Steve D'Agostino is a politically Independent candidate for NJ Governor
You will need to write in my name manually on Nov 4th! *
I don't want to be a "spolier", so if you were planning on voting for either of the 2 major candidates, then DO NOT VOTE FOR ME!
Hello, I am Steve D'Agostino. Previously my goal was that if (by some miracle) I was able to get elected, then I would have been primarily focused on fixing 2 things:
1) Putting an end to property taxes; and
2) Fighting against all forms of corruption, which essentially is a plague that seems to be rampant within all three branches of our state's government.
Although I enjoy being a private person, nonetheless I am running because there are things in this state that need to be fixed, and it seems that no other candidate will ever do it.
However because I didn't get enough signatures to get my name on the ballot, now the current goal is not to actually win the election (which now is virtually impossible); but instead to show the other candidates that a large group of voters actually care enough about ending property tax and/or tackling the rampant corruption in our state.
Thus, the more votes I get, the stronger the issue(s) will appear to both of the major parties.
1) Putting an end to property taxes:
Most everyone would agree that property taxes are the most unfair by far, simply because they are constantly being incurred repeatedly, and without ever ending.
That is, as much as people may find income taxes and/or sales taxes distasteful, at least they are each incurred only once - first when you go to work and earn your money, that money is then subjected to income tax (federal and state). But then after paying your one-time federal income tax and one-time state income tax on those earnings, that money is never taxed again (well, at least not until you spend it).
And then when you go to spend it, for most of the things that you buy, you will also have to pay a sales tax.
But then once you buy your items, those items are yours free and clear at that point - as there will be no further taxes on those items, which you worked hard for to earn, and for which you have paid taxes twice on (i.e the income tax and then the sales tax).
But the one exception to the above, is the "property tax" placed on your home / real estate - despite your having paid income taxes, and despite your having paid a
"real estate transfer tax" on that purchase, you still have to keep constantly paying a "property tax" on that purchase, year after year after year, with no possible end - ever! And unlike all other programs which can possibly reduce a person's financial burdens and/or hardships, (e.g. programs that can even reduce the amount of money you may owe on your mortgage, which is money that the bank lent to you and is still owed the bank), there is no bail out or relief programs for a person's never-ending property tax burden, which is for money that you must give to the state and local government, and on top of that, it is money which you likely never significantly benefited from (if at all).
So when you ask most politicians, they may tell you that they agree it is a very unfair tax. But they will also say that unfortuantely it is a necessary evil, as they don't know how else to raise the necessary amount of money without it.
But I think I do know how to raise the necessary amount of money without property taxes.
There are a lot of pieces and moving parts to this plan, which are difficult to explain on paper (i.e. effectively articulate via written words alone), although I am still in the process of trying to do so. But please check back often, as this website is a work in progress.
Disclaimer
So let me be right upfront and tell you that I have absolutely no political experience at all. **
On top of that, I'm short, fat, homely, and kinda weird looking (that's why I didn't include a picture of myself here).
I am also a private person, so truthfully running for any political office is one of the last things that I would ever want to do. But like so many other things I have experienced in my life, if I don't roll up my sleeves and do it myself, nobody else will, and as a result it won't ever get fixed. So once again, I am left with no other viable choice.
UPDATE: Please only vote for me if you were not going to vote at all otherwise, because I absolutely do not want to be thought of as a "spoiler", even in the slightest degree, for either of the other 2 major candidates.
Given the fact that not only do all independent candiates face nearly impossible odds in any US election, and add to that the fact that I am an unknown private person, but further given the fact that now the only way a person can vote for me is to write in my name manually (which 99% of people would be too lazy to do), actually winnning is mathematically impossible.
However, there is a still a reason to vote for me (or to just vote for my positions), if you were otherwise not going to vote at all. That reason is that the more people who vote for me, the more it will show all of the other candidates (including the 2 major parties) that this is something that it really important that they should address themselves, if they want to stay in office in 2029.
So you can either type in my name (either in full or even just "Steve D"), or "end property tax" (or just "EPT"), and/or "fight corruption", etc. No matter what, all of the other candidates will undoubtedly check the write-in votes, and they will "get the message" - regardless of whether you type out my full name (even if you misspell it), or if you just put in my first name and initial, or even of you just put in EPT, etc.
Anything other than my full name won't officially "count" as a vote for me, but yet it will still be sufficient for my purposes, as they will still know that these issues are important to you, which in turn will put them on notice that they should address these issues, or else me (or some other much-better-qualified candidate) may become the "spoiler" 4 years from now in the 2029 election.
* This is because I didn't get the 2,000 signatures that I had needed by the June 10th deadline in order to get myself on the ballot (i.e so you could vote for me with just a push of a button). For decades the requirement was that only 800 signatures were needed, but just a few months ago (in Feb 2025) the state legislature just changed it, going way up by 250%, to the current 2,000 signatures needed.
And because it was just me alone trying to get these signatures, walking countless miles over the few month period that I had to complete the task, I came up short on that goal. But you can still write in my name by manually, either in person at the polls on Nov 4th, or on your mail-in ballots.
** I am an electronics engineer/computer scientist/web developer/musician, who out of necessity was forced to become fluent with civil law.
