In a State Notorious for Political Scandal, Signs of Change Emerge

New Jersey’s senior U.S. senator is on trial, charged with taking bribes in exchange for political favors. A federal judge has declared the state’s method of conducting primary elections fundamentally unfair. And on Monday New Jersey’s attorney general charged one of the state’s most formidable Democratic power brokers with racketeering.

A state famous for explosive political prosecutions like Abscam, Bridgegate and Bid Rig has over the past year lived up to a reputation for scandal that has left six in 10 residents convinced that New Jersey’s politicians are either somewhat or very corrupt.

“I’m more surprised by the good things than the bad things in New Jersey politics,” said Amol Sinha, executive director of New Jersey’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

But there are also signs that recent political upheaval might offer a history-changing silver lining: a tipping point that leads to change.

“It’s like that slow-motion video of an object falling down,” said State Senator Andrew Zwicker, a physicist with Princeton University’s plasma lab. “You know that it’s falling, but you just don’t know where it will finally end up.”

“But the object will absolutely not be in the same place,” he added.

The state, which has no shortage of corruption war stories, has a long way to go to reach a new equilibrium.