The Media is filled with stories this morning about Christie's huge victory in New Jersey. Some pundits have practically coronated Christie as the 2016 presidential election victor. But lets take a closer look at just a couple of numbers to find out how big Christie's victory actually was.
First; Here's how Christie's big coattails worked out.
No Senate seats changed hands. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, called the results “a decisive and impressive victory.”
By late Tuesday, only one Assembly seat, in South Jersey’s 1st District, had shifted from Democratic to Republican.
So the Governor wins a landslide victory, but can only turn 1 assembly seat?! So did a bunch of Democrats vote for Christie but no other Republicans? It really doesn't look like it.
Here's the governor's results from Christie's first victory in 2009 over an extremely unpopular Democratic governor.
Christie 1,174,445
Corzine 1,087,731
And here's the numbers from yesterday.
Christie 1,242,568
Buono 781,710
So in 4 years, Christie increased his voting numbers by roughly 5.5%, while Buono dropped the Democratic numbers by a whopping 28%!!
That 5.5% increase by Christie is slightly better than the population growth rate, while Buono's numbers, for whatever reason, were just a disaster.
So did the people of New Jersey turn out in big numbers for the great 2016 Republican hope from New Jersey? It sure doesn't look like it. Did Democrats cross over in huge numbers to support Christie, Nope! They may not have voted for Buono, but it sure doesn't look like they jumped ship for Christie.
We'll have to look at some exit polling and some of the numbers for turnout from the New Jersey Secretary of state to get a better idea, but for now I think this boils down to christie picking up a few more Independent voters, but in reality, he barely improved his position from 2009. These numbers certainly don't look like the grand victory the press is making it out to be, and if I were a betting person, and I am, I wouldn't be putting any money down that Christie can carry New Jersey in the 2016 presidential election.