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[Christie appointee David Wildstein] had told someone (in writing) not to worry about the children that the resulting traffic jams were keeping away from school, “They are the children of Buono voters.” Well, turns out he was probably wrong....

Don Guardian was sworn in to office today, becoming the first Republican to lead the city in 23 years.

If we learned one thing from Election Day 2013, it's that we learned nothing at all. The most-watched races of the day left in their wake a myriad of mixed messages and differing priorities that demonstrate no clear trend and no unified direction driving America forward.

By winning Tuesday night in a landslide election for his second term as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie moved so far to the left, it may be difficult for him to win the Republican nomination for president come 2016. The GOP governor won in one of the bluest states, where President Barack Obama beat Republican Mitt Romney by 18 points in 2012. To win, Christie had to morph close to not only blue-state values and views, but become close to Obama himself — and he did just that.

1. The Obamacare rollout fiasco and Obama's lies hurt Democrats. You only have to look at Democrat Terry McAuliffe's narrow 48 percent to 46 percent margin in Virginia to see that. McAuliffe outspent Republican Ken Cuccinelli by a wide margin (as much as 10-to-1, some bloggers suggested) and was leading 46 percent to 37 percent in the last days of October in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls on Oct. 31. In Virginia, the state that voted closest to the national average in the last two presidential elections, McAuliffe ended up with 48 percent, 3 percentage points behind...

Republican Steve Lonegan is blasting fellow party members for not giving him enough financial support in his failed Senate bid against Newark Mayor Cory Booker. He continued, "The National Republican Senatorial Committee, whose job it is to elect Republicans, actually sent out an e mail that asked people to send money to the campaign," adding, "But they kept every penny. And now I’m left holding the bag."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday withdrew legal opposition to gay marriage, making same-sex nuptials the law in the state. The move makes New Jersey the 14th state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. On Friday, the state Supreme Court refused to delay a lower-court order for the state to begin recognizing same-sex marriages. On Monday morning, Christie said in a statement that he ordered an appeal dropped. "Chief Justice Rabner left no ambiguity about the unanimous court's view on the ultimate decision in this matter when he wrote, 'same-sex couples who cannot marry are not treated equally...

I’m a little surprised, even though he’s undoubtedly correct that the appeal was doomed. The New Jersey Supreme Court all but legalized gay marriage in its provisional ruling on Friday; a final ruling next year upholding that judgment was a fait accompli.But as we spent the last three weeks discovering, the fact that a fight is obviously unwinnable and possibly self-defeating from the start is no excuse not to undertake it. Gov. Chris Christie announced today that he was dropping the fight against same-sex marriage in New Jersey by withdrawing his his appeal of a major case that was being...

Booker, 44, will become the Senate's seventh youngest member, and its ninth-ever African American and only the fourth black senator ever popularly elected. Even before winning the race, he was widely seen as a potential vice presidential contender as soon as 2016, though his credentials took a hit when the race turned out far closer than many expected. With nearly all of the vote counted, Booker led Republican Steve Lonegan by about 10 percentage points - a convincing margin in most races, but much smaller than many had predicted for a rising star facing an underfunded opponent with views out...

The Associated Press has declared Newark Mayor Cory Booker the winner in Wednesday's special U.S. Senate election. Booker defeated former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, a Tea Party Republican, to serve out the remainder of the late Frank Lautenberg’s term. Although the race was close early on, Democrats were quick to declare Booker the winner. Only 40 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m., the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was declaring victory. A short time later, state Sen. Barbara Buono, who is running against Governor Christie in the Nov. 5 election, offered her congratulations to Booker.

Follow the real time Election Returns. My guess is Booker wins by about 10%. It is NJ, after all. If Lonegan pulls this off, will be a significant upset. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/booker_vs_lonegan_county-by-county_voting_results_in_us_senate_election.html

Good morning Free Republic and good morning to the GREAT STATE of NEW JERSEY! Get up and go to you polling place!! VOTE FOR STEVE LONEGAN TODAY!! And with that -- I am off to do my civic duty and to make America proud!! (hope this isn't a repeat thread!)

TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The New Jersey U.S. Senate race was in a fight to the finish Tuesday, a day before voters were set to head to the polls in a special election. As CBS 2’s Christine Sloan reported, Democrat Cory Booker is hitting the Democrat-favoring communities of Belleville, New Brunswick, Hoboken and Newark, where he is mayor. Republican Steve Lonegan is campaigning Tuesday in Basking Ridge, Flemington, Belvidere, Morristown and Middletown — all places where Republicans usually get the most votes. He’s also stopping in Jersey City. Lonegan also received the endorsement of former Jersey City Acting Mayor Joe...

President Obama is reminding New Jersey voters to vote for Cory Booker in the state’s special Senate election Wednesday. Just one day before the election Obama appeared in a video for the Booker campaign encouraging New Jersey residents to support the popular Democratic Newark mayor. “Voters in New Jersey have the opportunity to vote for a leader with uncommon character, Cory Booker,” Obama said in the video.

Steve Lonegan has dedicated his time in public life to fighting for New Jersey taxpayers. When he became mayor of Bogota, NJ in 1996, Lonegan immediately cut municipal spending, eliminated wasteful and duplicative services, privatized some functions and instituted a more cost-efficient, user-friendly government. As a result, Bogota’s municipal spending remained constant for the entire 12 years of Steve’s tenure. He also kept debt and tax increases far below inflation despite massive state mandates and aid reductions to suburban towns like Bogota. Thanks to Steve’s strong, conservative leadership, Republicans kept council control for 11 straight elections, and Steve was reelected...

VIDEO ad: President Obama: Vote for Cory President Obama looked to shore up last-minute support for Newark Mayor Cory Booker with a new Web ad hailing the Democratic Senate candidate as the antidote to "the shutdown politics we've seen in Washington." The release of the video comes after a new poll showed Booker's lead tightening with just two days to go before the special election to replace deceased Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). According to a Monmouth University survey, Booker leads Republican Steve Lonegan 52-42 percent, down three points from two weeks ago. The ad also comes after a weekend that...

As Cory Booker looks set to win the junior Senate seat in New Jersey Wednesday, his supposed neighbors in Newark say Mayor Booker doesn’t live in the Gateway City. Multiple residents of Newark told The Daily Caller that the longtime mayor doesn’t live at any of the addresses he has claimed as home. The mayor is believed to live in New York even though he is registered to run for New Jersey’s special senate election. Booker, who filed to run for the U.S. Senate from a B.O. Box in Newark, is registered to vote at 435 Hawthorne Avenue but his...

There is a real battle going on in New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie set an early date of October 16 for a special election to fill the Senate seat of recently deceased Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). The advantage rests with Democratic Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker. The Republican is Steve Lonegan, businessman and former mayor of Bogota, NJ. Christie endorsed Lonegan. Better than nothing, I guess. Booker, who has seen both unemployment and crime skyrocket during his administration, has the left fawning all over him nationwide because he is well-spoken, clean cut and black. Remind you of anyone? He is...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker still holds a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger in the New Jersey Senate race, a new poll shows, but his lead continues to shrink with the election two days away. Booker leads Steve Lonegan by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent, among likely voters in a poll out Monday from Monmouth University. Continue Reading A separate poll last week had Booker up by 12, two weeks ago Monmouth had him up by 13 and over the summer by 16. In August, polls had Booker’s lead topping 24 percent. The poll also found Booker’s favorability...

A few chapters back in the Cory Booker story, the dashing young mayor of Newark, New Jersey was actually dashing into a burning building to save a helpless woman. Now here we are, a few plot twists later, and Cory Booker's halo is looking kind of mucky. Take those flirty tweets he sent to an impressively tattooed stripper... Did the public react to this naughty news with prudish gasps of disgust? Nope. Instead, cynics, who were getting used to Booker's antics, pointed out he may have deployed those tweets to scotch rumors of certain other.... proclivities. Now, really, tell me....