When the fruits of statism and corruption reach the point where the majority of the electorate benefits from them, you've reached the tipping point. Once that happens, only an external event can change the paradigm. New Jersey has reached that point.
I left New Jersey in 1971 to go into the Army after ROTC in college, and I never went back except for brief visits to see family. In 2005, after seeing Camden, a viable town in the Fifties and Sixties, become a copy of Dresden or Grozny, it became obvious that things had gone too far to fix peacefully.
Republican Congressman Scott Garrett is generally recognized as one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
I'll bet most Freepers would be astonished to learn that he represents the 5th Congressional District in New Jersey of all places.
It's also a bit surprising that New Jersey's twelve congressional districts are split 6-6 between the Republicans and Democrats. For all of it's reputation as an urban, industrial dump, New Jersey has some of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. and some very pretty countryside, too.
There are more than a few homes like this in New Jersey:
That is some serious "old money" there, folks.