While the man who vetoed an earlier minimum wage measure cruised to a landslide re-election as governor, New Jersey voters approved the bill he vetoed when it appeared on the ballot yesterday, raising the state minimum wage to $8.25 an hour and pegging it henceforth to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
New Jersey thus becomes the 11th state with an automatic CPI rider to its minimum wage statute, and its hourly wage of $8.25 an hour ranks in the nation's top ten. The current rate is $7.25 an hour, same as the federal mandate.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the proposition had support of 61 percent of voters, according to unofficial returns. Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Christie was being re-elected by the same electorate with 60 percent of the vote.