Opinion: Polling Finds Governor Murphy Should Be Wary of Banning Gas Vehicles

OPINION

New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy, has moved forward with his plan to ban the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles in the state starting in 2035. But according to our polling on this matter, voters in New Jersey are not supportive of banning gas-powered vehicles and forcing drivers to purchase new electric vehicles, or EVs.

We found that a strong majority of voters in New Jersey are concerned about the effects of climate change (82%), including a majority of Democrats (93%), independents (82%), and Republicans (69%).

But even with that level of anxiety over climate change, just 17% of New Jerseyans feel that the state should do whatever it can to get as many EVs on the road as quickly as possible (just 21% of Democrats, and 18% of independents agree with this position). The vast majority of voters (84%) feel that the focus should be on other issues.

Indeed, according to the poll, New Jerseyans view increasing the number of EVs as one of the least important things the government should be financing. They’d rather see the government spend more money on addressing childhood hunger, fixing the state’s infrastructure, building new schools, and providing more funding to law enforcement. Even among Democratic voters, increasing the number of EVs is at the bottom of the list of spending priorities (just 5% feel it is a top issue).

Voters are also against the Governor from taking this drastic step to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles, on his own. Indeed, only 12% support the Governor proceeding with a ban without the support of the legislature. Alternatively, 69% support the Governor getting approval from the state legislature to move forward with the ban. This view is certainly true among Republican voters (76% support NJ Governor getting legislative approval), but also among independents (67%), and even a majority of Democratic voters agree (15% feel the Governor should act unilaterally compared to 67% who feel the Governor should get approval from state lawmakers).

As evidence that Governor Murphy’s EV policy may be out of touch, recent data has found the EVs are languishing on dealer lots, while the opposite is true of hybrid vehicles. Hybrids like the Toyota Prius are a bridge to allow drivers to conserve energy, without being forced to figure out how to charge their EV. But too many Democratic policy makers ignored this option because even though it was common sense, it wasn’t zero emissions.

Suspecting that a ban on gas vehicles was too extreme for most voters, my organization which advocates for Democrats to embrace centrist public policies, performed this polling across several states from Minnesota, to Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland and found similar views to what we discovered in New Jersey. More precisely, voters have their doubts that everyone should be driving EVs.

With this in mind, Democrats should not let the EV issue be used against us, to show our Party is out of touch with average Americans. After all, that is where Republicans are today.

Consider that Conservative leaders avoid talking about policies to help working families, but focus on culture war issues like banning transgender student athletes, blocking common-sense gun laws and criminalizing abortion — often times even in the case of rape and incest and to protect the life of the mother. Worst of all, Republicans will likely nominate Donald Trump to be their nominee for President, regardless of the fact that if he does become Commander in Chief, he won’t likely relinquish power a second time. I am confident not many people want a dictator Donald Trump running America.

With this in mind, the election of 2024 should be a massive victory for Democrats in New Jersey and nationwide. This is as long as we avoid seeming out of touch because we are too far to the Left. All signs are pointing in the right direction for Democrats, so it is critical to stay away from extremist policies like banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles.

Ronnie Shows, a Democrat, represented Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003.  He is a board member of the Centrist Democrats of America.