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TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie touted New Jersey employment gains on Monday during a Statehouse news conference at which he also warned voters to choose his successor carefully or risk undoing the economic progress made during his nearly eight-year tenure. The hourlong news conference was Christie's last in the governor's outer office, as he and his staff are expected to move to temporary offices nearby on State Street while the executive branch of the Statehouse undergoes about $300 million in renovations.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has about eight months left in office but the Republicans running to succeed him in the primary all but bid him farewell in Thursday's second and final debate. Asked why she doesn't mention the twice-elected, term-limited Christie on her campaign website or at events, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno answered bluntly. "I'm running for governor, the governor's not."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed legislation Thursday that would have banned all underage marriage in New Jersey. The bill aimed to change current New Jersey law, which permits 16- and 17-year-olds to get married with parental consent and those under the age of 16 to marry with the approval of a family court judge. A republican sponsored the bill, but Christie stood in opposition, citing religious freedom and noting the age of consent in New Jersey is 16, reports Politico. Unchained At Last, a non-profit group that seeks to help women in arranged and forced marriages, estimates there...

TRENTON -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli on Monday survived an attempt by rival Kim Guadagno to knock him off the GOP primary ballot. Supporters of Guadagno, New Jersey's lieutenant governor, filed a complaint that questioned the validity of more than 700 petition signatures Ciattarelli had handed in to qualify for the June 6 primary for the GOP nod to succeed Gov. Chris Christie, who is in his final year in office. But an administrative law judge on Monday threw out only about 180 of those signatures, which wasn't enough to boot Ciattarelli, a member of the state Assembly from...

TRENTON -- Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, the early Republican front-runner for governor, told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday she would slash New Jersey's notoriously high property taxes by up to $3,000 a year for homeowners who pay more than 5 percent of their household income on school taxes. Guadagno said her proposal -- which she plans to officially roll out Wednesday morning -- would cut property taxes by $1.5 billion annually across New Jersey and aims to benefit those "who need property tax relief the most," such as younger residents, middle-class families, and senior citizens. "It's the kind of plan...

By all accounts, Jared Kushner, the husband of President Trump's favorite daughter, has become an extraordinarily powerful man in the White House. To formally appoint Kushner a senior adviser, with a top security clearance, the president sought and received a Justice Department opinion declaring the White House exempt from federal anti-nepotism laws. That meant Kushner could have an official White House title to go along with his trusted-member-of-the-family influence. But Kushner wielded plenty of power before joining the White House staff. For one thing, he is thought to have been behind the purging of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie from...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is also an avid Dallas Cowboys fan, believes New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is lying about his role in an alleged memorabilia scandal. Serving as a guest host on Friday's Boomer & Carton radio show for WFAN, Christie spoke about Manning's situation by calling him a "liar" and "he got caught," per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding of the New York Post reported Manning was involved in a scheme selling fake game-used memorabilia, with court documents showing the Giants quarterback sent an email to equipment...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is the most unpopular governor in the United States, a new poll finds. Seventy-one percent of New Jersey votes disapprove of Christie while just 25 percent approve, according to the Morning Consult poll released Tuesday. Christie edged out Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) as the nation’s least popular. Brownback had a 66 percent disapproval to 27 percent approval, the poll found. […] On the flip side, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) was rated the most popular governor, with 75 percent approval to 17 percent disapproval. Following Baker on the list were Maryland Gov. Larry...

Two former cronies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were sentenced to prison Wednesday for the politically motivated closure of traffic lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge that has come to be known as “Bridgegate.” Former Port Authority exec Bill Baroni was sentenced to two years in ​prison​ and ex-Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly to 18 months behind bars by a federal judge in Newark.

President Donald Trump is tapping GOP New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to lead the administration’s efforts to combat rampant opioid addiction and heroin abuse nationwide. Christie’s position is reportedly part of the White House Office of American Innovation, a new initiative led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner that is being described as a “SWAT team” of business leaders that will tackle a range of government failings. An anonymous White House spokesman said Monday the announcement is expected this week, after The Washington Post broke the development Sunday evening, reports The Associated Press.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Friday cast doubt on the notion that the Obama administration spied on associates of President Trump, saying there is no evidence to support the claim and that such surveillance would be difficult to authorize. "There certainly doesn't seem to be any evidence of that at this point," Christie said during an appearance on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

CEDAR KNOLLS -- Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday that New Jersey added almost 13,000 new private sector jobs in February, building on last week's announcement that 2016 marked the largest annual gain in employment in sixteen years. New Jersey's unemployment rate fell from 4.6 percent in January to 4.4 percent last month, making it the lowest it's been since October 2007. The national unemployment rate for February was 4.7 percent. "Over the past year, New Jersey's private sector employers have added 77,000 new jobs," said Christie.

TRENTON -- "Saturday Night Live" alum Joe Piscopo has decided he will not run for New Jersey governor as a Republican and instead is planning to declare he will jump into the race to succeed Gov. Chris Christie as an independent candidate, NJ Advance Media has learned. Piscopo made his decision because he did not begin the process of running early enough to run as a Republican, according to two sources close to the performer who requested anonymity because they did not want to publicly discuss an official announcement that could trigger state election laws on fundraising.

President Donald Trump might not make it on the ballot in 2020 in New Jersey if he doesn’t disclose his tax returns under a bill getting a vote in the state Assembly. The Democrat-led Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on the legislation inspired by the Republican president’s failure to disclose his tax returns during the campaign. The measure requires presidential and vice presidential candidates to release five years’ worth of federal tax returns in order to appear on the state’s ballot. …

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Republican lawmakers should hold town halls even if that means confronting hundreds of angry progressive constituents. “Welcome to the real world of responsibility,” Christie told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday. The governor’s comments come after a week in which massive crowds turned up at GOP town halls to protest President Donald Trump and Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. …

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is telling friends and staff he is taking a role with the Trump administration, according to a source close to the White House. The GOP governor’s position has not been worked out, but he would not replace ­Reince Preibus as the president’s chief-of-staff, the source said.

Don't knock meatloaf. It's gotten a bad rap. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat had lunch with President Donald Trump on Valentine's Day and, according to Christie, Trump made him have the White House meatloaf. "This is what it's like to be with Trump," Christie said during a guest host spot on a radio show on Thursday, according to the New York Post. "He says, 'There's the menu, you guys order whatever you want.' And then he says, 'Chris, you and I are going to have the meatloaf.'" According to Christie, Trump said, "I'm telling you,...

Chris Christie: President Trump Made Me Order the Meat Loaf at White House Dinner Diana Pearl,People Fri, Feb 17 11:06 AM PST Comments Like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email Dining at the White House is an experience — but when President Trump is in office, there’s not much choice involved in the matter. According to Chris Christie, that is.

If you want to run for governor of New Jersey, you need to be good with names. Take the people who attended a Democratic breakfast at a meeting hall in Union County one week before November’s presidential election. Phil Murphy seemed to know them all. He took the slow route through the crowd, shaking hands, flashing his toothy smile and scrunching his 6-foot-3 frame down into selfie range. Reaching the podium, he gave shout-outs to others on the dais and to the local party officials at the balloon-festooned tables, where eggs were being served.