Political conservatives of the tax-cutting, limited-government sort must be feeling lonely in New York these days. But taking a look over the river to New Jersey might help rouse their spirits. In the Garden State, a raucous primary campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination is under way, with each of the seven candidates sparring over how best to cut property taxes and control waste and corruption in Trenton. The election is on June 7.

The two leading candidates – a former mayor of Jersey City, Bret Schundler, and a former state pension director, Douglas Forrester – offer competing plans for easing the property-tax burden on New Jersey’s homeowners. Mr. Schundler wants to constrain state and local spending constitutionally, leading to cuts in property taxes. Mr. Forrester has promised to cut property taxes directly by 30% over three years. Another candidate, former Bergen County freeholder Todd Caliguire, plans to reduce the state payroll by between 10% and 15% over three years and lower state spending by 10%.

The campaign has been nothing if not contentious. Some of the other candidates – Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, Councilman Robert Schroeder, Freeholder John Murphy – have attacked Messrs. Schundler and Forrester for high-profile electoral losses in previous campaigns for governor and the United States Senate, arguing that they can’t win a general election statewide. The mayor of Bogota, New Jersey, Steven Lonegan, has accused Mr. Schundler of abandoning his conservative base by tempering his message on social issues. Now a candidate himself, Mr. Lonegan has promised to appoint pro-life judges to the state Supreme Court.

Mr. Schundler has said of Mr. Forrester, “I think he may have the worst record on property taxes in the history of New Jersey,” and added, during a live televised debate last week, “If anyone watching this can find anybody who more than tripled property taxes in four years, I’ll give you $250, because I’d like to have that information.”

Mr. Forrester has made his own enemies within New Jersey’s Republican Party by going to court to eliminate the preferential ballot position given to candidates endorsed by county Republican committees.

Some observers think all this Republican infighting is bad for the party, given that the Republican nominee faces an uphill battle contending with Senator Corzine for the governorship. But the Republican primary debate has focused attention on property taxes – and now even Mr. Corzine has his own plan for reducing them, to restore funding for the New Jersey Saver and Homestead rebate programs, which are to be cut in the latest budget proposals. Mr. Corzine further pledged to work to increase the rebates by cutting spending or finding new sources of revenue.

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the general election, putting property-tax relief front and center in the state’s agenda is no small accomplishment of the Republican candidates. The issue might even give momentum to the Republican nominee going into the general election.

And what a contrast to the Republican Party in New York, where a sclerotic establishment typically anoints the party’s candidate. The handpicked Republican challenger in the last contest for the United States Senate, Assemblyman Howard Mills, didn’t see much of a benefit from avoiding the messiness of a primary campaign. Instead, his candidacy handed the Republicans a humiliating defeat.

One could even say that New York’s Republican establishment is primary averse. Steve Forbes had to file a lawsuit to get on the primary ballot in 1996. Senator D’Amato wanted simply to hand the state over to Senator Dole without consulting New York’s Republican voters at all. In 2000, Senator McCain also had to go to court to appear on the primary ballot, when Governor Pataki wanted to rig the election for George W. Bush. “New York’s Republican Party is in many ways old Tammany Hall Democratic politics,” columnist Paul Gigot said at the time.

So while New Jersey’s political debates sizzle with talk of a “property-tax revolution,” New York’s Republicans sag on defense. Empire State conservatives aren’t going to shape the political agenda if they stifle debate among themselves. The GOP establishment has tried running things on its own; perhaps it’s time to open decisions up to rank-and-file Republicans across the state – like they do in Jersey.