Freehold Residents Split on Minimum Wage Question

By the time Election Day was over incumbents in Freehold Township and Freehold Borough had held their seats in the local, county and state races.

While there was a large amount of agreement in Freehold Township on many items on the ballot, one of the questions nearly split residents in half. The second question asked residents throughout the state whether there should be a constitutional amendment to set the minimum wage with the annual cost of living increases.

In Freehold Township, of the 8,912 residents voting on Tuesday 4,514 voted against the measure while 4,398 voted in favor of it according to unofficial results from Monmouth County. The measure passed in Freehold Borough with 1,061 voting in favor and 798 opposed. Across the county there was also very little agreement on the matter with 84,066 voting in favor and 73,488 opposed. According to NJSpotlight The measure was approved overall at the state level with 61 percent voting to raise the minimum wage to $8.25 per hour.

There was no such disagreement on the first question on the ballot which asked if residents wanted a constitutional amendment to allow money from games of chance to support veterans’ organizations. Of the 8,749 Freehold Township residents who voted on the question a little more than 79 percent or 6,936 voted yes. That number increased to nearly 82 percent in Freehold Borough with 1,495 votes in favor.  That was closer in line with the state averages as the measure passed with 81 percent in favor on the state level according to NJSpotlight.