Republican candidate Christopher Christie has defeated incumbent Jon Corzine to become the first Republican Governor of New Jersey in 12 years.

Christie landed 49% of the vote vs 45% for Corzine with 98% of the precincts counted, in a race that surprised many political pundits. Christie, a former U.S. attorney campaigned on dissatisfaction with the Corzine’s performance during the recession.

According to some analysts, the poll was the first test of the popularity of the Obama administration.

Christie overcome negative coverage of his campaign due to the involvement of his brother, Todd Christie. Todd Christie was the CEO of Spear Leeds & Kellogg, one of the five biggest trading firms on Wall Street that was found by the SEC to have engaged in illegal trading practices from 1999-2003. When the SEC investigation became public in 2003, Todd Christie was forced out of his position.

Christopher Christie Defeats Jon Corzine In New Jersey is a post from: The Inquisitr