NJ Poll: Voters Tell Legislators To Keep Their Hands Off The Gas Tax

HAMDEN, CT (CBS) - With the general election now in the rear view mirror, New Jersey politicians are expected to take up a number of unpopular issues.

Tops on that list is a bid to increase the state's gasoline tax. A new poll of Garden State voters suggests drivers want that levy left alone.

The Quinnipiac poll back in April found half of those surveyed might support an increase to help pay for road repair and such. That was the first time in eleven years the number got that high, according to pollster Mickey Carroll.

This latest poll, taken after the November Third general election, showed that support was short lived.

"People don't like it 62 to 35," Carroll told KYW Newsradio. "But legislators who have to decide what to do with a nearly bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund are said to be going for it."

The reason? Observers point to late 2017, the next time state legislators and the Governor's office would be up for election. Given the need to replenish that fund, it's thought the time might be right to act.

But there is Governor Chris Christie who, while he can't run for a third term, is seeking the Republican Presidential nomination. And he might be loathe to the idea of a hike in any tax, given part of his campaign has centered on keeping them in check in New Jersey.