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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Election Day Scenes: Gloucester Co. voters on the NJ Gov race

Inquirer staff writer Jan Hefler reports:

There was a steady stream of voters tonight at the Washington Township Board of Education polling place in Gloucester County, and most said the tight governor’s race brought them out.

Robert Day, a doctor who lives in the Sewell section of the town, said he decided on Corzine just this morning because he “knows more about economics” and that’s important because Day feels the country is in dire shape. Day said he normally votes Republican but he believes “Corzine just got hamstrung by what happened” with the economy and is not to blame.

Day said that the state has no money and is going to have to raise some taxes, like on gasoline, to make ends meet. He doesn’t understand how Christie can say he won’t raise taxes while the state is broke. “You can’t reduce taxes,” Day said.

Day also felt Corzine’s commercials were effective, especially the one that called attention to Christie’s weight. “It’s a health issue. If he doesn’t take care of himself, how is he going to take care of me?” said Day.

Day said he wouldn’t vote for Daggett, because that would be “like throwing your vote away.”

Candace Sleeman, 48, a project manager with Comcast, said she too made up her mind this morning, and reluctantly went with Corzine. If elections were held yesterday, she might have stayed home, she said.

“I held my nose and voted for Corzine,” she said, explaining that he has done nothing about her property taxes, which rose 22 percent this year. And though she voted for Obama, she said his support of Corzine didn’t influence her.

The deciding factor, she said, was she believes Christie “has some ethical problems. I don’t think he’s honest,” she said. Even Michael Palin, with Monty Python is taking legal action against him for copyright infringement.

“He doesn’t even care about following copyright laws,” she said.

Scott Fritzsch, who works for an insurance company, voted for Christie “because Corzine is a buffoon.” Fritzsch, 30, said Corzine “doesn’t care about voters – it’s all about unions and state employees. He raises tolls on the turnpike and the parkway, and taxes went up a lot,” he said. His wife, Alexandra, a television producer-writer, said “we really need a change.”

Bob Cagey, an IT tech, also favors Christie because he faults Corzine for the high property taxes and for taking away tax rebates. “Corzine is costing me way too much money,” he said. “And, the Democrats control New Jersey too much and it’s too corrupt.”

Kerstin McCusker, 25, a registered nurse, says she voted for Corzine mainly because of a TV political commercial that said Christie didn’t pay all his taxes. “That’s absolutely ridiculous,” she said.

Susan Finn, 53, a dog groomer, said she voted for Daggett because “the other two threw mud and never said what they would do.” She admired Daggett for saying “if you don’t have the money you don’t spend it.” That made sense to her.

An independent voter, Finn said she opposed Christie because of all his traffic tickets and his claims that “none were his fault.” She said Corzine is “same old, same old” on the economy and didn’t do enough to lower property taxes or to keep jobs in the state.

Her husband, Frank Finn, 56, who owns a pet kennel, agreed. “Daggett talked the talk.” Finn said he didn’t feel his vote wouldn’t count, because he believes Daggett has a good chance at winning. “No one thought the president would win, and he did,” said Finn.

Read more breaking news in our From The Source blog.

Posted by Inquirer Online Desk @ 7:49 PM  Permalink | 2 comments
Comments   
Posted 09:19 PM, 11/03/2009
sjjr
I'm a GloCo voter who did not have to hold my nose when I voted. I am proud to have voted for Chris Daggett. It is a shame that so many people who knew he was the right candidate were scared into casting a vote for an inferior candidate from a major party.
Posted 03:11 PM, 11/04/2009
janann
How can I say this kindly??? Why is everyone trying to protect the little fat boy from being called names. He is an adult,,,and somehow we can overlook what people called Max Clelland, the amputee, or what the Swiftboaters did to Kerry, or Ahnold calling his opponant a "girley Man", or Willie Horton, or the John Corker ads - not to mention what Obama is bieng called --- All of a sudden we have a conscience and feel bad for the fat boy???
2 comments
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