Poll: New Jersey Split on Death Penalty; Governor Jon Corzine Slips in Polls

There is a debate going on in the State of New Jersey, both in the legislature and with the general population as well. They are deciding whether or not to keep the death penalty or scrap it in favor of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Quinnipiac University polled the public to get their views on the subject and came up with some very interesting answers.

They found that, by a margin of 53 to 39%, New Jersey voters opposed eliminating the death penalty, while on the other hand, by a margin of 52 to 39%, there are voters who say they want to scrap the death penalty have the life in prison without parole for those who are convicted of first degree murder.

Comparing the opinions of the voters from both of the major parties and the independents as well, the Democrats vote to get rid of the death penalty by a margin of 50 to 43%, while the Republicans what to keep it by a margin of 65 to26%. As for the independent voters, they oppose the death penalty by a margin of 54 to 38%.

Flipping the results around, the Democrats prefer the life sentence over the death penalty by a margin of 65 to 27% and the Republicans prefer the death penalty by a margin of 52 to 38%. And with the independents, life without parole wins by a vote of 49 to 40%.

But the voters are more in agreement when it comes to the most violent of criminals, with 78% saying the death penalty should be kept for the likes of serial killers and child killers.

As for how their Governor, Jon Corzine is faring with his constituents, his support has slipped a bit from the last poll back on September 25. Back then, his support was at 49% with 40% against and now the figures are 46 to 43%. The independent voters are more evenly split with their opinion with

The opinions of the two major parties could not be any more opposite. The Democrats approve of the way the Governor is doing his job by a margin of 67 to 22% and the Republicans disapprove by a margin of 65 to 25%. The independents are pretty much split on the issue, with 45% approving and 43% disapproving.

The next gubernatorial election in New Jersey will be in 2009 and 44% think he deserves to be reelected while 43% do not. And 41% say they would vote for him, while 31% say they would vote for a generic Republican.

Source: Quinnipiac University http://www.quinnipiac.edu/