Asbury Park Press

Before and after Phil Murphy was inaugurated as governor, he promised he would make New Jersey “fairer” for the poor and middle class while improving the economic climate for businesses.

This week’s Monmouth University poll suggests widespread skepticism about his ability to deliver on those promises. Any honeymoon period Murphy may once have enjoyed appears to be over.

Murphy, in fact, is less popular after his first year as governor than were Chris Christie and Jon Corzine. And his numbers are getting worse. In April 2018, he had a 44 percent approval rating, compared to 43 percent today. But his disapproval ratings have jumped from 28 percent to 40 percent. The slippage has cut across all three of the poll's economic categories: the poor, middle class and wealthy. While 27 percent say his policies have helped the poor, 28 percent say they have actually hurt, and 27 say they have had no impact.

The poll also found that only 18 percent of Jerseyans feel the middle class has benefited from Murphy’s policies. More than twice as many, 39 percent, say his policies have hurt the middle class, Those weak numbers can be ascribed in large measure to his poor performance on property taxes. Once again, they were identified by a wide margin as the most important issue facing the state. They were cited by 48 percent of those responding to the poll; runner-up was the economy and cost of living, with 16 percent.

“Surprise! Property taxes continue to be the issue that irks the largest number of New Jerseyans," Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said. "It seems the governor and legislative leaders are at odds in terms of what, if anything, should be done. The solution may not be clear, but it’s certainly not a good idea to be perceived as ignoring the problem entirely." Which, essentially, Murphy has done. And growing numbers of taxpayers are starting to catch on.

The perceived impact of Murphy's policies on the wealthy was mixed, with 22 percent saying they helped, 21 percent indicating they hurt and 30 percent saying they had no impact. And despite Murphy's much-touted efforts to kick-start New Jersey's economy by making it more business-friendly, only 20 percent say businesses have been helped by Murphy’s policies; 33 percent say they have been hurt.

Murphy may have been lulled into complacency by the Democrats' large advantage in registered voters, his easy primary and general election victories, and the strong showing by Democrats in the November congressional elections. But that should have been leavened early on by the resistance to his big-spending ways by Trenton's two top Democratic leaders, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin. That continuing resistance, coupled with Murphy's failure to win broad public support, could make his re-election an uphill climb. If things don't improve he could face a serious challenge in his party's primary.

The latest poll numbers should be a major wake-up call to Murphy. Adding costly new programs while ignoring frustrated residents' longstanding appeals for tax relief may not only stall his agenda but shorten his political career.