Jesse Kurtz Loses Battle for Atlantic City

by John Russo
Jesse Kurtz’s vision to put Atlantic City back on the right path will have to wait for another four years at least as he did not win the election for mayor this past Tuesday. Winning the election was Lorenzo Langford of the Democrat party with 59% of the votes. Kurtz had 25% of the votes and independent candidates Joseph Polillo and Democratic Councilman Dennis Mason earned 13% and 3 % of votes respectively.

“I would have liked to have won but the numbers were impressive in their own right,” said Kurtz. “They show that I’ve made a real showing and will be taken more seriously in the future.”

Kurtz, 25, is very young and should not be discouraged by the results. Despite losing, he has gotten his name out there and that is very important. “I’m going to weigh my options and become more involved both more in the community and with my political club,” added Kurtz. “I am considering running for councilman in the 6th ward seeing that spot will be available in two years,” Jurtz said in reference to the spot currently held by Timothy Mancuso.

Though Kurtz is disappointed he lost, he still offered encouraging words for Langford. “I wish him the best. I hope that he is able to make dramatic budget cuts so people don’t lose their homes. I hope that he makes institutional reforms bringing transparency to government. I hope that he hires people and awards contracts based on merits and not on favoritism and cronyism.”

Donohue, McCann Lose Assembly Race

by Sheena Pierce

GOP candidates Michael Donohue and John McCann lose a close race to Democratic State Assemblyman Nelson Albano and Matthew Miliam in what was the closest race the county has seen in years.

Before election night, the first district assembly was to close to call.  According to the Zogby poll, Zogby International conducted a telephone survey of 601 likely voters in South Jersey.  According to their survey, 53% percent of voters would choose Assemblyman Nelson Albano and 37% would vote for his running mate Matthew Milam.  While 24% of voters would pick John McCann, and 23% for Michael Donohue. 

 However in the end Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam kept their seat with 99 percent of the voting district reporting on Election Day.  Albano had 30,510 votes and his running mate Milam won 28,122.  Donohue lost with 25,704 while McCann had 24,814.

In a press release issued by the Donohue/McCann campaign Donohue responded after the results were in and losing to a such a close race.  Donohue said the Democrats won by spending more money, and disassociating themselves from the other Democrats in New Jersey specifically former Governor Jon Corzine.

Throughout the campaign the GOP challengers changed their platform in order to change the voters views of the Republican organization.  “This is a gut-check for Republicans if we’re going to be effective as a political organization,” said Donohue.  “We have opponents who did a good job of convincing voters they are not Democrats.”

Christie Wins Over New Jersey

by Ashley Zazzarino

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie overcame a traditionally democratic state to win the spot of New Jersey’s next governor. Many New Jersey residents were taken complexly by surprise. Even after President Barack Obama’s appearance in Holmdel over the summer to support former Gov. Jon Corzine’s campaign, Christie still proved victorious. The race was incredibly vicious, as each candidate took stabs at each others personal lives, and in the case of Chris Christie, his weight.

The win for Christie and his Lt. Governor elect, Kim Guadagno, marks a big win for New Jersey republicans. Some feel they finally have a stronger voice in Trenton. There has not been a republican in office in New Jersey since Donald DeFrancesco held office for two years before McGreevey took over in 2002. Although Christie is a republican, the New Jersey legislature is still primarily left-winged.

While many are hopeful, some democratic residents in New Jersey are convinced that the state will still be seeing the same corruption and problems for the next four years, despite the new face in Trenton.

Christie Win Boosts GOP

by Jeffrey M. Smith

Republican Chris Christie coasted to victory in New Jersey’s hotly contested gubernatorial race. Christie garnered 49% of the vote to incumbent Jon Corzine’s 45%, and the independent candidate Christopher Daggett was left trailing at 6%.

This election marked the first Democratic loss in a statewide race in more than a decade and was also the biggest win a Republican has seen in New Jersey since 1985.

“An indication that Republicans like Christie can win will send a signal to voters, specifically Republicans, who may not have turned out to vote in 2008 because they felt like they didn’t have a shot at electing their candidate. So, a Christie win could mean more Republican seats in Congress in 2010,” says James Mac Avery, a professor of Political Science at Stockton University.

Mike Memoli of realclearpolitics.com adds, “For the New Jersey Republican Party, it will be a much needed sign of life after a decade of consistent Democratic victories. It also gives them more sway heading into the redistricting process, which the Democratic legislature would hold significant sway over if a Democrat is also governor. “

 Still, Memoli also sounded a word of warning for Christie during his live blog on election night, “A somewhat stunning fact: by January, the governorship in NJ will have changed hands eight times in nine years.”

Christie Claims Victory

by Shannon Sadler  

In the waning hours of election night, Republican Chris Christie became the victor of the 2009 gubernatorial race for New Jersey. Being only ahead of former incumbent, Jon Corzine, by only a few points in pre-election polls, Christie won by an almost marginal scale.  According to www.state.nj.us, Christie’s total votes for all twenty-one counties in New Jersey was 1,004,219, only about forty thousand more than Corzine.  Independent, Chris Dagget, had the third largest number, with 120, 821 votes.

“Hey, New Jersey, we did it.” was Christie’s opening words of his acceptance speech and was meet with heavy applause from supporters who chanted “yes we can.”  New Jersey has been known to be a predominantly democratic state. 

Corzine also faced challenges, combating a very low approval rate for his state and facing allegations from political analysis that he was running a highly negative ad campaign which attacked many of the Christie‘s policies on healthcare, education; and even one such ad that has been suggested to subliminally attacked his obesity .

“I think it definitely hurt Corzine’s image, more than Christie’s.  It’s one thing when your attacking a politician’s policies, but attacking a politician for being overweight is just indecent and wrong.” says Ashlee Wynne, 20.

Patricia Winkler, 62, believes that another reason Christie was so successful, was because of Corzine’s history.  She says that the Republicans did a very good job of constantly reminding the public that Corzine was a former Wall Street investor.  She believes that since the recession, many negative views have formed about individuals who have worked on Wall Street.  She also says that it never looks good when a governor is spending three times the amount of his opponent campaigning when his state is in financial downturn.

Out With the Old, In With the Same?

by Mandy Rippert 

The 2009 elections have come and gone- and so has Jon Corzine.

In last night’s gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine 49% to 45%, by almost exactly 100,000 votes. How did he do it?

You could argue that taxes won him the election. New Jersey has the highest state and local taxes in the nation, and they rose significantly during Corzine’s reign in the state. Christie ran on the promise that he would lower them, and it seems as if New Jerseyeans bought into it.            

While Christie may or may not lower taxes he is certainly different. He is not Jon Corzine. That’s what many voters liked about him. For the first time in many New Jersey gubernatorial elections, many Democrats fled and voted for the former US Attorney Christie. Many residents simply didn’t like either, and stayed home. This seems to have worked in Christie’s favor.

But Christie’s more detailed advertising seems to be the big contributor. For the first few weeks of the campaign, neither party gave any concise information in the ads, and they each slammed the other. But then something changed.

After weeks, and perhaps even months of mudslinging, Christie’s ads took a different approach with the candidate himself proclaiming “here’s what I’ll do…” The Republican candidate laid out his plan, (or at least as much of it as he could in 30 seconds) on how he’ll “change Trenton”. No such ads appeared from the Corzine camp.

Christie Wins New Jersey

by Vanessa Migliore

The results are in and Christopher Christie is now the new governor of New Jersey. Many people were concerned and unsure what was going to happen being that the ratings were so close together.  At Quinnipiac Christie held a lead of 2, SurveyUSA claimed Christie was ahead by 3, Christie conquered PPP by 6, Rasmussen Reports held Christie winning by 3, Daily Kos/R2000 leads by 1 but Democracy Corps says that Corzine was pushing a lead by 4, Fairleigh Dickenson’s poll stated Corzine ahead by 2 and lastly Stockton /Zogby held Corzine with a tiny lead of 1.

A local resident here in Glassboro, Ashley Torque states, “I am extremely happy that Christie won. We needed a change for New Jersey and I feel that Chris Christie will make it happen. With the economy doing poorly, we are desperate for someone to change things and bring our hopes back up.”

Christie plans to change the state and make it a better place. “This election was and is about the future of the state we love. I promised to restore people’s hope, faith and trust in the great State of New Jersey,” said Christopher Christie.

 Christopher Christie has big ideas for the residents of New Jersey. Starting tomorrow he is on his way to Trenton to “pick it up and turn it upside down,” Christie states. His next step is to lower taxes, lower spending, cut onerous regulation and get government back under control.

Christopher Christie is a man who is looking out for his state with a plan to better it; “not just for my children, but for all the children of New Jersey,” Christie stated.

Christie Takes Governor Race

by Chris McMahon

Parsippany, NJ- Republican candidate Chris Christie won the hard fought New Jersey gubernatorial election this past Tuesday.  He defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine.

 Christie, who seemed at a loss for words, thanked his supporters on Tuesday night at his Parsippany headquarters, having to stop his speech several times to compensate for victory chants “Of yes we did,” and, “thank you.”

“”Tomorrow, starting tomorrow, we are going to pick Trenton up and turn it upside down,” Christie told the cheering crowd. 

According to the Monmouth University Polling Institute, voters who voted for Christie were most concerned with property taxes and corruption.  One the other hand, those who voted for Corzine were most concerned about the state’s economy and healthcare.

A big part of Christie’s victory was his support from the state’s independent voters.  60% of them voted for him, favoring the issues of the economy, property taxes, and healthcare.   

“That fact that independent voters rated corruption as such an important issue in their vote today indicates that they are really upset with the current political system,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute and exit polling analyst for NJN News and Gannett New Jersey on his blog Tuesday night. 

Neither of the candidates could be reached, but former Governor Corzine promised a smooth transition to the new administration in a phone call to Christie shortly after the results came in.

Christie Wins Independent Voters and State

by Benjamin King

Republican candidate Chris Christie won a narrow victory over incumbent Jon Corzine to become the next governor of New Jersey.

Christie defeated Corzine by about 100,000 votes, or 4 percent of the total vote. Final vote count put Christie with 49 percent of the vote, Corzine with 45 percent, and Independent candidate Chris Daggett with 6 percent.

“Tomorrow we are going to take back New Jersey for the least fortunate among us who don’t want the government to fix every problem but to give them a hand up so they can fix problems for themselves,” said Christie in his victory speech to supporters. Christie may have been alluding to which programs he intends to downsize in order to lower taxes, a key issue in his campaign.   

According to a poll taken by the Monmouth University Polling Institute, registered voters saw Christie (43 percent) rather than Corzine (24 percent) doing a better job on property taxes, an issue which polls showed was voter’s top concern.

Another factor was the movement of independent voters. In a poll taken just four days before the election, the Monmouth University Polling Institute found Christie garnered a 51 percent majority with registered Independents compared to just 29 percent for Corzine.

“Independent voters are simply unhappy with the job Governor Corzine has done over the past four years,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

In the days before the election many Independent voters shifted away from Daggett who held the support of 22 percent of independent voters only two weeks earlier.

“After a brief flirtation with Daggett’s candidacy, many seem to have returned to Christie as their best chance for change,” Murray said.

Republican Governor For First Time in 12 Years

by Shana Gorski

Chris Christie wins the New Jersey Governor race late Tuesday, becoming the first Republican to take office in over a dozen years.

Incumbent Jon Corzine called after 11 PM to concede and promise a smooth transition into office, the Associated Press reported.

 “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to pick Trenton up and we’re going to turn it upside down,” Christie said in his victory speech.

Major news organizations called the race for the former prosecutor, Christie, about two hours after polls closed, based on exit poll readings. 98 percent of precincts later reported Christie was leading the actual vote, 49 percent to 45 percent.

Corzine was thought to have an advantage with his large campaign funds and big named Democrat supporters, like President Obama.

According to the Associated Press, many experts predicted the election polls to be a lot closer.

Peter Woolley, a political scientist and pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University, claimed that support for Corzine was consistent throughout the race. “How is the anti-Corzine vote really going to split up?” he said. “We found out as the voters solved the election’s major mystery.”

Christie faces a list of challenges in New Jersey, as the state has been hit with the recession, has the highest property taxes in the nation, and is overwhelmed with corruption. Christie is now also in charge of a state government where both houses of legislature are firmly Democratic.

“The campaign we just went through will seem easy compared to the tasks that lie ahead of us to fix the state,” Christie said during his victory speech. “There are no easy answers.”

NJ Race Results – Christie Defeats Corzine

by Gwendolyn Gibson

New Jersey- The race for New Jersey’s governor came to an end with Tuesday’s election and the results were that Republican Chris Christie defeated Jon Corzine.

Even with the such a strongly Deomcratic-based state and country, a Republic governor was appointed in New Jersey yesterday, Nov. 4, 2009. The votes were extremely close during the entire race, but Christie managed to pull off the win in the end. All the slander and propaganda wasn’t enough to sway voters’ decisions against Christie. Perhaps, it even turned the voters against Corzine because his approaches were so extreme.

What may come as even more of a blow, is that President Obama was backing Corzine. Obama said that “with a partner in the White House there [would be] no limit to what we can accomplish.” He frequently spoke out about people voting for Corzine.

“Even though I’m extremely liberal, I’m glad to see Christie in there,” said Andrew Steele. “Corzine was throwing his money around too much and his commercials were a little distasteful. It’s nice to see that didn’t work out, actually.”

Corzine will now give up his title after four years as governor and Christie will take over. Our state and economy certainly needs some help and, with luck, New Jersey has chosen the right man for the job.

2009 New Jersey Governor’s Race Results

by Mike Anello

The 2009 gubernatorial election in New Jersey is over. Republican Christopher Christie is the new governor and his running mate Kim Guadagno is the state’s first Lieutenant Governor. Christie will replace former Democratic governor Jon S. Corzine. President Barack Obama campaigned for Corzine and he was expected to retain his position. “I was going to vote for Christie but Obama was campaigning for Corzine, so I voted for Corzine instead,” Christopher Martini said. Martini is in the minority because Obama’s extensive campaigning did not make an impact on voters. “I believe that it is a good change for New Jersey,” Carolyn A. Benson said. “Maybe Christie will get rid of the corruption that has plagued this state for a long time,” Benson added.

Christie won the election based on his anti-Obama and anti-Democratic campaigns as well as his personal popularity. Christie came out with commercials about the death of his mother to breast cancer to promote free mammograms for women. “A lot of voters in my county are sick of Obama and it is a Republican run county,” John Papaserge said. “It is a major deal to have free mammograms and women should get checked,” Colleen Verespy said.

Independent candidate Chris Daggett and his running mate Frank Esposito were lost in a Republican versus Democrat election. “It is unfortunate that the Independent candidate or any third-party candidate lose in the two-party system that we have,” Tyler Mizglewski said. “I think a lot of voters pick the Republican or Democrat based on their political ideology instead of the issues,” Mizglewski added.

Chris Christie Battles For NJ Governor

by Shana Gorski

Chris Christie - Courtesy of capemaygop.com

With Election Day quickly approaching and the polls in a dead heat, the race for New Jersey governor is in full swing. Republican candidate Chris Christie, the former federal prosecutor for the state, must now campaign harder than ever.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released on Oct. 14 showed 41 percent of New Jersey likely voters said they support challenger Chris Christie. Another 40 percent say they back Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine.

This comes just two weeks after Christie had a four-point lead over Corzine.

Guadagno Aids Christie Ticket But May Not Be Enough

by Benjamin King

Kim Guadagno - Courtesy of monmouthrepublican.org

Republican candidate for governor, Chris Christie, chose Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno as his running mate to reinforce his tough-on-crime image. With the election only a few days away and polls showing front runners Christie and incumbent Governor, Democrat John Corzine in a statistical dead heat, it may not be enough.

Guadagno has been serving the public since 1983 as a federal prosecutor, New Jersey Assistant Attorney General, Monmouth Beach Commissioner, and currently as Monmouth County Sheriff.

Christie Brings Attorney Experience to Gubernatorial Race

by Chris McMahon

Chris Christie - Courtesy of blogs.phillyburbs.com

Parisppany, NJ- Before running for New Jersey Governor, Republican candidate Chris Christie spent 6 years as the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey.  During that time, Christie took on a variety of cases and was successful.  His time in the office was not without incident however.

Christie graduated from the University of Delaware in 1984 with Bachelors Degree in Political Science.  From there, he went on to graduate from Seton Hall University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1987.  That same here, he joined the law firm of Dughi, Hewit, and Palatucci in Cranford, NJ.  In 1993, Christie was made a partner in the law firm.  In 2002, he was appointed as the New Jersey US Attorney, which he served as until 2008.

GOP’s Donohue and McCann Offer Change in Platform

by Sheena Pierce

Donohue and McCann - Courtesy of the Cape May County Herald

Since 2003, our democratically controlled New Jersey Assemblyman Nelson Albano and Matthew Miliam have taken each election in Cumberland County.  However Republicans Michael Donohue and John McCann plan to run a campaign that will overturn the Democrats control.

After numerous emails and phone calls I was unable to receive any comments strictly from Mr. Mike Donohue and Mr. John McCann on their ideas of lowering taxes, and improving our economy, but their campaign manager Mrs. Peg Emberg spoke for them during this busy time of the year.  Peg Emberg was recently chosen as the Donohue/McCann Republican Campaign Manager, and considers Donohue and McCann prime candidates for the New Jersey Assemblyman.

Jesse Kurtz: The Future of Atlantic City?

Battle for Atlantic City

by John Russo

In a country that has seen change and diversity in its offices starting with the election of young, black president Barack Obama, Atlantic City is also looking for a change. This change looks to end corruption and greed in the city of Atlantic City in hopes to restore it to the respectable community it once was in the 1970’s.

That vision is held by 24 year-old Jess Kurtz. Kurtz has been a resident in Atlantic City his whole life and is looking to become the youngest mayor in the history of Atlantic City. “It’s not a battle of ideas and message but a battle of age,” said Kurtz.

GOP Hopes For Christie Victory

GOP's New Hope

by Jeffrey M. Smith

At a campaign rally on July 13 in Vineland, NJ, RNC Chairman Michael Steele joined Chris Christie on stage and made a bold prediction of what a Christie victory against Jon Corzine would mean in the NJ gubernatorial race.  “It would prove once and for all that all the hype about, ‘the party’s over for the GOP. They’re done. Stick a fork in them,’ is erroneous,” said Steele, according to an MSNBC transcript.

Jim Geraghty, writer for the National Review, agrees saying, “Republicans haven’t won statewide in New Jersey since Christie Todd Whitman won reelection, so a Christie win would be an enormous boost to morale and momentum to the state party.”

Electing NJ’s First Lieutenant Governor

NJ Lieutenant Governor Candidates - Photo Courtesy of NY1

by Ashley Zazzarino

On November 3, New Jersey will be among the 23 other states in the nation to have a Lieutenant Governor. The amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution that sparked the decision was made back in November 2005. The main responsibility of the lt. governor is to be first official in the line of succession to the office of the governor. Much controversy and debate has been sparked over whether New Jersey really needs a Lt. Governor, as we have made it so many years without one.

“Making a Lieutenant Governor position won’t improve the state government, it will only cost more to our state,” said New Jersey resident Sue Sullivan, 51, of Middletown. Whether or not residents agree with the decision, the time to appeal the situation is long gone. Candidates have been picked, and debates have been making headlines.