New Jersey Governor Election 2013: Republican Chris Christie Leads in the Polls

Although it may seem like all eyes are on New York City's mayoral election, residents of New Jersey are heading out to the polls to vote in the Garden State's gubernatorial election. 

The two candidates are Republican Gov. Chris Christie and his challenger, Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono. Christie has been ahead in the polls, with a sizable 24 point lead over his opponent. 

Christie has become a favorite in the historically Democratic state because of his tough policies and demonstrated strength after Superstorm Sandy devastated many New Jersey towns. However, many of Christie's policies are still decidedly conservative, although he has bent to popular opinion on some social issues. 

Christie's platform includes pushing for more charter schools and pushing through a stalled voucher bill, which Buono opposes because she believes it's more important to improve public schools. Christie also partnered with Democrats to make it more difficult for public school teachers to seek tenure by tying their job security to test-growth and classroom observations in order to prevent incompetent teachers from obtaining tenure. In terms of the environment, he went after polluters in neighboring states, and says global warming is real but partly man-made, according to NJ.com. 

Socially, Christie is definitely conservative. He opposes gay marriage, and says it alters the "core of a 2,000-year old institution." He vetoed a same-sex marriage bill, saying the issue should be decided by voters. But after state courts allowed same-sex marriage in New Jersey, he withdrew a legal challenge he was making against gay marriage. He also cut funding for family planning centers, including those operated by Planned Parenthood. He vetoed bills that would restore the money, saying low-income women can get access to birth control and health screenings at health clinics. Christie has also been very reluctant to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open, but has agreed to ease some restrictions to allow children to be treated. 

His fiscal policies are also in line with Republican ideology. He has been trying to draw in new business with billions in tax breaks, and opposes new taxes on big business. He also wants to the cut the income tax for all residents by 10 percent, but Democrats say that the state budget is already barely enough. He says he stemmed property tax increases, but the average homeowner property tax rose last year to a record $7,870. 

Barbara Buono believes in instituting full-day kindergarten in public schools and directing more funds to urban schools. Christie asserts that she has not said how she will pay for the increased funding. Buono also supported renewable energy, and attacked Christie for pulling out of a regional cap-and-trade initiative, according to NJ.com. 

Socially, Buono is much more liberal than the incumbent governor. She campaigned for gay marriage with her gay daughter, Tessa Bitterman, and says she would sign a gay marriage bill that Christie vetoed last year. She says that she will restore the $7.5 million Christie eliminated from the state budget in 2010 to fund family planning and women's health legislation. She would also sign the legislation that Christie vetoed to expand Medicaid to include moderate-income women. Additionally, she believes that Christie has been too stringent regarding marijuana laws, and says one physician should be able to prescribe medical marijuana for children. 

Buono also supports lowering the state's unemployment rate by investing in more public projects and providing tax breaks for small businesses and low-income workers, instead of Christie's plan of giving tax credits to big corporations. One of the central elements of her campaign is to increase taxes for residents earning more than $1 million to increase school and college funding.