It’s early, Save Jerseyans.
Take everything you hear before the polls close later tonight with a grain of salt. Anecdotal evidence is exactly that… anecdotes.
HOWEVER, here’s what we know so far this morning: voting appears to have been moderate-to-heavy at polling stations across New Jersey, particularly in lean-Republican and working class areas, for the A.M. rush. “Humming” and “I’ve never seen it this busy, this early” are the kinds of things I’m hearing. Three-digit turnout at some precincts as of the early 7 o’clock hour.
We’ve had reliable reports from our readers, elected officials and political operatives of long lines (or lines where they usually don’t exist at 6 or 7 o’clock in the morning) from Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Sussex, Monmouth and Cape May counties.
In one Monmouth County swing district? A Save Jersey reader reports being 250th to vote at 7:00 a.m.
“There were 15 people in line at 5:45 am in Fair Haven,” former Fair Haven (Monmouth) Mayor Mike Halfacre reported on Facebook. “I’ve been a challenger for years, never seen it as busy as it was from 6-8 this morning.”
“Never seen this many people out this early,” opined Middle Township (Cape May) Committeeman Tim Donohue.
Long lines “out the door” were also reported an hour or so away in First Congressional District towns like Monroe Township and Gloucester City which are home to working class and labor union families; conversely, another source confirmed light early turnout in the nearby deeply-Democrat stronghold of Camden.
So much for the old theory that negative campaigns dampen voter enthusiasm….
Whether any of this confirms the Trump campaign’s ‘Silent Majority’ theory is, at the risk of beating a dead horse, premature. There were significant lines in Westmont, New Jersey today, too, a blue-ish suburb full of young professionals not believed to be inclined to support the Donald. Similar sights to behold in East Brunswick up in Central Jerz where Obama won with 55.9% in 2012.
Still, based on this early but robust body of reports from numerous New Jersey polling locations, there is certainly reason for enthusiasm if you were debating whether it was worth getting off the couch or taking an extended lunch break today to get out and vote.
Does it matter? Sure, in more ways than one. Lots of big down-ballot battles this year. What’s more, while New Jersey will likely vote Democratic this year (as it has since 1988), anything can happen and the margin could prove instructive. George W. Bush lost by less than 7% here in 2004; John McCain fell short by 15+ in 2008 and Romney, in the wake of Sandy devastation of the state’s Republican coastal regions, fell nearly 20% short in 2012.
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