New Jersey Primary Results: Even Bill Clinton and Chris Christie Can't Bring Voters to the Polls

New Jersey residents seem to care most about the economy and jobs, rightly so for the voters who with possibly the highest property taxes in the country. This is nothing new to anyone; in fact, non-New Jersey residents probably empathize just the same. However, what makes New Jersey stand out from the rest on voting day? Here are four key observations from primary day:

1) NBC believed Mitt Romney would take the GOP presidential spot. Unsurprisingly (or surprisingly), NBC was right on the dot. Chris Christie’s election, which was a “shocker” to some, makes news of Romney much easier to swallow, (possibly as the Governor endorsed the GOP presidential candidate).

2) New Jersey wouldn’t care too much. As I continued to look outside, there were gloomy skies off and on. Slightly poor weather and a little bit of apathy could have contributed to low attendance. But some seem to think that the lack of competition between parties might have caused few voters to come out to the polls.

3) New Jersey votes won’t really matter. In the eyes of some, New Jersey is supposedly irrelevant, partly because of Christie’s decision to move the date of the primary back to June last year.

4) Pascrell versus Rothman or should I say, Obama versus Clinton? The attention seemed to be on Mitt Romney. But what parts of the election were causing debate all over the web? 16-year incumbent Bill Pascrell was endorsed by Clinton, while Steve Rothman was backed by Obama. However, even with all of the chatter, the low attendance projection seemed to prevail.

New Jersey stands out because it’s predictable; but it seems like its relevance dwindles because of its patterns. Low attendance is becoming a norm for New Jersey and its seeming “irrelevance” is swaying the minds of its voters in some ways. 

If one were to search for articles on any popular New Jersey site, many words (and comments from readers) point to a feeling of apathy. Many residents seem to be tired of party politics — they want something different. Yet, New Jersey voters feel that they don’t have choices and no longer possess their strong voices. Possibly, past elections and New Jersey’s turnout (which show similar patterns) could be precursors to what we will see in this year’s presidential election. 

Are voters losing confidence in American politics? I think so.