Republican Christie Ousts Corzine In New Jersey Governors Race
Christie, 47, became the first Republican elected to statewide office in New Jersey in 12 years and promised a crowd of cheering supporters in a Parsippany hotel ballroom that he will “turn Trenton upside down.”
“Times are extraordinarily difficult, but I stand here tonight full of hope for our future, full of hope and dreams,” he told supporters.
Christie received 49 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Corzine with 99 percent of the precincts counted, according to data compiled by the Associated Press.
Republicans, who account for one in five New Jersey voters, last won a statewide election in 1997. Christie, a former U.S. Attorney with a reputation for prosecuting corrupt politicians, campaigned on the back of dissatisfaction with the incumbents fiscal performance.
“Its a scorecard on Jon Corzine, no question about it,” said Christine Todd Whitman, the last New Jersey governor to win re-election and the last Republican to win a statewide race. “Four years ago, he told us, Hold me accountable.”
Christie started the campaign with a lead in opinion polls that reached 12 percentage points in July and fell as Corzine aired a series of television ads attacking his driving record, ethics and views on abortion and health care.
President Barack Obama traveled to the state to stump for Corzine on three occasions, and Vice President Joseph Biden and former President Bill Clinton also visited.
Close Race
Corzine and Christie were neck-and-neck in a Quinnipiac University poll released on Nov. 2. The survey of 1,533 likely voters showed Christie with 42 percent to Corzines 40 percent, within the polls error margin of 2.5 percentage points. Independent candidate Christopher Daggett had 12 percent, and 6 percent remained undecided.
Republicans monitoring returns first suspected they were headed to victory at about 9 p.m., said State Senator Bill Baroni, a Republican from Mercer County, home of the state capital, Trenton. Thats when poll watchers reported that the blue-collar town of Woodbridge, where former Democratic Governor James E. McGreevey had served as mayor, favored Christie.
Virginia, New York City
Corzine, 62, the former co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., was the only incumbent U.S. governor seeking re-election this year. Corzine put at least $28 million of his personal fortune into the campaign, according to state records, and spent the race seeking to persuade voters that he positioned the state to recover early from the U.S. recession and had worked to create jobs. He said he would expand state health-care programs to cover the uninsured and focus on public schools.
Corzine said he telephoned Christie to concede and called the Republican gracious. He said his administration would ensure a smooth transition.
“Its been an incredible journey together and Im grateful to all New Jerseyans,” Corzine said. “To have been governor of this great state has been a joy I never could have imagined. We may be retiring from politics, but were not retiring from life, and well continue to fight for those things we believe in.”
Corruption Issue
Christie built a reputation as a corruption fighter, winning convictions of about 130 elected officials including former Newark Mayor Sharpe James and former state Senate President John Lynch. Christie campaigned on promises to reduce spending and increase tax cuts, cut pension benefits for new government workers and boost property tax rebates to homeowners with the highest bills in the U.S.
“Tomorrow, starting tomorrow, we are going to pick Trenton up and we are going to turn it upside down,” he told his supporters.
Negative Campaign