NJ Voters Back Sales Tax/Property Tax Shift More Than 2-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Strong Support For Stem Cell Research

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By a 66 - 25 percent margin, New Jersey voters support a constitutional amendment dedicating another one-half of 1 percent of sales tax to property tax relief, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Support is consistent among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters.

By a smaller 49 - 39 percent margin, New Jersey voters support a November ballot issue authorizing the state to borrow $450 million for stem cell research, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

New Jersey voters support embryonic stem cell research 71 - 19 percent and support 65 - 25 percent New Jersey becoming one of the most active states in the nation in embryonic stem cell research. Republicans support embryonic stem cell research 52 - 39 percent, while Democrats support it 79 - 10 percent and independent voters support it 76 - 15 percent.

"New Jersey voters support stem cell research by overwhelming margins and seem anxious to make their state a leader in this area," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Voters disapprove 68 - 23 percent of President Bush's veto of a bill providing federal funds for such research. But they are a little more fiscally cautious, approving 49 - 39 percent, the referendum on the November ballot to borrow $450 million for stem cell research.

"Voters have gotten a taste of property tax relief and are clearly saying they want more by dedicating all of last year's one percent state sales tax hike to sweeten the pot."

"Support for leasing the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway is slim, dropping to 31 percent in the latest poll while 54 percent disapprove," Richards added.

New Jersey voters approve 48 - 39 percent of the job Gov. Jon Corzine is doing, compared to 51 - 36 percent April 18. In this latest survey, Republicans disapprove of the Governor 60 - 28 percent, while Democrats approve 64 - 22 percent and independent voters approve 45 - 41 percent. Sen. Frank Lautenberg

Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets a 41 - 32 percent approval; Republicans disapprove 49 - 31 percent while Democrats approve 55 - 14 percent and independent voters split 36 - 37 percent.

Only 31 percent of New Jersey voters say Sen. Lautenberg deserves to be reelected in 2008, while 42 percent say he doesn't deserve to be reelected.

But 40 percent of voters say they would vote for Lautenberg if his reelection were today, with 33 percent who say they would vote for an unnamed Republican candidate. Democrats would go with the incumbent 77 - 7 percent, while Republicans would stay with their party 74 - 7 percent. Independent voters tend to back the unnamed Republican 34 - 30 percent.

Lautenberg, 83, "is too old to effectively serve another six-year term as U.S. Senator," 54 percent of voters say, while 40 percent say he is not too old. Even Democrats say 48 - 44 percent Lautenberg is too old, while Republicans say 62 - 35 percent he is too old and independent voters say 53 - 41 percent the incumbent is too old.

"This poll suggests that if Republicans field a strong candidate, Sen. Frank Lautenberg could be in trouble. But since no strong challenger has appeared so far on the horizon, and since 2008 is a presidential year, New Jersey's strong Democratic traditions could keep the Senator in office," Richards said.

From June 26 - July 2, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,604 New Jersey voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and nationally as a public service and for research. For more data -- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x271.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

22. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling his job as Governor? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Approve                 48%     28%     64%     45%     49%     47%
Disapprove              39      60      22      41      42      36
DK/NA                   13      11      14      14       9      17



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Approve                 57%     48%     44%     50%     42%
Disapprove              25      38      48      34      48
DK/NA                   18      15       8      17      10
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling his job as Governor? 
                                                                Highest Lowest
                                                                Approve Approve
                        Jul 9   Apr 18  Feb 28  Jan 24  Dec 7   Apr 18  Apr 26
                        2007    2007    2007    2007    2006    2007    2006



Approve                 48      51      50      42      49      51      35
Disapprove              39      36      34      42      32      36      42
DK/NA                   13      13      16      16      19      13      23
23. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Approve                 30%     22%     45%     23%     31%     29%
Disapprove              52      66      34      59      58      46
DK/NA                   18      12      21      18      11      25



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Approve                 35%     35%     20%     30%     26%
Disapprove              38      49      61      51      59
DK/NA                   27      16      19      19      15
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? 
                                                                Highest Lowest
                                                                Approve Approve
                        Jul 9   Apr 18  Feb 28  Jan 24  Dec 7   Jan 26  Jul 14
                        2007    2007    2007    2007    2006    2005    2006



Approve                 30      32      31      27      31      44      20
Disapprove              52      49      52      54      50      31      71
DK/NA                   18      19      17      19      19      25      10
24. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Approve                 41%     31%     55%     36%     43%     39%
Disapprove              32      49      14      37      36      27
DK/NA                   28      21      31      27      20      34



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Approve                 44%     42%     38%     38%     41%
Disapprove              26      33      34      30      32
DK/NA                   30      25      28      32      27
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator? * - also 55% on 9/23/1999 & 7/22/1999 

                                                                Highest Lowest
                                                                Approve Approve
                        Jul 9   Apr 18  Feb 28  Jan 25  Dec 7   Jul 27  Feb 28
                        2007    2007    2007    2007    2006    2000 *  2007  



Approve                 41      47      40      44      44      55      40
Disapprove              32      29      32      32      33      22      32
DK/NA                   28      24      28      24      23      23      28
25. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Menendez is handling his job as United States Senator? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Approve                 31%     16%     48%     25%     31%     30%
Disapprove              39      59      21      42      45      34
DK/NA                   31      25      31      33      24      37



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Approve                 36%     28%     30%     30%     32%
Disapprove              29      43      44      35      37
DK/NA                   34      29      26      35      31
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Menendez is handling his job as United States Senator? * also 39% on 3/20/06 ** also 31% on 7/17/06 

                                                                Highest Lowest
                                                                Approve Approve
                        Jul 9   Apr 18  Feb 28  Jan 25  Dec 7   Dec 7   Jul 9 
                        2007    2007    2007    2007    2006    2006 *  2007 **



Approve                 31      34      34      36      39      39      31
Disapprove              39      36      35      33      37      37      39
DK/NA                   31      30      31      31      24      24      31
27. Looking ahead to the 2008 election for United States Senator, do you feel that Frank Lautenberg deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Yes                     31%     18%     46%     26%     34%     28%
No                      42      66      22      48      49      37
DK/NA                   27      16      33      26      17      35



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Yes                     33%     35%     28%     25%     31%
No                      33      41      49      44      45
DK/NA                   34      25      23      31      24
28. If the 2008 election for United States Senator were being held today, do you think you would vote for Frank Lautenberg the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Lautenberg              40%      7%     77%     30%     37%     43%
Republican              33      74       7      34      41      27
DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL)    14      14       6      19      13      14
DK/NA                   13       4       9      18       9      16



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Lautenberg              50%     44%     29%     41%     36%
Republican              23      32      42      33      37
DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL)    12      12      17      14      14
DK/NA                   15      12      12      11      13
29. At age 83, do you think Frank Lautenberg is too old to effectively serve another 6 year term as United States Senator, or not? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Yes                     54%     62%     48%     53%     53%     55%
No                      40      35      44      41      42      39
DK/NA                    6       4       7       6       5       7



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Yes                     49%     52%     55%     52%     60%
No                      46      40      40      42      36
DK/NA                    5       8       4       6       4
35. Do you support or oppose selling or leasing the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway as a way of reducing New Jersey's debt and possibly providing money for tax relief? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Support                 31%     29%     36%     27%     30%     31%
Oppose                  54      59      47      58      59      50
DK/NA                   15      12      17      15      11      19



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Support                 31%     30%     29%     36%     29%
Oppose                  53      53      56      50      60
DK/NA                   16      17      15      14      11
TREND: Do you support or oppose selling or leasing the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway as a way of reducing New Jersey's debt and possibly providing money for tax relief? 

                        Jul 9   Feb 28  Jan 24
                        2007    2007    2007



Support                 31      34      34
Oppose                  54      56      53
DK/NA                   15      10      12
36. As you may know, New Jersey voters will be asked this fall to approve a constitutional amendment dedicating another one half of 1 percent of the state sales tax revenue to property tax relief. Do you support or oppose this constitutional amendment? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Support                 66%     63%     70%     67%     66%     67%
Oppose                  25      30      21      24      28      22
DK/NA                    9       7       9       9       6      11



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Support                 68%     62%     70%     68%     68%
Oppose                  21      28      24      23      24
DK/NA                   12      10       6       8       8
37. In general, do you support or oppose embryonic stem cell research? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Support                 71%     52%     79%     76%     70%     71%
Oppose                  19      39      10      15      21      18
DK/NA                   10       9      10       9       9      11



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Support                 69%     70%     75%     66%     75%
Oppose                  16      18      20      23      20
DK/NA                   16      12       5      11       5
38. As you may know, Congress passed a bill to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. President Bush recently vetoed this bill. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's veto of this bill? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Approve                 23%     47%     10%     18%     25%     21%
Disapprove              68      45      81      73      69      68
DK/NA                    9       8       8       9       6      11



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Approve                 17%     21%     29%     26%     22%
Disapprove              65      69      66      69      71
DK/NA                   18      10       5       5       7
39. As you may know, there will be a referendum that will be on this November's ballot authorizing the state government to borrow 450 million dollars for stem cell research? Do you support or oppose this referendum? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Support                 49%     31%     63%     50%     51%     47%
Oppose                  39      58      25      38      40      37
DK/NA                   12      11      12      12       8      15



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Support                 48%     49%     53%     46%     49%
Oppose                  34      37      40      44      39
DK/NA                   18      13       7      10      12
40. Do you support or oppose New Jersey becoming one of the most active states in the nation supporting embryonic stem cell research? 

                        Tot     Rep     Dem     Ind     Men     Wom



Support                 65%     45%     77%     69%     67%     63%
Oppose                  25      47      14      19      24      25
DK/NA                   10       8       9      11       8      12



                                                Philly
                        Urban   SubUrbn ExUrbn  land    Shore



Support                 63%     66%     68%     61%     68%
Oppose                  22      23      25      29      26
DK/NA                   15      11       7      10       7

Poll Questions