Murphy’s win: ‘Persecution & punishment’ or a boon for NJ?

TRENTON — What does New Jersey expect from their new governor?

As Phil Murphy claimed victory in Tuesday's election, voters had mixed expectations for once he takes office in January.

"This could be a good thing for New Jersey because the legalization of marijuana could potentially bring in billions of dollars, create jobs ... and decrease the amount we spend on sending these people to jail at $50,000 per inmate," Jim from Clinton told New Jersey 101.5's Eric Scott during a post-election news broadcast.

Jim said he also looking forward to the expected increase in public school spending — one of several agenda items Murphy is likely to push through without much opposition from a Democrat-majority legislature.

"We have one of the best public school systems in the country but quality costs money, and even though my taxes are high it's still cheaper than sending my kids to private school," Jim said.

Michael from Nutley said he found it "terrifying" that Murphy won because of the potential impact on his tax bill. Murphy has pledged to raise taxes only on the wealthy — but Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno challenged that claim throughout her campaign.

"I cannot believe the people of this state would vote for more persecution and punishment from our local town government and put a guy in power who campaigned on raising taxes. There's not enough millionaires in this state to cover everything he wants to do," he said.

Murphy has said he wants to raise income taxes on the wealthy, multi-state corporations and hedge fund managers, plus legalize and tax marijuana, estimated the combined value of the tax hikes at $1.3 billion annually. He pledged to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, guarantee sick leave to workers statewide, fully fund the school-aid formula, expand gun control and create a public bank from which the state would loan tax collections to students, small businesses and towns.

Twitter reaction juast was mixed to Murphy's win.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ