The New Jersey Gubernatorial Election will be held on November 3rd, 2009. Jon Corzine is the incumbent Democrat who is running for his second term. Chris Christie is running as the Republican candidate. Chris Daggett is running as the Independent candidate.
Some of the major issues of the election are: job creation, property tax, and keeping people in New Jersey.
Several debates were held throughout the state, with the last being on October 22nd.
Regionally, Republicans tend to be strong in the Northwest and Shore regions of the state. The Democrats tend to be strong in the urban areas as well as the suburban areas.
Since February of 2004, Corzine’s approval ratings ranged from 33% and 42%. Corzine may benefit from his backing from President Barack Obama.
Chris Christie was born in Newark, New Jersey and now lives in Medham. In 1994, Christie was elected as a Republican to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 1998, Christie registered as a lobbyist for the Dughi, Hewitt, and Palatucci. In 2001, Christie was nominated by George w. Bush to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Christie attacked Corzine’s record of raising taxes, failing to deliver property tax relief, and presiding over a period of unusually high unemployment in the state. Corzine pointed to the global economic recession for the state’s economic trouble. Christie also campaigned on the issue of ethics-reducing corruption and ending fiscal waste.
New Jersey is widely a blue-state, no Republican has won a statewide election since Christine Todd Whitman who was elected governor in 1997 and is now campaigning with Chris Christie.
Christie is pro-life, however his running mate Kimberly Guadango is pro-choice. Christie opposes New Jersey’s proposed medical marijuana bill.
Jon Corzine is originally from Taylorville, Illinois. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 until 1975. In 1975, he moved to New Jersey and was hired as a bond trader for Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he worked his way up to chairman and CEO of the company. Corzine was sworn into the Senate in November 2001. Corzine ran for Governor in 2005 and defeated Doug Forrester.
Jon Corzine also had some controversies surrounding him. He was romantically involved with Kayla Katz. Katz was the president of local 1034 of the communication workers of America and offered her a job, which she denied. After Corzine and his wife were separated the two were seen dating. Corzine and his wife divorced in 2003. After the break-up, their lawyers negotiated a settlement between Katz and Corzine in November of 2004, which reached an excess of six million dollars.
In April of 2007, Corzine was injured in an automobile accident. Excess speed, and the fact that Corzine was not wearing a seatbelt led to his injury. A New Jersey State Trooper drove the car.
The Quinnipiac University Poll found Corzine leading Republican challenger Chris Christie 43-38% among likely voters, with independent Chris Dagget at 13percent as of October 29th, 2009.
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