Christie claims a win on school budget defeats
From his Statehouse reception room yesterday, Gov. Christie surveyed New Jersey's overwhelming rejection of school budgets and declared the results a "referendum on taxes and spending in New Jersey."
But the defeat of 315 of 537 budgets was much more than that, and the governor's office seemed to know it.
Administration officials launched the next barrage in Christie's tax war, pressing his wish for a statewide referendum on limiting school property-tax hikes to 2.5 percent a year.
The governor was building on his own momentum.
Christie stoked voter anger by using his uncommon ability to leap over the heads of the political establishment - as well as the teachers' union, the students' parents, and the school boards - and take a message directly to the broader electorate, said Thomas O'Neill, a political analyst, a lobbyist, and an official in the Brendan T. Byrne administration.
For weeks, Christie used his bully pulpit to stir up voters typically absent from the mid-April school elections. His message was clear: If school districts didn't cut spending, voters should reject their budgets.
"If you don't see shared sacrifice, I think that's a problem. I think you should vote no," he said.
In the end, voter turnout was higher than normal.
"I don't recall a governor being as active in any type of
But the defeat of 315 of 537 budgets was much more than that, and the governor's office seemed to know it.
Administration officials launched the next barrage in Christie's tax war, pressing his wish for a statewide referendum on limiting school property-tax hikes to 2.5 percent a year.
The governor was building on his own momentum.
Christie stoked voter anger by using his uncommon ability to leap over the heads of the political establishment - as well as the teachers' union, the students' parents, and the school boards - and take a message directly to the broader electorate, said Thomas O'Neill, a political analyst, a lobbyist, and an official in the Brendan T. Byrne administration.
For weeks, Christie used his bully pulpit to stir up voters typically absent from the mid-April school elections. His message was clear: If school districts didn't cut spending, voters should reject their budgets.
"If you don't see shared sacrifice, I think that's a problem. I think you should vote no," he said.
In the end, voter turnout was higher than normal.
"I don't recall a governor being as active in any type of
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