New Yorkers wondering what will happen if Eliot Spitzer is elected governor of New York need only look across the Hudson to New Jersey, where the new Democratic governor, Jon Corzine, is conducting a budget negotiation with the Democratic speaker of the Assembly over which taxes to increase and by how much. Mr. Corzine has proposed an increase in the state sales tax to 7% from 6%, while some Assembly Democrats want to raise income taxes by $356 million by upping rates on those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 a year.

Much the same can be expected of a budget negotiation between Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, and the Assembly speaker in New York, Sheldon Silver, also a Democrat. New Jersey, like New York, is one of the most heavily taxed states in the union, but somehow Mr. Corzine has managed to get himself into a debate about tax increases instead of tax cuts. This after a campaign in which he vowed, “I intend to move our state from the pattern of tax, borrow and spend to a new paradigm of grow, invest, and lead.” If Mr. Spitzer’s campaign promises on taxes are as reliable as Mr. Corzine’s, New Yorkers can look forward to more tax pain if Mr. Spitzer takes office. This is why it’s important to mark the long-term record and philosophy on taxation between the candidates for governor of the Empire State.