Christine Todd Whitman - Governor of New Jersey

Governor of New Jersey

Whitman ran against incumbent James Florio for governor in 1993, and defeated him by one percentage point to become the first female governor in New Jersey history. She was the second woman and first Republican woman to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election, but was unable to gain a majority of the votes, winning by a plurality. Charges of suppression of minority votes were raised during this campaign.

Whitman used as a campaign issue that she would lower state taxes by 10% per year for three years, a campaign promise she kept. Whitman successfully lowered income taxes in New Jersey. The results led to an initial decline in the overall tax burden and suggested that the long-term NJ property tax issue could be addressed. Jim Saxton, in a report to the US congress, argued that New Jersey's income tax cuts improved "the well-being of the New Jersey family" and would not lead to increased property taxes. Saxton cited Tim Goodspeed's research and a recent paper published by the Manhattan Institute. He admitted that "a few localities raised taxes," which Goodspeed expected, but both counted on the flypaper effect to mitigate any widespread or persistent increases. These would emerge later. However, the loss of state revenues created a long term revenue shortfall that could not be easily reversed and subsequent governors were unable to offset the huge cumulative revenue losses as well as interest accumulation. Such deficits were offset by bond issues that have a time bomb effect of the financial status of the state.

In 1995, Whitman came under criticism after she said that young African-American males sometimes played a game known as Jewels in the Crown, which she claimed had as its intent having as many children as possible out of wedlock. Whitman apologized for making the remark and voiced her opposition to attempts by Congressional Republicans to bar unwed teenage mothers from receiving welfare payments.

In 1996, Whitman joined a New Jersey State Police patrol in Camden, New Jersey. During the patrol, the officers stopped a 16-year-old African American male named Sherron Rolax, and frisked him. After the police found nothing on him, Whitman also frisked the youth while a state trooper photographed her. In 2000, the image of the smiling governor frisking Rolax was published in newspapers statewide, which drew criticism from civil rights leaders who saw the incident as a violation of Rolax's civil rights and an endorsement by Whitman of racial profiling – especially since Rolax was not arrested or found to be violating any law. Whitman told the press that she regretted the incident and pointed to her 1999 efforts against the New Jersey State Police force's racial profiling practices. In 2001, Rolax learned about the photograph and sued Whitman in federal court, claiming that the search was illegal and an invasion of privacy. The appeals court agreed that the acts did indeed suggest "an intentional violation" of Rolax's rights, and that he "was detained and used for political purposes by his governor," but upheld the trial court's decision that it was too late to sue.

In 1996, Whitman rejected her Advisory Council's recommendation to spend tax money on a needle exchange, in an effort to reduce the incidence of HIV infections.

Whitman was re-elected in 1997, narrowly defeating Jim McGreevey, the mayor of Woodbridge Township, who criticized her record on property taxes and automobile insurance rates. Though earlier considered a safe incumbent, Whitman duplicated her 1993 result with a one-point victory and a plurality of the votes. The governor's narrow margin of victory was credited in large part to the candidacy of conservative Republican and Ramapo College professor Murray Sabrin, who ran as a Libertarian. Sabrin finished third in the race with five percent of the vote, mostly from conservative Republicans who otherwise might have voted for the incumbent Whitman.

In 1997, she repealed the one percentage-point increase to the state sales tax that her predecessor, Governor Florio, had imposed (reducing it from 7% to 6%), instituted unspecified education reforms, and removed excise taxes on professional wrestling, which led the World Wrestling Federation to resume holding events in New Jersey. In 1999, Governor Whitman vetoed a bill that outlawed partial birth abortion; the veto was overridden, but the statute was later declared unconstitutional by the courts. In 1999 she also made a cameo appearance on the television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In 1999, Whitman fired Colonel Carl A. Williams, head of the New Jersey State Police, after he was quoted noting that cocaine and marijuana traffickers were often members of minority groups, while the methaphetamine trade was controlled by primarily white biker gangs. The remarks about cocaine and marijuana traffickers were portrayed as racist.

In 2000, under Whitman's leadership, New Jersey's violations of the federal one-hour air quality standard for ground level ozone dropped to four from 45 in 1988. Beach closings reached a record low, and the state earned recognition by the Natural Resources Defense Council for instituting the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. Additionally, New Jersey implemented a new watershed management program and became the United States leader in opening shellfish beds for harvesting. Governor Whitman agreed to give tax money to owners of one million acres (4,000 km²) more of open space and farmland in New Jersey.

In 2000, when Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg announced his retirement, Whitman seriously considered being a candidate, but ultimately decided against running.