You got it exactly right.
New Jersey is so far down the liberal toilet it's hopeless. Conservatives have almost NOBODY to vote for in New Jersey and so they stay home. The place is, for all intents and purposes, a one-party state, owned and operated by the education mafia.
Of course, the blame ultimately falls on the NJ voters who put these scumbags in office, again and again.
By the way, you would have a heart attack if you saw what the property taxes are in New Jersey. For example, a 5-year-old, 4 bedroom colonial on half-an-acre in Bucks County, Pennsylvania ($450,000 sale price) has an annual property tax bill in the $5,000 range. That same house right across the river in Mercer County has an annual property tax bill of at least $12,000. The property taxes in NJ stagger the mind, but the people there just roll over and take it in the rear and say, "thank you".