Reality Check: Corzine Lost Because of Taxes, Unemployment & Mismanagement

Claim: 

Mr. Strickland did find some bright news in the defeat of Mr. Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs executive, by Republican Chris Christie.  "What happened in New Jersey is that the people sent a strong message that they don't like candidates who have ties to Wall Street," Mr. Strickland said. (Toledo Blade, 11/09/09)

Reality:

Corzine lost because of the economy:

• "[Corzine's] defeat was a referendum on the past four years and particularly the state's economy and tax issues."  [Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call, 11/9/09]

Corzine lost because of taxes:

• Mr. Corzine's attempt to enforce his will on the lawmakers by shutting down the state government in 2006 to win approval of a sales tax increase was unpopular, and became a symbol of his pliability when the governor granted more than $300 million in pet projects to legislators in order to win their votes. [David Kocieniewski, The New York Times, 11/5/09]

Corzine lost because of spending:

• It should be as clear to the media as it was to New Jersey voters on Tuesday that Republican Christopher J. Christie's victory is a result of Corzine's fiscal irresponsibility.  [Gabriel Gardner, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/6/09]

Corzine lost because of budget problems:

• Veteran legislators who have worked with Corzine - both in public and behind closed doors - point to a number of reasons for his defeat, but they say none looms larger than the Democratic governor's struggles to deliver on his signature issues: reining in taxes and firming up the state's shaky finances. [The Star-Ledger, 11/3/09]

Corzine lost because of efforts to raise fees:

• [Corzine's] most ambitious fiscal proposal, a plan to sell and lease back the New Jersey Turnpike, generated an intense backlash, and was ultimately scuttled because it would have required an 800 percent toll increase. [David Kocieniewski, The New York Times, 11/5/09]

Corzine lost because of unemployment:

• Urban areas like Trenton riddled with high unemployment, crime and apathy may explain why incumbent Governor Jon Corzine suffered a crushing political defeat to New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie. [L.A. Parker, The Trentonian, 11/5/09]

Corzine lost because of corruption:

• [Corzine] promised a clean and honorable government, then shoveled barrels of money to some of the shadiest characters in his party, many of whom are now in jail. A corruption sweep in July reminded voters of his dramatic failure on that front. [Tom Moran Editorial, The Star-Ledger, 11/4/09]
• [Corzine] also had a political blind spot that left him vulnerable to criticism, said Senate President Richard Codey, who served as governor for 14 months. Corzine's romantic entanglement with former union chief Carla Katz, his decision to bail out of jail a lobbyist accused of stalking the state Democratic chairman, and his huge donations to an influential minister who later endorsed the governor all raised suspicion with voters. [The Star-Ledger, 11/3/09] 

Corzine lost because of his unpopular incumbency:

• "I think all incumbents need to be on full alert," Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told POLITICO in a telephone interview. [Politico, 11/4/09]

Corzine lost because of voter disapproval of Obama:

• [Christie's] voters overwhelmingly disapproved of the job President Barack Obama has done in his first year in office. [Geoff Mulvihill, AP, 11/4/09]

Corzine lost because his opponent promised to cut spending, restore tax rebates and streamline state government:

• Christie pledged to restore, at least in part, property tax rebates for more than a million homeowners that had them taken away this year as Corzine slashed costs to balance the budget while revenues plummeted earlier this year. Christie also said he would cut income taxes across the board, and that he would both trim and restructure corporate taxes. [Geoff Mulvihill, AP, 11/4/09]

• While he has not given many specifics on areas he would cut, Christie says he'll balance the budget by cutting spending, and that he won't be bound by a deal Corzine made with unions not to lay off state workers. [Geoff Mulvihill, AP, 11/4/09]

Corzine lost because of his own mismanagement of state government:

• "Corzine can blame himself" [Gabriel Gardner, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/6/09]

The Bottom Line

"Democrats lost New Jersey because the election was a referendum on John Corzine's failed administration," said Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine.  "Voters were fed up with high taxes, unemployment and fiscal mismanagement, and every one of those problems can be found here in Ohio under Ted Strickland.  Gov. Strickland can keep attacking his opponent rather than attacking Ohio's problems, but he's only denying reality."