Poll: N.J. Voters Expected To Approve State Minimum Wage Hike
By Jim Melwert
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (CBS) -- When voters in New Jersey go to the polls this November, they'll be asked decide if the state's minimum wage should be raised (see related story). And a new poll says it looks the measure will be approved.
The Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll finds that 65 percent of voters say they support a constitutional amendment that would raise the state's minimum wage by a dollar, from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour, and also build in annual cost-of-living increases.
Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray says there is support across the board for the wage hike.
"Particularly when we look at party ID -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- we find majorities in each of those groups," he tells KYW Newsradio.
Seventy-three percent of registered Democrats, 63 percent of independents, and 54 percent of Republicans support the increase.
Murray says a big advertising push by business groups claiming the increase would cost thousands of lower-paying jobs doesn't seem to be changing any minds.
"We finds that just 23 percent of New Jersey voters agree with the business community that the minimum wage hike would lead to job loss," Murray says. "In fact, 67 percent reject that view entirely."
The margin of error for the poll is 3.8 percent.
