NJ residents—and the White House—are anxiously wondering who the next governor of NJ will be. Incumbent Jon Corzine (D) was facing not just Republican challenger Chris Christie but also independent Chris Daggett. Currently, NBC projects that Chris Christie is the winner.
Update, 10:26 p.m.: The AP reports, "Republican Chris Christie has defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey. With 71 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Christie had 50 percent of the vote to Corzine's 44 percent. Christie, a 47-year-old former federal prosecutor, became the first member of his party in a dozen years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey." (The last Republican governor of NJ was Christie Todd Whitman.)
Many people believe that NJ's troubled finances and suburban unhappiness about property taxes led to Corzine's defeat. Corzine conceded, "We may be retiring from politics, but we will not stop speaking up for the issues we believe in.... At the end of the day, elections are not about the people that are running, they are about the choices they make. The people have chosen tonight."
Christie told supporters in his victory speech, "The times are extraordinarily difficult, but I stand here tonight full of hope for our future, full of expectations and dreams. I beg you, let's turn the page. Let's put the petty politics of the past behind us, and let's start a new era of hope and optimism in New Jersey." He also promised to fight corruption.
