Independent voters were key to Christie’s election
Nov, 09-2009 12:50 pm
By HARRY HURLEY
Political Columnist
What a week it has been.
There is so much I want to tell you. We have a new governor-elect in Christopher J. Christie, who overcame all of the institutional disadvantages I outlined last week to earn a comfortable 106,000 votes over outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine, winning 49 percent of the vote to Corzine’s 45 percent.
As I have been telling you for months, the key on Election Day would be held by independent voters. Christie dominated, winning independents over Corzine 60 percent to 30 percent.
Further, the New Jersey media's trick to build up Chris Daggett didn't fool many. Daggett, who received millions of dollars in free media coverage, won just 6 percent of the vote. This basically put him in Murray Sabrin territory, who earned 5 percent of the vote as the Libertarian candidate, almost leading to the defeat of former Gov. Christie Whitman back in 1997.
This Daggett scam was the only chance Corzine had to win re-election. However, as it turned out, Daggett wound up pulling more votes from Corzine then he did from Christie – the ultimate in the law of unintended consequences.
I told you long ago that Corzine and Daggett were running a coordinated campaign effort. A relative of Daggett's wrote me a very polite email challenging me on this point when I first wrote this allegation here. I politely wrote him back and told him that I believed it to be true and we would all know for sure before long.
Well, just a couple of days before the election, the truth became self-evident. Corzine and the Democrats were caught directly paying for robocalls blasting Christie and supporting Daggett. The New Jersey media under-reported this revelation in a last-ditch effort to help Corzine. It is against New Jersey election law for one side to participate in this kind of scheme against the other side.
Another major blunder was on the Sunday before Election Day, when Barack Obama and Corzine shut down the Walt Whitman Bridge and major roadways into Philadelphia for at least three hours right during the Philadelphia Eagles versus New York Giants NFL rivalry game. This was disastrous for Corzine, as many South Jersey voters did not arrive to this marquee game until the third quarter.
Another hilarious revelation was when Obama told the media that he didn't watch the election returns in New Jersey and Virginia. Sure, he didn't. It gets better: Obama said he was watching the HBO movie about his favorite subject – himself! It was quintessential Obama, ever the narcissist.
The results in Virginia and especially in New Jersey cannot be overstated. The national implications (in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections) are obvious to all except the most partisan liberal Democrats. The last time New Jersey and Virginia elected Republican governors, the Republicans went on a year later (1994) to sweep majorities in both houses of Congress for the next 14 years.
The best local campaign was waged by Atlantic County District 2 Freeholder-elect Frank Formica, who ran the finest rookie campaign I've ever witnessed.
Atlantic County Freeholder Board Chairman Jim Curcio also had his best election ever in District 5, where he beat Sam Mento by more than 2,000 votes.
Atlantic County Freeholder at-Large Frank Giordano won by a surprising 7,000-plus vote margin. His victory was never in doubt, but his margin of victory over Angelo DeMaio was larger than expected.
New Jersey District 2 Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina cruised to a 60 percent to 40 percent victory over Democratic challengers Reggie Floyd and Jimmy Martinez.
Besides Christie's historic victory, the absolute finest campaign waged in the region was by Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matt Milam. Their margin of victory, secured in a nearly impossible political environment for Democrats, is one of the most impressive electoral feats I have ever witnessed.
The composition of District 1 favors Republicans; however, Sen. Jeff Van Drew did everything except hijack his name onto the ballot in willing this result. Albano and Milam had regularly been billed as the two most vulnerable incumbents in the entire state. In the end, it wasn't even close.
Locally, Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford had a great re-election victory. He brought with him his council-at-large running mates George Tibbitt, Mo Delgado and Frank Gilliam, who all won smashing mandates last Tuesday.
In Somers Point, Republican challenger Tom Smith earned a decisive 2-to-1 victory over 1st Ward incumbent Democrat Frank Cosgrove. Challenger Howard Dill beat incumbent Democrat Bobby Donovan by a similar margin in the 2nd Ward.
It was a very gratifying election season, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for taking this weekly journey with me.
Harry Hurley is vice president of programming and operations for Life Radio WIBG 1020 AM and Wibbage Radio 94.3 FM. He hosts the daily talk radio program "Hurley in the Morning" 7 to 11 a.m. on WIBG 1020 AM. He hosts various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.HarryHurley.com. To comment email HarryHurley@aol.com.
