From the diaries by Erick

We first saw this on the blog of the Union of Purple People Eaters (aka the SEIU), so we had to ‘fact-check’ the story and, sure enough, it appears to be true.

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From a pollster friend:

I’m sensing the NJ exits maybe skewed to Dems…they had Health care at 18%, most important issue. Economy was #1 at 31% and property taxes 2 at 25%. Corruption was at 20%. Property taxes was always the #1 issue in everyone’s statewide.

UPDATE: North New Jersey Democrats are beginning to fret that Corzine did not pick up enough support in the area to over come exit pollings that, even skewed to the Democrats, show Christie picking up +50% of independents and Corzine less than 40%.

Republican former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie leads incumbent governor John Corzine (D) by nine percentage points, 42-33, in a new poll released by Fairleigh Dickinson University. The results should boost confidence among NJ GOP voters that Christie can take down the increasingly unpopular Corzine. Fifty-six percent of respondents said that they have a negative opinion of Corzine, a -23 rating, compared to 31% who had a favorable impression of the corruption-fighting Christie, a +19 spread. Still, 58% said that they had not heard enough about Christie to have an opinion, a number that will only go down as the campaign progresses.

Surprisingly, Christie’s Republican primary challenger, former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan, also bests Corzine in a head-to-head matchup, 37-36. Lonegan is not as well known as Christie, and trails him in the primary by 43-21%.

The bottom line in these numbers is that New Jersey Republicans have a golden opportunity to take down Corzine in November, if they can avoid a bruising primary fight. Such a victory, coupled with a win in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest, could spark a Republican resurgence heading into the 2010 Congressional elections. Both candidates in New Jersey should keep their eyes on the prize – defeating Corzine – and avoid attacks on each other, so as not to play into Corzine’s hands. If they can manage that, New Jersey could become a November bellwether.