× Chris Christie deputy, ex-Goldman Sachs executive win primaries in N.J. gubernatorial race

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Voters on Tuesday chose a wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive and Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s top deputy to run to replace the unpopular governor.

Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno won in the first statewide primary election since President Donald Trump took office. They will face off Nov. 7 in one of only two governor’s races this year, along with Virginia, with Democrats hopeful their promised anti-Trump agenda and voter registration advantage will propel them to victory and jump-start a 2018 congressional comeback.

The election comes as Trump administration developments swamp headlines, spurring Murphy to lash out at the Republican president and wedging Guadagno between an unpopular White House and a governor of whom most voters disapprove.

Murphy, a former Obama administration ambassador to Germany who poured more than $20 million into the contest, tied Guadagno to Christie during his victory speech in Newark and reiterated a promise to oppose Trump.

“Four more years of Christie-style politics won’t make New Jersey the state where we draw the line against Donald Trump, but we will,” Murphy said. “We are better than Donald Trump, and we are better than Chris Christie.”

Guadagno, who was twice elected on the ticket with Christie, has gone to great lengths to try to highlight their differences. In her victory speech Tuesday, she contrasted herself with the term-limited governor without mentioning his name.

“I’m running for governor based on my values, based my record, based on my principles,” she said. “My principles are Main Street principles.”

Democrats are favored in the general election, in part because of an 800,000-voter registration advantage and because of political headwinds stemming from Christie’s and Trump’s unpopularity.

Christie remained neutral during the campaign but said Tuesday that he voted for Guadagno, his top deputy since they were elected in 2009. He has said he would campaign if asked, but it’s unclear whether his assistance would help or hurt, since about three-quarters of voters disapprove of his job performance.

“I’ve worked with her for eight years, and I believe that she’s the best person in the Republican primary to represent the party in the fall and to retain the governorship,” Christie said.

The race to take the New Jersey governor’s office back from a Republican comes as Democrats nationally weigh whether distancing themselves from Wall Street will help them counter Trump and his populist Republican allies.

Murphy contributed to state’s powerful county political machines, drawing harsh attacks from his opponents that he was trying to buy their support, while giving him the lead position on ballots across the state’s 21 counties Tuesday.

Murphy withstood attacks from five opponents over his time at Goldman Sachs. They compared him to members of Trump’s administration who also worked there and former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, another Goldman Sachs alumnus who, like Murphy, donated to local Democratic parties.

Sharyn Kingston, 25, of Freehold, said she was wary of Murphy’s “Goldman Sachs connections” but voted for him because he’s best suited for the job and can win the election.

“I’m not an Occupy Wall Street type, but I am afraid of big money in politics, and he made it look like he was trying to buy the nomination,” the legal secretary said.

John Parilla, 75, an immigration lawyer from Alpine, voted for Guadagno and said he likes the range of experience she brings to the job. He said he doesn’t see her as a Christie clone but does see similarities between Murphy and Corzine.

Guadagno defeated Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers, Ocean County landscape business owner and actor Joseph “Rudy” Rullo and Atlantic County engineer Hirsh Singh.

Murphy faced challenges from former Teaneck firefighter Bill Brennan, one-time Clinton administration Treasury official Jim Johnson, state Sen. Ray Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Tenafly Councilman Mark Zinna.

In Virginia, the only other state electing a governor this year, most of the attention has focused on the close Democratic primary between Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former congressman Tom Perriello. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie is favored to win the GOP primary next week over Trump’s former state campaign chairman.</s>To no one’s surprise, the l0w-profile New Jersey gubernatorial primaries were won by the front-running Establishment candidates, Democrat Phil Murphy (a former ambassador to Germany and CEO of Goldman Sachs) and Republican Kim Guadagno (two-term Lieutenant Governor and heir apparent to current Governor Chris Christie) on Tuesday. Both seem headed toward something like two-to-one wins over their most prominent opponents. Gaudagno has only one viable rival – state legislator Jack Ciattarelli – and she’s currently beating him by 20 percent. Murphy is doubling up the combined vote of his two viable opponents, John Wisniewski and Jim Johnson.

Guadagno managed to overcome her association with damaged incumbent Chris Christie and took the offensive against Ciattarelli in ads attacking his tax proposals. And Murphy blotted out the sky against his opponents with a massive financial advantage.

Murphy begins the general election as a distinct front-runner, for three reasons. (1) Guadagno’s mentor Christie is profoundly unpopular in New Jersey; (2) this is a generally Democratic state that only occasionally elects Republican governors; and (3) the party that controls the White House has lost the last six governor’s races in New Jersey. Donald Trump is a particular millstone for Garden State Republicans, having lost the state to Hillary Clinton by 14 points.

This is very much Phil Murphy’s race to lose.</s>(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, Pool, File). FILE- In this May 18, 2017 file photo, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno speaks during a Republican gubernatorial primary debate in Newark, N.J. New Jersey voters are heading to the polls to pick their candidates to ...

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File). FILE- In this May 11, 2017, file photo, Phil Murphy participates in a Democratic gubernatorial primary debate in Newark, N.J. New Jersey voters are heading to the polls to pick their candidates to succeed Republican Gov. ...

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A former Wall Street executive and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's second-in-command are the leading candidates Tuesday as voters head to the polls to begin choosing who will replace the unpopular Republican governor.

The winners in Tuesday's primaries will compete in the Nov. 7 general election in one of just two statewide gubernatorial contests in the country this year, along with Virginia, and the first since Republican President Donald Trump took office.

The candidates are little known, even in New Jersey, and are competing as Trump administration developments swamp headlines, spurring the Democratic candidates to lash out at the president and wedging Republicans between an unpopular White House and a GOP governor whom most voters disapprove of.

On the Democratic side, candidates attacked wealthy front-runner Phil Murphy over his time as an executive at Goldman Sachs, comparing him to members of Trump's administration who also worked there and former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, another Goldman Sachs alumnus who, like Murphy, donated to local New Jersey Democratic parties.

"What most New Jerseyans care about are taxes, they care about reforming the pension. They care about the cost of college," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. "But what the candidates talk about is Mr. Trump and Mr. Corzine, probably not the concerns of most New Jerseyans."

Murphy, a Middletown resident who served as Barack Obama's ambassador to Germany after chairing the Democratic National Committee's finance arm, loaned his campaign more than $16 million.

The race to take the New Jersey governor's office back from a Republican comes as Democrats nationally weigh whether distancing themselves from Wall Street will help them counter Trump and his populist Republican allies. Murphy blurs the line between establishment and insurgent just as Democrats reckon with whether their best candidates should come from within or outside the traditional party structure.

Murphy faces challenges from former Teaneck firefighter Bill Brennan, one-time Clinton administration Treasury official Jim Johnson, state Sen. Ray Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Tenafly Councilman Mark Zinna.

The top Republican in the race is Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. She was twice elected on the ticket with the term-limited governor, but has gone to great lengths to try to highlight their differences.

Guadagno's rivals are Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers, Ocean County landscape business owner and actor Joseph "Rudy" Rullo and Atlantic County engineer Hirsh Singh.

Whoever wins on Tuesday, Democrats are favored in the general election, in part because of an 800,000 voter registration advantage and because of political headwinds stemming from Christie's and Trump's unpopularity in New Jersey.

Voters also will be picking between Democratic and Republican candidates in eight state Senate and 15 Assembly contests. The full 120-member Legislature is on the ballot in November. Democrats control both chambers.

New Jersey polls are open until 8 p.m.

For more on the New Jersey's governor's race, go to https://apnews.com/tag/NewJerseyGovernor'sRace

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A former Wall Street executive and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s second-in-command are the leading candidates Tuesday as voters begin choosing who will replace the unpopular Republican governor.

The winners in Tuesday’s primaries will compete in the Nov. 7 general election. It will be one of two statewide gubernatorial contests in the country this year, along with Virginia, and the first since Republican President Donald Trump took office.

The candidates are little known, even in New Jersey, and are competing as Trump administration developments swamp headlines, spurring the Democratic candidates to lash out at the president and wedging Republicans between an unpopular White House and a GOP governor whom most voters disapprove of.

On the Democratic side, candidates attacked wealthy front-runner Phil Murphy over his time as an executive at Goldman Sachs. They compared him to members of Trump’s administration who also worked there and former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, another Goldman Sachs alumnus who, like Murphy, donated to local New Jersey Democratic parties.

“What most New Jerseyans care about are taxes. They care about reforming the pension. They care about the cost of college,” said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. “But what the candidates talk about is Mr. Trump and Mr. Corzine, probably not the concerns of most New Jerseyans.”

Murphy, a Middletown resident who served as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Germany after chairing the Democratic National Committee’s finance arm, loaned his campaign more than $16 million.

The race to take the New Jersey governor’s office back from a Republican comes as Democrats nationally weigh whether distancing themselves from Wall Street will help them counter Trump and his populist Republican allies. Murphy blurs the line between establishment and insurgent just as Democrats reckon with whether their best candidates should come from within or outside the traditional party structure.

Murphy faces challenges from former Teaneck firefighter Bill Brennan, one-time Clinton administration Treasury official Jim Johnson, state Sen. Ray Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Tenafly Councilman Mark Zinna.

When he voted in Sayreville Tuesday, Wisniewski said half the electorate was undecided. Johnson and his wife, Mary, also cast ballots.

The top Republican in the race is Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. She was twice elected on the ticket with the term-limited governor, but she has gone to great lengths to try to highlight their differences.

She chuckled as she was met by photographers after casting her ballot Tuesday in Monmouth Beach. She told reporters she was “humbled” and she encouraged her supporters to vote.

Also seeking the Republican nomination were Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers, Ocean County landscape business owner and actor Joseph “Rudy” Rullo and Atlantic County engineer Hirsh Singh.

Whoever wins on Tuesday, Democrats are favored in the general election, in part because of an 800,000 voter registration advantage and because of political headwinds stemming from Christie’s and Trump’s unpopularity in New Jersey.

Voters also will be picking between Democratic and Republican candidates in eight state Senate and 15 Assembly contests. The full 120-member Legislature is on the ballot in November. Democrats control both chambers.

For more on the New Jersey’s governor’s race, go to https://apnews.com/tag/NewJerseyGovernor’sRace</s>(CNN)New Jersey voters are headed to the polls Tuesday to select the Republican and Democratic candidates to replace Gov. Chris Christie.</s>New Jersey voters went to the polls on Tuesday to choose their parties' nominees to succeed two-term Governor Chris Christie, a once-rising Republican star whose popularity has plummeted in recent years.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno leads a pack of five Republican candidates in Tuesday's primary election, while Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany under former President Barack Obama, is the front-runner among six Democrats.

But the biggest challenge for candidates in either party may be drumming up enough interest to get voters to show up.

New Jersey is one of only two states holding gubernatorial elections this year. A recent poll by Stockton University found that one-third of voters in both parties were undecided.

"While we have a lot of candidates running, and quality candidates, it's not the kind of campaign that's grabbed peoples' attention," said Sharon Schulman, executive director of Stockton's Hughes Center for Public Policy, which conducted the poll.

Schulman speculated that many voters are "burned out" after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and noted that only 9 percent of Democrats and 18 percent of Republicans turned out in the 2013 primary. Scattered rain showers on Tuesday were unlikely to boost turnout in this year's primary.

In the May 25 Stockton poll, Guadagno led her strongest Republican rival, Assemblymen Jack Ciatterelli, 37 percent to 18 percent. Murphy led the Democratic pack with 34 percent, while former Clinton Administration Treasury Department official Jim Johnson had 10 percent and Assemblyman John Wisniewski had 9 percent.

With Christie frequently out on the stump for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, Guadagno has spent months as acting governor. But she also has had to distance herself from the unpopular Republican incumbent, and she has sparred with Ciatterelli over her plan to raise taxes on millionaires.

While Christie was re-elected with 60 percent of the vote in 2013, his recent approval rating dropped to 20 percent, following his frequent absences, the state's 11 credit-rating downgrades and transportation problems.

Christie also has been tarnished by the scandal in which two former aides were convicted for scheming to close down lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 to punish a mayor for failing to endorse Christie's re-election campaign.

On the Democratic side, Murphy has significantly out-spent his opponents. He has loaned $15 million to his own campaign and has been endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as the state's Democratic Party.</s>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A former Wall Street executive and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s second-in-command are the leading candidates Tuesday as voters begin choosing who will replace the unpopular Republican governor.

The winners in Tuesday’s primaries will compete in the Nov. 7 general election. It will be one of two statewide gubernatorial contests in the country this year, along with Virginia, and the first since Republican President Donald Trump took office.

The candidates are little known, even in New Jersey, and are competing as Trump administration developments swamp headlines, spurring the Democratic candidates to lash out at the president and wedging Republicans between an unpopular White House and a GOP governor whom most voters disapprove of.

On the Democratic side, candidates attacked wealthy front-runner Phil Murphy over his time as an executive at Goldman Sachs. They compared him to members of Trump’s administration who also worked there and former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, another Goldman Sachs alumnus who, like Murphy, donated to local New Jersey Democratic parties.

“What most New Jerseyans care about are taxes. They care about reforming the pension. They care about the cost of college,” said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. “But what the candidates talk about is Mr. Trump and Mr. Corzine, probably not the concerns of most New Jerseyans.”

Murphy, a Middletown resident who served as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Germany after chairing the Democratic National Committee’s finance arm, loaned his campaign more than $16 million.

The race to take the New Jersey governor’s office back from a Republican comes as Democrats nationally weigh whether distancing themselves from Wall Street will help them counter Trump and his populist Republican allies. Murphy blurs the line between establishment and insurgent just as Democrats reckon with whether their best candidates should come from within or outside the traditional party structure.

Murphy faces challenges from former Teaneck firefighter Bill Brennan, one-time Clinton administration Treasury official Jim Johnson, state Sen. Ray Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Tenafly Councilman Mark Zinna.

When he voted in Sayreville Tuesday, Wisniewski said half the electorate was undecided. Johnson and his wife, Mary, also cast ballots.

The top Republican in the race is Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. She was twice elected on the ticket with the term-limited governor, but she has gone to great lengths to try to highlight their differences.

Christie, who remained neutral during the campaign, said he voted for Guadagno.</s>Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno won the New Jersey gubernatorial Republican primary with 47.8 percent of the vote, and Democratic businessman Philip Murphy won the Democratic primary with 47.4 percent of the vote in the Tuesday primaries to replace Republican Governor Chris Christie.

Guadagno led the Republicans, easily defeating runner-up Jack Ciattarelli, who only earned 29.2 percent of the vote. Democratic candidate John Wisniewski came in second with 23 percent of the vote, with 38 percent of the polls reporting as of 9:00 PM, according to Decision Desk HQ

Murphy lead Republican front-runner Kim Guadagno in early polling, earning 50 percent in a Quinnipiac University head-to-head poll published in the first week of May. The current Lieutenant Governor led the pack of Republicans in the poll but trailed Murphy by a wide 50-25 percent deficit. If the general election results keep to those numbers, it would be the largest Democratic win in the state since 1973.

Saturday Night Live Actor Alec Baldwin headlined a New Jersey fundraiser to benefit all Democrats on the ticket with the New Jersey Education Association Super PAC. The event raised $5.1 million, a record for state political fundraisers according to CNBC.

The University of Virginia’s Crystal Ball rated the general election as “leans Democratic” due to the severe unpopularity of the outgoing governor. Christie currently has a stunningly low 18 percent approval rating.

Murphy and Guadagno now face off in the general election scheduled for November of 2017.

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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].</s>TRENTON, N.J. — The Latest on the New Jersey governor's race (all times local):

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie downplayed any role he might play in the political campaign to succeed him.

The term-limited Republican governor said Wednesday at an event at St. Barnabas Medical Center Livingston that he doesn't believe the public cares whether he endorsed Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (gwah-DAH'-noh).

Christie never endorsed Guadagno, his top deputy, but said he voted for her. Guadagno has distanced herself from the unpopular incumbent lately.

Christie told reporters that he's "old news" and that the public looks forward, not backward, during campaigns.

Murphy attacked Guadagno over her two terms of service alongside Christie.

President Donald Trump and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won't be on the ballot in New Jersey this fall.

But the newly minted Democratic and Republican nominees for governor and their parties are transforming one of only two statewide gubernatorial contests in the country into a race about the unpopular leaders.

Democrats nominated wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive and one-time diplomat Phil Murphy and Republicans picked Christie's top deputy, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (gwah-DAHN'-yoh), in New Jersey's primary Tuesday.

Virginia goes to the polls next week.

Murphy and Democrats are pitching themselves as a bulwark against Trump and promising a departure from Christie.

Guadagno has to contend with the president's and Christie's unpopularity and already has begun contrasting herself with the twice-elected, term-limited incumbent.___</s>TRENTON, N.J. — A former Wall Street executive and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's second-in-command are the leading candidates Tuesday as voters begin choosing who will replace the unpopular Republican governor.

The winners in Tuesday's primaries will compete in the Nov. 7 general election. It will be one of two statewide gubernatorial contests in the country this year, along with Virginia, and the first since Republican President Donald Trump took office.

The candidates are little known, even in New Jersey, and are competing as Trump administration developments swamp headlines, spurring the Democratic candidates to lash out at the president and wedging Republicans between an unpopular White House and a GOP governor whom most voters disapprove of.

On the Democratic side, candidates attacked wealthy front-runner Phil Murphy over his time as an executive at Goldman Sachs. They compared him to members of Trump's administration who also worked there and former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, another Goldman Sachs alumnus who, like Murphy, donated to local New Jersey Democratic parties.

"What most New Jerseyans care about are taxes. They care about reforming the pension. They care about the cost of college," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. "But what the candidates talk about is Mr. Trump and Mr. Corzine, probably not the concerns of most New Jerseyans."

Murphy, a Middletown resident who served as Barack Obama's ambassador to Germany after chairing the Democratic National Committee's finance arm, loaned his campaign more than $16 million.

The race to take the New Jersey governor's office back from a Republican comes as Democrats nationally weigh whether distancing themselves from Wall Street will help them counter Trump and his populist Republican allies. Murphy blurs the line between establishment and insurgent just as Democrats reckon with whether their best candidates should come from within or outside the traditional party structure.

When he voted in Sayreville Tuesday, Wisniewski said half the electorate was undecided. Johnson and his wife, Mary, also cast ballots.

The top Republican in the race is Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. She was twice elected on the ticket with the term-limited governor, but she has gone to great lengths to try to highlight their differences.

She chuckled as she was met by photographers after casting her ballot Tuesday in Monmouth Beach. She told reporters she was "humbled" and she encouraged her supporters to vote.

Whoever wins on Tuesday, Democrats are in the general election, in part because of an 800,000 voter registration advantage and because of political headwinds stemming from Christie's and Trump's unpopularity in New Jersey.
American voters in the state of New Jersey select party candidates to succeed term-limited incumbent Republican Chris Christie. Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican Kim Guadagno win nominations their parties' nominations.