New Jersey 2005 Governor Race

The New Jersey gubernatorial race between Democratic Senator Jon Corzine and Republican businessman Doug Forrester had the entire nation watching. The arguments resembled high school girl fights more than political debates. New Jersey’s scandal filled political system mirrors the days back in the early 19th century. A look at New Jersey’s culture, economically and politically, and the structure of their government, powerful counties, helps clear the smoke a little on this unique state.

Culture

“New Jersey is a keg tapped at both ends,” once stated by Benjamin Franklin in reference to New Jersey’s geographical positioning between two major cities, New York and Philadelphia (Connors 3). New Jersey is divided into two areas, North Jersey and South Jersey. North Jersey is the counties within New York City’s general sphere of influence with many of its residents commuting into the city for work. It is considered highly urban, densely populated and heavily industrialized. South Jersey is the counties within Philadelphia’s sphere of influence. This area is considered to have a very high standard of living, be more open and spacious and be more agricultural. This is the area that has the majority of the farmland and wilderness. Some would say there is a Central Jersey. This would be the counties not quite in either major cities arena; however, because of New York City’s rapid development, Central Jersey is now considered part of North Jersey (Pomper 9). New Jersey is the ninth largest state in the United States according to population but is the fourth smallest state in area, making it the most densely populated state in the nation with 1,042 persons per square mile (Connors 12). The six counties surrounding New York City have half the states population (Connors 11). New Jersey is largely a suburban state with only 4 cities with populations over 100,000. It also is the only state in the nation to not have any counties classified as rural; all of them are suburban. New Jersey is a well educated state with its per capita income being the second highest in the nation and nine of its counties are in the wealthiest 100 of the country (Connors 5). Although having the highest per capita income in the nation; two of the poorest cities in America are in New Jersey, Newark and Camden (“New Jersey”). The counties reliance on property tax for revenue is making it increasingly harder for the cities to maintain or upgrade their facilities, while the wealthy suburbs do not have this problem because their tax base is higher (Pomper 11).

New Jersey is known as a corridor state; just something to pass though. There is no state identity. The north identifies with New York City and the South with Philadelphia. No powerful metropolitan center ever developed in New Jersey. This is the result of the legislature’s 19th century habit of passing a “special act” for the creation of each new municipality. “Each municipality saw itself as a unique social, political, and economic unit capable of running its own affairs with little state help or interference” (Connors 5). Some municipalities are so small they are simply neighborhoods. The media does not help with this un-unified situation. Until recently, there has not been an in-state television station. The north gets news from New York stations and the south from Philadelphia stations, neither of which dedicate much time to New Jersey news. Most residents know nothing about what is going on in their own state (Pomper 11). Newspapers, on the other hand, are in abundance, but none of them are state-wide papers or cover much news outside of their local sector. This has caused New Jerseyans to have a strong sense of identification with the communities and neighborhoods they with the state as a whole (Pomper 12). This was all too apparent in 1981 when a number of South Jersey counties voted on a proposal to from a separate state. None of the counties were serious about actually seceding; they just wanted to draw attention to their concerns, namely environmental regulations, in which they feel they are always outvoted by the North (Pomper 9).

Two major metropolitan centers on New Jersey’s border has given the state a political inferiority complex; an identity crisis. This has made it extremely hard for politicians to connect with the people they are trying to win over. New Jersey did not start getting state pride until the 1980’s. The development of the Meadowlands sports stadiums and Atlantic City have given the citizens something everyone in the state can be proud of (Pomper 12-13). The leadership has finally started making an issue of the state’s image with campaigns dedicated to bringing New Jersey together. Also, the highly publicized battles with New York City over economic development and trash dumping have unified New Jersey citizens in an “us verses them”