NJ: Christie pulls it off
Posted: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 9:16 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2009
“Christopher J. Christie, became the first Republican to win statewide in 12 years by vowing to attack the state’s fiscal problems with the same aggressiveness he used to lock up corrupt politicians,” the New York Times says. “He overcame a huge Democratic voter advantage and a relentless barrage of negative commercials to defeat Jon S. Corzine, an unpopular incumbent who outspent him by more than two to one and drew heavily on political help from the White House, including three visits to the state from President Obama.”
Video:
Rachel Maddow is joined by Princeton University professor Melissa Haris-Lacewell to help interpret the results from the N.J. governor's race.
The New York Post: "Chris Christie last night became the first Republican to be elected governor of New Jersey in more than a decade -- a stunning triumph that came just days after President Obama put his prestige on the line and visited the Garden State to urge voters to re-elect Democrat Jon Corzine."
The AP called Christie's win "the darling of New Jersey's Republican Party establishment” after unseating the "deep-pocketed but unpopular" incumbent Jon Corzine. Christie "became the first member of his party in a dozen years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey," despite heavy investments of time and money by Corzine and national Democratic leaders, including President Barack Obama.
Chris Christie “survived” the New Jersey election, the Newark Star-Ledger writes, prevailing in a “name-calling brawl over ethics, issues and Christie’s weight.” Christie was also able to weather the “Democratic onslaught” of accusations about an “unreported loan to a subordinate and a poor driving history.”
Christie’s win was “the first time a Republican has won a statewide race in New Jersey in a dozen years -- and by a margin greater than even most Republicans expected,” PolitickerNJ writes, with 106,000 votes between him and Corzine by the time Christie gave his victory speech last night. While he thanked his opponent for his service to the state, “Christie excoriated Corzine for running an intensely personal negative campaign against him, and said that his victory should send pundits and candidates the message that negative campaigns don't work.”
