Christie Nominates 2 Justices for New Jersey Supreme Court After his first nominees were rejected, Gov. Chris Christie made another attempt to fill the longstanding vacancies on the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday, nominating two men he said would meet the State Senate's demands for diversity. Mr. Christie, a Republican, has made no secret of his desire to change the makeup of a court he sees as overly activist and liberal, in the hopes of reversing opinions that have promoted the building of affordable housing and required the state to give a large share of aid to its poorest, lowest-performing school districts. But he has been arguing with the Democratic-led Senate for two years, since he declined, against tradition, to renominate Associate Justice John E. Wallace Jr., the only African-American on the court. The move particularly outraged the Senate president, Stephen M. Sweeney, who was close to Mr. Wallace, and demanded that any replacement reflect the state's diversity. Afterward, the Senate rejected Mr. Christie's first two nominees to the court, raising questions about one's qualifications and the other's political affiliation. This time Mr. Christie said he had consulted with Mr. Sweeney on the nominations, but that there was no deal for their approval. "The governor has made his nominations, as is his right," Mr. Sweeney said in a statement. At this point in time, however, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further. One nominee, Robert M. Hanna, is the commissioner of the state's Bureau of Public Utilities. Mr. Hanna was a colleague of Mr. Christie's from his tenure as United States attorney, but the governor emphasized Mr. Hanna's independence, saying that he had never been registered with a political party. "There was no one who relished disagreeing with me more than Bob Hanna," Mr. Christie said. The other nominee, David Bauman, moved to this country from his native Japan as a young child, and was the first Asian-American judge appointed to the Superior Court of Monmouth County, where he has been presiding judge of the civil division since 2009. He is a Republican but was nominated to his current position by Gov. Jon S. Corzine, the Democrat who preceded Mr. Christie. Mr. Christie said that the Senate had unanimously approved both men for their current jobs within the last four years. "Their qualifications are beyond question, even by members of the State Senate," he said. By unwritten rule, the seven-member court has maintained a rough political balance, with no more than four members of the same party as the current governor. Of the court's five sitting justices, two are Democrats and two are Republicans, but Democrats have long counted the independent on the bench, Jaynee LaVecchia, as a Republican as well. "I don't really know what more they could ask for at this point," Mr. Christie said Monday, referring to Democrats in the Senate. Their two main concerns have been partisan balance and diversity. These nominees respect both their concerns. The first nominee rejected earlier this year was Phillip H. Kwon, also a former colleague of Mr. Christie's from the United States attorney's office, who would have been the state's first Asian-American justice. The second nominee, rejected in late May, was Bruce A. Harris, a lawyer who would have been the state's first openly gay justice. But Democrats noted that he had never made partner at his firm, and in his nomination hearings he said that he had rarely been in a courtroom. Correction: December 11, 2012 An earlier version of this article misstated the title of a justice whom the governor declined to renominate. John E. Wallace, Jr. was an associate justice, he was not the chief.