Politics, Jersey Style

The Tight Race for Governor of the Garden State

The race for the governorship of New Jersey is tight. Yesterday’s USA Today reported a margin of error race.

A new poll shows a tight race for the New Jersey governor’s mansion as former President Barack Obama is set to speak at a Nov. 1 rally for the Democratic candidate.

Democrat Mikie Sherrill had a slight lead over her Republican rival, Jack Ciattarelli, in the AtlasIntel poll released Nov. 1. The poll of more than 1,600 likely voters in New Jersey from Oct. 25 to Oct. 30 showed Sherrill getting 50.2% of the vote compared to Ciattarelli’s 49.3%, with a 2% margin of error.

Sherrill is a moderate Democrat with serious mom vibes, who should have been a shoo-in for this race. I’ve been following her since 2019, when she ran a series of awesome ads and won a local Congressional race. This is Ciattarelli’s third race for governor, and he has MAGA ties, which don’t really work here.

Why are things so close in this New Jersey race for governor?

Don’t underestimate the power of an Italian last name in New Jersey. 13% of residents here are paesan with strong opinions on soppressata and roasted red peppers. Jack’s last name probably gives him a 3 percent edge, which doesn’t hurt in a tight race. But that’s not the real reason that Sherrill doesn’t have the obvious lead.

To really understand this race, you have to know Jersey. And anybody who knows this state will tell you — everything is fucked up.

Housing is tight. The schools are overrated. Too many local officials are inept narcissists. Taxes are high. We’re jammed into tight spaces with congested highways. We actually have too much government; it's just not an effective government that has any interest in solving those problems. As a result, nothing works well here.

Shit Happens Here

When political scientists rank states by levels of political corruption, Jersey is always at the top, along with Louisiana and Rhode Island. New Jersey’s corruption stems from its highly localized political culture. People never say that they are from Jersey. Instead, they say they are from Ridgewood, West Orange, North Bergen, or Secaucus. They identify with their towns, not the state.

These towns are run like families. And families aren’t democratic. Political officials prioritize protecting their followers. Nobody is paying attention because there is no local media in Jersey, so… shit happens.

In 2014, a local official in my town stole 1.8 million quarters from the parking meters and only got five years of probation. Our former Senator, Bob Menendez, is currently serving eleven years in prison. The Montclair school district just lost $20 million and had to fire 100 employees.

Local Government Maze

On top of corruption, the structure of our government is designed for waste. New Jersey is one of the smallest states in the country, but it is densely populated and divided into 564 municipalities. Some of these towns are so small that they don’t have enough students to create their own schools. Still, those towns will have their own town administrators, police departments, and fire trucks that they proudly march down Main Street on Memorial Day every year.

Thanks to the strong unions, our civil employees are paid very well. On average, cops are paid $93,000 per year, not including overtime. A police chief can make $300,000, retire at age 55, and then take another job with a full pension. Our generous state pension system gobbles up a big chunk of the state budget.

There are hundreds of others employed by these towns to mow the grass in the parks and empty the trash cans in the downtown. Those jobs often go to relatives of town officials. Since nobody attends school board meetings, school spending is a big question mark.

We actually need less government in New Jersey. Fewer towns, fewer government employees. Instead of a county with 70 police chiefs, maybe it just needs one. A county-wide system for local administration would reduce costs and decrease inefficiencies. But that’s never going to happen, because there are too many people benefiting from the status quo.

Not Enough Housing

So, we are bleeding money in taxes for all this redundancy. Some families leave for states with lower taxes as soon as their kids finish high school. But most stay, which means that there aren’t enough houses to go around.

Real estate prices are crazy. Around the corner from us, a house that had been badly damaged in a fire sold for $850,000. The real estate ad called it a “diamond in the rough" with burned walls everywhere. “Opportunity knocks!” It sold for the asking price in two weeks. My sons will not be able to buy a house within 300 miles of here.

Despite all those problems, Jersey is a nice place. It’s close to the city, the country, and the beach. The food is the best in the country. (You can fight me on that one.) There are jobs, colleges, and entertainment. It’s diverse and immigrant-friendly. So, the state keeps growing in numbers, getting denser, more complicated, more expensive.

This is what people are mad about. National politics don’t really matter in this race. It’s local, personal. Jersey politics is a family business, and outsiders don’t get it. People are voting for the person who they think has better answers to our Jersey headaches.

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This is the longest writing break that I’ve taken in twenty years. And I’ve been miserable. Writing is what I do. So, I’m back.

Watching: The Diplomat, Only Murders in the Building, Lowdown, King & Conqueror

Travel: This week — West Village Halloween Parade, Easton BaconFest. Next week, we’ll be in Vermont to visit Ian at college. The following week, we’ll be in Cleveland to visit Steve’s folks. In January, we’ll meet up with Jonah in Hawaii.

Baconfest, Village Halloween Parade, Jersey