copyright 2009, The Washington Post EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- As polls in New Jersey closed at 8 p.m., the race between Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Republican Chris Christie was right where pre-election surveys had it in the final weeks of the bitter campaign: too close to call. Exit polls suggested a close contest between the two, with a third-party challenger trailing far behind. Corzine is the only governor to seek reelection this year, and the race has drawn wide attention. In New Jersey, which Barack Obama carried by 15 percentage points last year, no Republican has won statewide office in more than a decade. In his campaign, Corzine dipped into the personal fortune he accumulated on Wall Street, repeating the pattern that won him a U.S. Senate seat in 2000 and the governor's office four years ago. Most of the $23 million he had spent through late October bought attack ads that drew attention to Christie's record of support for President George W. Bush, his record as U.S. attorney and even his weight. Christie, whose campaign had spent $8.8 million, cast the contest as a referendum on Corzine, who won office four years ago on a proudly liberal platform and a reputation of financial competence earned as a managing partner of Goldman Sachs. 'Today is a day for change,' Christie said after voting in Mendham. 'I think the public is ready for that.' Corzine began the day smiling. 'I feel great today,' he told reporters in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. 'I feel a lot better than I did in July and August. I feel like we have a lot of momentum.' The incumbent was saddled with approval ratings in the low 30s and fallout for the financial downturn that had him cutting the state budget and reneging on a vow to reduce property taxes for most residents. New Jersey voters leaving polling places Tuesday ranked the issues as their top priorities. Corruption ranked third, a possible indicator of support for Christie, who trumpeted his record of prosecuting public officials. 'History says it ought to be Corzine, but every governor from Arnold Schwarzenegger east is suffering from this economy,' said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University poll. 'And Corzine is not a popular guy.' Corzine spent most of the summer trailing Christie by 10 percentage points and more. The race tightened this fall, with a surge by a third candidate. Chris Daggett, an independent who describes himself as a 'policy wonk,' helped Corzine by bleeding some of the anti-Corzine vote away from Christie. The former Environmental Protection Agency official drew as much as 20 percent in pre-election surveys, but it is unclear how many voters will cast ballots for him -- or even be able to find him on the ballot, which differs across the state. 'I found my name,' Daggett said after emerging from a Basking Ridge polling booth. 'I practiced on the sample ballot.' The question is how many votes he gathers in a losing cause. If, as many analysts say, Corzine's ceiling is about 40 percent of the vote, anything beyond 10 percent for Daggett would significantly help Corzine win another four years in Trenton. 'If he's under 6 percent,' said John Weingart, associate director of Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, 'that's probably good for Christie.' Turnout was the other variable. President Obama came to New Jersey three times in the past week to urge voters to come out for 'my partner.' Neighborhoods near downtown Newark were speckled with the blue-and-white fliers and handouts indicating a widespread get-out-the-vote effort. 