Public Opinion
| Polling Firm | Month | Link | Favor | Oppose |
| Quinnipiac | February 2012 | 57 | 37 | |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | February 2012 | 54 | 35 | |
| Quinnipiac | January 2012 | 52 | 42 | |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | October 2011 | 52 | 39 | |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | August 2011 | 52 | 32 | |
| Public Policy Polling | July 2011 | 47 | 42 | |
| Quinnipiac | November 2009 | 46 | 49 | |
| Rutgers–Eagleton | November 2009 | 50 | 42 | |
| Quinnipiac | April 2009 | 49 | 43 | |
| Zogby International | August 2008 | 50 | 42 | |
| Zogby International | August 2007 | 48.1 | 44.6 | |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 2006 | 42 | 54 | |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | June 2006 | 49 | 44 | |
| Zogby International | February 2006 | 56 | 39 | |
| Zogby International | April 2005 | HTML | 54.5 | 40.1 |
| Rutgers-Eagleton | September 2003 | 43 | 50 | |
| Zogby International | July 2003 | 55 | 41 |
Not all polling questions are the same. The 2009 Rutgers poll that found more support asks if voters will accept a decision by the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage, while the 2006 Rasmussen Reports survey that found more opposed asks whether voters personally define marriage as a union of a man and a woman or between a union of two people. A Zogby International poll conducted in April 2005 asked about same-sex couples married outside of the state. 57.5% felt the marriages should be recognized, 37.2% thought the State shouldn't recognize them, and 5.3% weren't sure. New Jerseyans supported civil unions in 2006 before the passage of the Civil Unions Act, with 66% in favor and 29% opposed.
A July 2011 Public Policy Polling survey found that 81% of New Jersey voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 41% supporting same-sex marriage and 40% supporting civil unions, while only 17% opposed all legal recognition and 2% were not sure.
New Jersey trends mirrored national trends, in that women, young people, Latinos, people with a college education, and people who know gay men and lesbians were more supportive of same-sex marriage than men, the elderly, blacks, people without a college education, and those who do not know any gay men or lesbians were most opposed. However, gay marriage was not seen as an "important issue" by the latter groups, and the Eagleton Institute found that they were not likely to be source of opposition to the bill if it passed. In New Jersey, a majority of Democrats support same-sex marriage, a majority of Republicans are opposed, and a majority of Independents favor same-sex marriage.
Read more about this topic: Recognition Of Same-sex Unions In New Jersey
Famous quotes containing the words public opinion, public and/or opinion:
“A state that denies its citizens their basic rights becomes a danger to its neighbors as well: internal arbitrary rule will be reflected in arbitrary external relations. The suppression of public opinion, the abolition of public competition for power and its public exercise opens the way for the state power to arm itself in any way it sees fit.... A state that does not hesitate to lie to its own people will not hesitate to lie to other states.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“In my public statements I have earnestly urged that there rested upon government many responsibilities which affect the moral and spiritual welfare of our people. The participation of women in elections has produced a keener realization of the importance of these questions and has contributed to higher national ideals. Moreover, it is through them that our national ideals are ingrained in our children.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)