Republican Chris Christie defeated Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine in a tight race for governor of New Jersey on Tuesday. 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.

[ RAW VIDEO: Gov. Jon Corzine Concession Speech ]
  
Corzine told supporters in his concession speech, seen live on 69-WFMZ and WFMZ.com, that he'll work hard for a smooth transition.

The Republican victory deals a blow to President Barack Obama as he readies for next year's midterm elections. Obama campaigned heavily for Corzine.

Christie accepted public financing in the race against the wealthy incumbent and was outspent by more than $12-million. He ran on a platform of smaller government and criticized Corzine for what he called poor economic stewardship. Christie has pledged not to raise taxes and says he'll roll back several of them.

State unemployment was nearly 10% in October and property taxes are the nation's highest.

Despite Christie's victory, an Associated Press exit poll shows voters were not thrilled with either him or Corzine. About half the voters said they had unfavorable opinions of both men, as well as independent Chris Daggett.

Voters said their top concerns were the economy and jobs. The state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes were a close second. Those who said the economy was important favored Corzine, while voters who said taxes mattered most supported Christie.

Independent voters narrowly favored President Barack Obama last year, but they strongly favored Christie on Tuesday.

The majority of voters said their feelings about Obama were not a factor in their vote for governor. The exit poll of 2,138 New Jersey voters was conducted for the AP by Edison Research in a random sample of 40 precincts statewide.

( Video won't play? CLICK HERE for some helpful suggestions )

---

e-mail story | print view | rss feeds | wireless | google desktop | podcast