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FOX News Calls the Governor’s Election for Chris Christie!

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FOX News Projects a Christie Win

FOX News Projects a Christie Win

FOX News has called the 2009 New Jersey Gubernatorial election for Republican challenger Chris Christie. As someone who voted for Chris Christie and, really, against Jon Corzine let me be among the first to say – thank God!

That said, I do think that it is important to remember that this is New Jersey and, even though 83% of precincts have reported and the vote stands at 49% for Christie and 44% for Corzine, anything can happen. But for now – it’s exciting to know that the voters in New Jersey made the right decision by getting rid of Jon Corzine. The Republican Governors Association has already called this win (along with the big win in Virginia earlier tonight) a turning point for the Republican Party. Their website boasts that comeback begins with Virginia and New Jersey…and so let the drums begin beating for 2010 already, huh?

It looks like the vote by mail ballots have not been counted yet in New Jersey. As a guy who votes by mail, I’m a little concerned about that. Stay tuned for additional information as the night – and the vote counting – continues… And hey, is anyone watching the Mayoral election in New York City right now? With 85% of the vote counted, incumbent Independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg is up with 50% of the vote to his opponent’s Thomson’s 47% of the vote. That’s significant when you consider that Mayor Bloomberg spent upwards of $100 million on this campaign and some estimates have Thompson’s expenses at just $3 million. Definitely something to watch in New York City.

With Even More Precincts Reporting, The Gap Closes

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Now that we are at about 58% of the precincts reporting in New Jersey, it looks like Republican challenger Chris Christie has 50% of the vote to Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine’s 44% of the vote. That’s close. In fact, that’s too close for comfort if you’re a Christie supporter.

But be wary, folks. Large portions of Camden and Essex counties and many of the New York City suburbs have not reported their election results yet. These are areas that are notorious for voting the Democratic ticket for no reason other than that it is the Democratic ticket. These are also areas where there was talk a few weeks ago about a gigantic increase in vote by mail ballot applications along with some talk about the possibility that ACORN was helping to register voters. Something tells me that if these counties come in strong for Corzine (which everyone expects them to) and in enough numbers to sway the vote that there is going to be an explosion of citizen rage in this state.

We’re tired of corruption in New Jersey and we’re tired of paying for crooked politicians and their lies.

Early Election Results in New Jersey

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christie-or-corzineEarly in the vote tabulation with only 5% of the state’s districts reporting, Republican challenger Chris Christie is ahead with 55% of the vote to Democratic Governor Jon Corzine’s 38%. Independent candidate Chris Daggett is pulling 6% of the vote. There’s no doubt that the Republicans in New Jersey are hoping for an outcome similar to what happened earlier tonight in Virginia, where the Republican Bob McDonnell beat his Democratic opponent, returning the Governor’s mansion in that state to the Republicans.

I intend to stick around tonight and see who wins this election, though if it winds up that we have a dead heat going into the wee hours, I’m going to sleep! Stick around and let me know what you thought about this year’s election via the comments section of the blog.

Remember to Get Out and Vote Today!

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Folks, I rarely talk about who I vote for on this blog. Sure, sometimes it comes out in other posts or as a part of a different discussion, but I rarely talk about who I support and why I support that person. I don’t intend to get too far into that type of content in this blog entry, but I do want to say that when I sent in my vote-by-mail ballot, I voted for the Republican challenger, Chris Christie.

There was no way that I could bring myself to vote for Jon Corzine. I don’t care that he’s a Democrat and, in fact, I’ve voted for much better Democrats than Corzine in the past. What bothers me about Corzine is that he is completely out of touch with what it means to live a real life in New Jersey. Frankly, Christie isn’t so much more grounded than Corzine, but he’s closer to understanding what you and I and our families go through on a daily basis than Corzine could ever hope to be.

I really wanted to vote for Chris Daggett this year – I really, really wanted to vote for him. In fact, on at least two different occasions since I sent in my vote-by-mail ballot, I’ve wondered if I voted for the right “Chris” in this election. In the end, though, it was a suggestion by Frank Esposito – Daggett’s running mate for Lieutenant Governor – that assured me that a vote for Christie was the right vote in this election. As I talked about in a previous entry, Esposito made it very clear that he and Daggett would support allowing illegal immigrants who had been in New Jersey since they were very young to receive in-state tuition at state colleges. Look, student loans and the completely unaffordable nature of attending college for many student is my major issue. When I hear that people who are not citizens might be getting in-state tuition…I can’t support that.

And it frustrates me that a guy like Daggett supported that position, but that’s politics.

So my vote has been cast for Chris Christie and I hope that you vote for him, too. In the event that you support someone else, that’s cool. I believe that it is more important that you go out and vote today than you vote for the person that I support. However, in case you were wondering – JerseySmarts.com endorses Chris Christie and Kim Guadagno in this year’s election.

What to Vote on Public Question #1

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At this point in the election cycle, I hope that every has received their sample ballots for tomorrow’s election. If not, then…well…you might be out of luck! And if you’re a vote-by-mail person like I am, then you should have already sent in your ballot a few days ago. That said, since vote-by-mail folks are in the minority, I wanted to put some comments up about Question #1 (the only question) on tomorrow’s general election ballot.

At its root, this question asks the voters to approve a $400 million bond to preserve open space, certain flood zones, and historic places in New Jersey. Of those dollars, $364 million will be segregated specifically for open space purposes.

The Daily Record recently endorsed a “no” vote on this question. I beg to differ. For what it’s worth, JerseySmarts.com endorses a “yes” vote on Question #1. Why? Good question…

After moving out of Manhattan when I was younger, my family went to Morris County near the Sussex County border (near the Lake Hopatcong area). Now that I’ve been all over the this great state I can confidently say that the area of land near the Morris County/Sussex County border is a really beautiful area of the state. Each year I entertain a lot of guests who are from out of state. We generally have to stick to the Parkway or the Turnpike to get to our various destinations and they see what the country thinks is the stereotypical life in New Jersey: concrete and congestion. However, when I have the opportunity to take these guests to Morris, Hunterdon, Sussex, or Warren counties they wind up bringing home a completely different view of New Jersey.

I’m not suggesting that you vote in favor of this bond issue because of the impression that out of staters get when they visit Northwest New Jersey. No, I’m suggesting that you vote in favor of this bond issue because once this open space is gone, it’s not coming back. I’m suggesting that you vote in favor of this bond issue because even though this state is in a severe financial crisis, the only true way to get out of it is by creating an equitable tax base (in other words, everyone pays taxes, not just everyone except people living in Camden County and Newark). I’m suggesting that you vote in favor of this bond issue because there over-urbanization of Northwest New Jersey needs to stop and it needs to stop now.

Yes, the country is in a tight financial situation. And yes, the state needs to fix its budget and quick. However, let’s not panic ourselves into making a terrible decision. Remember, a rising tide lifts all boats. In other words, when the economy does come back, it’s going to bring increased revenues to the state and to its municipalities. Times are tough now, but this state (and this country) will come booming back like it always does. In the mean time, let’s not open up our precious and depleting green spaces to excessive development just because we can’t see the future for what it will ultimately be – which is prosperous.

In my vote-by-mail ballot, I voted “yes” on Question #1 to authorize the state to issue a $400 million bond. I hope that you do, too.