CNN and other news organizations are now calling the New Jersey Governor’s race an easy and impressive win for GOPer Chris Christie — but the emerging narrative of Virginia’s Governor’s office being taken by a Democrat due to backlash against the Tea Party has not yet happened: the Virginia race is being called too close to call:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has won four more years leading the Garden State, CNN projects, defeating Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono in the state’s gubernatorial race.
Christie’s victory became a forgone conclusion long before polls closed in New Jersey, as public opinion polls for months have indicated the tough-talking Republican headliner was far ahead of his Democratic challenger.
There are national implications to the race, too. With Christie considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, his re-election campaign is seen as a tuneup or stepping stone for that likely White House bid.
And the numbers coming in for Christie suggest he’s almost a “dream candidate” for the GOP if — and this is a huge if — the party really wanted to make inroads with the groups it has seemingly sought to alienate the past few years:
According to CNN exit polls of New Jersey voters, Christie performed well with groups that normally cast ballots for Democrats. Early exit polls indicate the GOP governor grabbing 56% of the female vote, and winning all age groups other than those 18-29. Christie also took a fifth of the African-American vote and 45% of Latinos, a much better performance than most Republicans in recent elections.
As expected, Christie carried 94% of Republicans, according to the exit polls, but he also won nearly two-thirds of independents and three in 10 Democrats in a state where Democrats and independents made up more nearly three-quarters of Tuesday’s electorate.
This means whether some conservative talkers and conservative Internet pundits like it or not, Christie will be a serious 2016 Presidential nomination player.
Polls have also closed in the primary runoff for Alabama’s 1st district and the race between former State Senator Bradley Byrne, seen as a more establishment candidate, and businessman Dean Young, a tea party candidate, is still too close to call.
This race is being seen as a test of Tea Party strength.
The race for governor in Virginia is also too early to call after polls closed on the divisive contest between Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, and Republican state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
While national issues, like the partial government shutdown earlier this year and the health care law’s flawed rollout, have loomed large in the battle between McAuliffe and Cuccinelli, the race has been nasty from the outset and has focused a great deal on personal attacks between the candidates.
The media narrative has emerged over the past week that Cuccienelli will win and there have been many PRE-mortums. It would be a big upset (of the media narrative) if he defeats McAuliffe and Republicans will likely attribute it for his calling the election a referendum on Obamacare over the past few days.
NBC News:
NBC News projects that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will win re-election, launching the GOP star to another term in a deep blue state and solidifying his status as a top-tier 2016 presidential candidate.
As polls closed in the Garden State, Christie held a definitive lead over Democrat Barbara Buono. Early exit polls showed that Christie had garnered the support of voters well outside the traditional GOP base, winning a majority of women, about one-in-five black voters, nearly half of Hispanics, and roughly 30 percent of self-described Democrats. Among the half of New Jersey voters who say they support the Obama-backed health care law, about three-in-10 selected Christie on their ballot.
Christie earned broad bipartisan support for his response to last year’s Superstorm Sandy and is known for his blunt political style.
Even before Tuesday’s vote, he appeared to have his eyes fixed on the future. “Campaigns are never about yesterday, they’re always about tomorrow,” the governor said during a rally this week. “And the candidate who people want to vote for is the candidate who credibly and honestly expresses hope and optimism and a plan for the future.”
Christie has developed a strong national profile since he defeated unpopular Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine in 2010.
With broad support among groups the GOP has struggled with in recent national elections — women, independents, minorities and even conservative Democrats — Christie would head into 2016 with a strong argument for his own electability in states where the outlook for the GOP has traditionally been bleak. (President Barack Obama defeated GOP nominee Mitt Romney in New Jersey by 17 points in 2012.)
NBC notes that some of the same qualities that have endeared him to Democrats make Republican conservatives distrust him.
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that while Christie is viewed positively by most self-described conservatives, firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas – known for eschewing bipartisan compromise – earned notably higher marks from the GOP’s right flank.
Since the party’s more conservative wing plays a huge role in early nominating states like Iowa and South Carolina, Christie could face tough decisions on how to court the Tea Party without losing his centrist appeal. One particular episode from Christie’s first term is unlikely to fade from any primary campaign – his public embrace of Obama in the immediate aftermath of Sandy.
For now, his first hurdle – re-election – was easily cleared.
And the size and breadth of his victory in a Democratic state means his credibility will increase in the press which will quote him — and scrutinize him — more.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.