Election fatigue in NJ: are you feeling it?

Election Day is coming up soon across the Garden State. And with the governor's race happening this year, it's certainly one we should all be engaged in.

However, it hasn't even been a year yet since the last presidential election. With politics constantly on everyone's mind, is it any wonder that New Jerseyans might be feeling somewhat exhausted with anything having to do with an election?

We're one of the few states that hold its governor's election the year immediately following a presidential election. So for those of us here in New Jersey, the campaigning and mud-slinging never really stopped.

At least, it might seem like it never did. In my opinion, this is probably part of the reason why New Jersey never has a good turnout for the governors' election. Whether you lean right or left, we're exhausted from it.

And that, of course, leads to the big problem of poor turnout at the polls. And a poor turnout at the polls almost always means we're unhappy with who gets elected to office.

So how do we fix this? How do we get more New Jerseyans to be engaged in the governor's race and actually vote?

Maybe, just maybe, New Jersey considers changing the governor's election to two years after a presidential election. At least we can then have a break from dealing with politics for a little while.

And of course, after this year, we shift to the midterm elections. So for those of us here in New Jersey, we never get a true break.

Now, I'm not saying that's the sole reason why people don't turn out and vote, but I do believe it's part of the problem.

Another big problem with election fatigue? Not taking the time to get to learn who a candidate is and voting blindly based on party affiliation.

It doesn't matter which way you lean, it's important to learn who the candidates are. But that could be hard to do if you're feeling fatigued throughout the campaign season.

But alas, we live in New Jersey, where everything seems to be backward. So for now, I won't hold my breath on ever seeing this change.

Regardless of when the election happens, one thing's for certain - your vote counts. So please do your best to overcome the fatigue and take the time to learn about who's running, and what they can do for New Jersey.