Chris Christie defeated Incumbent Jon Corzine for the New Jersey Governor’s post in a state where Republican leadership is anything but the commonplace. It may have been the biggest victory of the evening for Republicans on a night when the GOP had much to cheer about.
President Obama made two stops in the Garden State this weekend to push a struggling Corzine campaign, but it appears that even our popular and charismatic President wasn’t enough to save the much-maligned governor from defeat.
The loss may signal a bit of a sea-change as the President won the state by more than 16 points in last year’s election. That is a pretty big turn around in just 12 months for the Republican Party who appeared to be dead or dying in that state just a short time ago. Some have pointed to a struggling economy and rising property taxes as contributing factors in the swing, but it is not likely that either can be the lone culprit.
It is far more likely that the loss could be contributed at least in part to a key element of voter turnout. The youth and minority vote were simply not there for Governor Corzine. When Democrats attempt to squirm away from the political repercussions of this election, they will do so only to illustrate the unconventional elements that contributed to the Obama election that are simply not factors for the rest of the Democratic Party.
I know the president’s victory and his subsequent presidency are not supposed to be about race, but it appears to have at least served as a motivating factor for some democratic supporters in ’09 that were mysteriously missing in ’10.
The Corzine defeat is a mighty blow for Democrats anyway that they try to shake it. New Jersey is anything but a republican hotbed and a loss there may send out warning shots for many democrats similarly situated in 2010.
Corzine Concedes
Christie Claims Victory
This is a big pickup for Republicans in Jersey. Im sure there are some up there that never saw this coming even with all of Corzine’s problems.