Recent Polling

The momentum is building here in Legislative District 22 for a change of elected officials to the New Jersey General Assembly. Don’t just take my word for it; listen to what your fellow voters are saying.

In a recent poll done by Susquehanna Polling and Research it is readily apparent that the voters of District 22 are ready to bid good bye to long serving incumbents Linda Stender and Jerry Green. There are some interesting tidbits that came out of this poll and it should first be pointed out that Susquehanna recognizes that this district is considered a heavily Democrat district demographically. Accordingly, of those surveyed, 50% were registered Democrats, 32% were Independent, and only 18% were registered Republicans,  

YET……………

• Voters were queried, “Do you think Jerry Green has done his job as state assemblyman well enough to deserve reelection, or do you think it time to give a new person a chance?”

Only 12% of respondents said Green deserved reelection while 40% said it is time for someone new. The remainder was still undecided.

• Voters were then asked, “Do you think Linda Stender has done her job as state assemblywoman well enough to deserve reelection, or do you think it time to give a new person a chance?”

Only 22% of respondents said Stender deserved reelection while 46% said it is time for someone new. The remainder was still undecided.

This is indeed bad news for Green and Stender. When long serving incumbents receive this type of dismal approval so close to Election Day, it is time to panic.

• The threshold questions of “Who are your first and second choices for the two Assembly seats available in the 22nd District?” were asked.

Yours truly Martin Marks was the first choice winner. My running mate William “Bo” Vastine was the clear second choice winner. When first and second choices were statistically combined all candidates fell within the margin of error of the poll.

How could this possibly be happening in a legislative district that was always thought of as “SAFE” for Democrats because of the demographics?

The answer to this question can easily be gleaned from the poll. Participants were also asked,

• “What is the single most important problem facing New Jersey today?”

The overwhelming response (there wasn’t even a close 2nd) was property taxes. This is understandable as NJ continues to have the highest property taxes in the nation and the current Governor and legislators have done very little to solve the problem. Corzine, Stender and Green were even responsible for cutting the property tax rebate for many of our residents that were counting on it this year.

Also mentioned by respondents was “Corruption”. There is no question that this is directly related to Stender’s poor polling as she has refused to return the dirty money campaign contributions from recently arrested Hudson County politicians caught in an FBI sting.

Respondents also cited “Economy, jobs and unemployment”. And they should. While Stender and Green desperately attempt to paint Bo Vastine and me as out of touch with the values of 22nd district residents, unemployment in NJ has hit a 32 year high of 9.3%. Stender and Green have voted to raise our taxes by $6.4 and 8.5 Billion respectively since 2002. Families are hurting because of their actions and in some case their lack of action. While gay marriage and abortion are important issues to some, they did not make the list in this poll and it is obvious that the voters of this district will not allow these long time incumbents to use them as a smoke screen for their failures on the issues that matter most to our residents.

It has been said many times before that the only poll that matters is the one taken on Election Day. This is undoubtedly true, yet this recent poll shows great promise for the Marks/Vastine campaign and our team has redoubled our efforts to complete the deal and bring a change to Trenton that we all so richly need and deserve.