NJ GOP Got 48% of Legislative Vote, But Under 40% of the Seats, in Election 2011

We’re one week into a new legislative session, Save Jerseyans. Approximately 60%+ of the seats in our State Legislature are occupied by Democrats who will consequently control the day-to-day agenda.

A solidly far-left, anti-liberty, spend-happy legislature is the sad reality our Governor faces on a daily basis; it’s also the single greatest obstacle to substantive, pro-taxpayer reform in the overtaxed Garden State.

But guess what?

I crunched the numbers this weekend. Approximately 48% of votes cast for legislature office in 2011 were for Republican candidates. 1,896,524 to be exact, whereas 2,024,905 were case for Democrats (remember: 4M individuals didn’t show up to vote; most folks voted three times… twice for assembly and then once  more for a senate candidate). And this close popular result wasn’t an isolated incident. In 2009, Republicans garnered about 52% of the vote with Governor Christie sitting atop their column.

So what does this tell us, class? Something that should be common sense: a competitively drawn map would produce an almost 50/50 legislature! And can you imagine how much healthier our state’s political discourse would be for it? Not only would Trenton politicians be more accountable to their constituents, but radical ideologues would have an infinitely harder time securing election. It’s a no-brainer.

Yet what we have instead is a pro-incumbent abomination courtesy of liberal academic Alan Rosenthal. As the court-appointed redistricting czar last year, he happily adopted this aforementioned affront to democracy to protect the Democrat majority. He actually made the argument that “stability” is superior to accountability! Maybe in a dictatorship… not in a republic! Unfortunately, Rosenthal’s scheme worked exactly as planned. Half of the state voted for pro-Christie candidates last fall only to wake up on Wednesday to a 60%+ Democrat majority. God knows how many more conservative voters stayed home because they’re stranded in non-competitive districts lacking serious pro-taxpayer opposition.

None of this comes as a surprise to those of us who’ve been following along. That said, I’m angrier than ever having seen the raw numbers staring back at me from the page. Frustrated taxpayers would certainly be justified forwarding their next property tax bill to Professor Rosenthal’s office. Rarely can one person be said to truly deserve almost 100% of the blame for such a large-scale travesty.

Why? Because Rosenthal literally robbed citizen of their democratic right to punish their legislature for mismanagement! At least until someone draws a new map in 2021.

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8620 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

8 Comments

  1. Doesn't it always sort of work out that way?

    Like If one party wins 55% of every district, they win 100% of the seats.

    Just look at the House of Representatives now, the GOP won 51.4% of the vote, yet they control 55.6% of the seats.

    Or in 2008, the Democrats won 53.1% of the vote, but won 59.0% of the seats.

  2. E3 2013 has added an Online and Mobile Game Pavilion this year.
    Many Eve players prefer to purchase a different ship,
    such as the Tristan of the Caldari, as soon as
    they earn enough money to purchase a new vessel. This is to avoid endangering
    your own device along with virus.

  3. This has brought about many problems for the people of Libya.
    After carried out Golem can be summoned with the assist
    of dim elixir. In this free app, little girls choose among
    200 wedding dresses and accessories to dress-up a bride in 3D.

  4. I am sure you have seen the commercial for it by now.

    The skills will be repeated here for those who find bulleted lists far easier to read.
    This is to avoid endangering your own device along with virus.

  5. Perhaps the phrase which sums up the importance of clash of
    clans hack to politics is definitely ‘participation’. When buying games for kids, head toward those
    titles and stay away from violent games ro ones with otherwise questionable content.
    There arent any skill or analysis timber in Clash of Clans,
    just troops and constructions to be built and upgraded and all
    that’s required is gold or elixir and time.

  6. I cannot supply you with the best response regarding any
    time to be able to improve the Community Area,
    You might be the sole individual that assaults each and every time and also recognizes your entire shielding replays.
    This is because you can set restriction more easily on consoles.
    There arent any skill or analysis timber in Clash of
    Clans, just troops and constructions to be built and upgraded and
    all that’s required is gold or elixir and time.

Comments are closed.