Just weeks ago many pundits were predicting another issue would dominate the agenda for New Jersey residents today: corruption. Early last month, Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli abruptly dropped out of a tight re-election race against Republican Doug Forrester. The first-term senator had fallen behind in the polls, unable to shake off the taint of a federal investigation into whether he took bribes and gifts from a campaign contributor. He was quickly replaced by former senator Frank Lautenberg, a 78-year-old self-made millionaire who retired just two years ago. Despite the change, the stink of skullduggery still hung in the air, and many believed apathy and disgust might keep voters away.
Nowhere should that have been more true than in Blatt’s district–just blocks from gritty Hudson County’s now notorious government office building. In September 2001, the county’s top political boss Robert Janiszewski abruptly resigned his post as county executive and disappeared. It turns out he was hiding in his New York ski chalet and various other locations under federal protection. He resurfaced last month and pled guilty to taking more than $100,000 in bribes, and ever since it’s been hard to know which people on the ballot will end up in office–and which will go jail. In a distinctly “Sopranos”-esque twist, Janiszewski spent months wearing a wiretap and secretly recording conversations with other politicians (including, possibly, Torricelli) for the Feds.
In the last two weeks, two county freeholders have resigned and federal prosecutors promise many indictments. Yet early today, corruption seemed the least of residents’ worries. And while cynicism ran strong, apathy surely didn’t. Perhaps that’s because there’s so much at stake. New Jersey is a swing state, home to soccer moms and Reagan Democrats.
And with the control of the Senate and the House up for grabs, it’s not just the Forrester-Lautenberg race that could make a difference. The Democrats need to win six seats to take control of the House, and any number of local races could tip the balance. In the Fifth Congressional District, for instance, moderate Republican Rep. Marge Roukema is retiring and Democrat Anne Sumers is locked in a tight race with Assemblyman Scott Garrett, a conservative who twice ran against Roukema in GOP primaries. Garrett has pulled ahead in recent days.
As for corruption, it “seems to be a way of life around here,” sighs Blatt. “Of course we care. You get less trustful, you don’t really want to vote. But you do.” Says Rita Goscinkski of Jersey City: “When haven’t our politicians been corrupt? I’m worried about the economy. There’s no jobs.”
Down Route 80, in the tony suburb of Ridgewood, home to Marge Roukema, the dominant political affiliation was mostly Republican. But the sentiments were the same. “They’re all corrupt,” scoffed Tom Vickory, a retiree as he emerged from a digital voting machine in the gymnasium of Ridgewood High School (known as one of the best in the state). “I voted straight Republican, I always do. I’m worried about the economy and the Iraq situation.” Says Rod Portfolio, a local eye surgeon in a suit and tie, “I care mainly about taxes. And of course the security problems. I’m voting for Forrester all the way. We’re bringing back Lautenberg from the dead. But of course he’ll win because New Jersey voters are idiots.”
In recent days polls have shown Lautenberg pulling ahead–as the memory of Torricelli and the scandal that has made headlines for so long fades to memory. Surely they’ll be more soon. But for now, it seems, voters like Blatt would rather focus on other issues.
