HUDSON COUNTY–Jon Corzine may have been upset by Christopher Christie on Election Night, losing by four percentage points statewide, but in staunchly Democratic Hudson County, it was an easy victory for the now-ousted governor as he received 76,145 votes to Christie’s 29,301 with 439 of 447 voting districts accounted for as of 11:59 p.m.
Still, he could have amassed more, since Hudson County is 5:1 Democratic.
Independent candidate Christopher Daggett got only 3,639 votes, or three percent of the county’s vote.
A handful of folks showed up at Casino-in-the-Park in Jersey City, many of them Democratic campaign workers who either grumbled at the TV screen when they saw Christie or gave Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who was present with his wife Maureen, an ovation for bringing out the vote for Corzine in Jersey City.
Healy struck a concillatory tone over Christie’s win and hopes the two can work together.
“I am hoping the new governor recognizes this city is important to the state in terms of amount of jobs that come here and the taxes that come from here,” Healy said. “I don’t anticipate him coming in here with some kind of revenge mode.”
Others at the gathering were concerned that Christie would target Hudson County and specifically Jersey City to not receive any state funding, as they looked at the July 23 arrests of public officials (many from Jersey City) for their reasoning.
Christie is the former attorney general who investigated dozens of political leaders in this state for corruption.
Assembly seats
Winning easily in Hudson County were Democratic candidates running for Assembly seats, with Anthony Chiappone and Charles Mainor in the 31st District, Joan Quigley and Vincent Prieto in the 32nd, and Ruben Ramos and Caridad Rodriguez in the 33rd. Chiappone is under state investigation for allegedly depositing his aides’ checks in a campaign fund, although he maintains his innocence. – RK