news conference. "Voters have given us clear instructions," he said. "They told us to resolve our alarming and pressing financial problems."
Page: 2 of 3 View All
N.J. voters won't spend
Roberts had touted the measure as a way to ensure a permanent source of funding for the higher rebate checks that went out this year.
But Lonegan argued that legislators could use the money for just about anything in the name of "property tax reform."
And in a move Roberts dubbed "misleading and irresponsible," Lonegan told voters that Democrats would just increase taxes to replace the revenue stream lost by dedicating the sales-tax money to a "slush fund."
In the end, said Reed of Rutgers, the measure likely failed in part because "the level of trust among voters that people would spend the money right is really low."
Observers say even the two ballot measures that passed were affected by a fed-up electorate. A ballot question authorizing $200 million in new bonds for open-space preservation passed by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent - a lower approval rate than past open-space questions. And that was after environmentalists, anticipating an anti-tax vote, banded together in a massive campaign to bolster the chances of passage.
The fourth question, which asked voters to replace the words idiot and insane person with more politically correct language in a section of the constitution, passed with 60 percent of the electorate approving the change.
But what is even more striking, Roberts said, is that 40 percent - 503,395 people - rejected the move.
"It shows an immense amount of frustration," he said. "One would have thought that would pass by 95 percent."
The frustration didn't just play out at the state level.
An anti-tax insurgency swept all the incumbents out in Haddon Heights, where a state-mandated reassessment this year caused some homeowners' property taxes to jump up to 60 percent.
Several angry residents renounced the ruling Democrats and registered as Republicans in order to run.
"This tax thing really blew up the town," said Rickie Roberts, president of the Haddon Heights Homeowners Association. The three winning candidates were members of the association, a self-described watchdog group.
"Now we will work to fix the tax situation," said Roberts.
Though voters approved the statewide open-space bond measure, voters in Washington Township rejected a local proposal to double the amount collected for preservation efforts in the sprawling Gloucester County municipality.
"The ballot question asked people if they wanted to tax themselves. They said no," said Washington Township Mayor Paul Moriarty, a Democrat who also holds a seat in the state Assembly. "It was for a worthy cause, but nobody wants to tax themselves."
N.J. Election Summary
A glance at the 2007 elections in New Jersey
Balance of power: Democrats gained a seat in the Senate, for a 23-17 advantage, and will control the Assembly 48-32, down from 50-30.
Ballot questions: Voters rejected two of four statewide issues, including Gov. Corzine's bid to borrow $450 million for stem-cell research grants. They also turned down an effort to dedicate all money generated from last year's sales tax increase to property-tax relief. Voters approved borrowing $200 million for open-space preservation. They also approved revising language outlining when voting rights can be denied by deleting from the state constitution the phrase idiot or insane person and replacing it with the phrase person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.
Senate races: All 40 seats were up for election. Only a few races were competitive, led by the contentious and expensive race in which incumbent Democrat Ellen Karcher lost to Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck in the 12th District, representing parts of Mercer and Monmouth Counties.
