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NEWARK -- A day after becoming the first Republican in a dozen years to capture the Statehouse, Gov.-elect Chris Christie today went to the Democratic bastion of Newark and urged bipartisanship in the wake of a divisive campaign.
"This administration is going to be about what works, and that's the signal I'm trying to send," said Christie, who will inherit a Democratic Legislature when he is sworn in Jan. 19. "This stuff of Republicans and Democrats thinking we have to be mutually exclusive has just got to be over, because the problems here are too big."
As national GOP leaders hyped victories in New Jersey and Virginia as a rebuke of President Obama and a boost for the minority party in Washington, Christie refused to draw conclusions beyond the borders of his own troubled state. At the same time, he called his four-point victory over Gov. Jon Corzine an endorsement of his smaller-government philosophy.
"The points of view that I espoused in the campaign were not ambivalent," Christie said. "And the voters voted for it."
On a midday visit to the Robert Treat Academy -- a charter school and the crown jewel in the North Ward empire of Democratic powerbroker Steve Adubato Sr. -- Christie was instantly embraced by top Demorats, with Adubato, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo offering handshakes and back-slaps.
Christie, who spoke about Robert Treat's academic successes nearly every day of the nine-month campaign, stopped in classrooms to talk baseball with students.
Booker, who campaigned hard for Corzine and is considered a leading candidate for governor in 2013, brushed off questions about his ambitions and refused to dissect Corzine's defeat.
"Politics is over," the mayor said. "I've got to find partners for progress."
A Newark native who kicked off his campaign there, Christie made urban renewal and education reform key pieces of his platform. Though a huge turnout in GOP-heavy suburban counties put him over the top on Tuesday, Christie often stumped in cities, drawing scorn from Democrats who dominate the urban centers. Billboards of Corzine and Obama could still be spotted above the Newark streets today.
Though the "political yield was negligible," Christie said, his presence "was trying to send the signal to people who live in the cities that I care about their problems, and whatever they think about Republicans before, they are dealing with a different kind of Republican now."
Hours earlier, Christie emerged from his hotel suite in Parsippany to eat breakfast with his wife, four children, father, brother and sister, and then powwow with his advisers. He met with the leaders of his still-forming transition team, former Attorney General David Samson and Jeffrey Chiesa.
"He did not sleep all night," said Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), his campaign chairman.
His voice hoarse, Christie addressed several hundred students -- "there was no other place I wanted to be" -- before holding a news conference. He admitted to exhaustion and said he would reveal further details of his transition plans today.
Christie became more animated he reiterated campaign pledges such as issuing an executive order to halt new regulations and ordering an audit of school districts. He vowed to speak up about issues that arise during the lame-duck session of the Legislature later this month. But he struck a mostly conciliatory tone toward lawmakers he had criticized in the campaign and said he reached out to Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden).
"I don't think the well is poisoned" after the bitter campaign, Democratic state chairman Joe Cryan said. "Sometime in January or before, it's a new page."
Christie also settled into the new routines of a governor's life, including state troopers who shadowed him at Robert Treat -- and delivered him there right on time.
"You have to behave yourself now," Adubato said to Christie's 13-year-old daughter, Sarah. "They're going to be watching you."
Corzine, meanwhile, remained behind closed doors as Democrats digested his defeat. His office released photographs of the stoic-looking governor on the phone with Christie, planning the transition. He also released an e-mail message to supporters:
"Whatever our political differences, I believe that Chris Christie is going to work hard for the people of this state, and I wish the Governor-Elect success, patience, and good fortune as he leads our state forward," Corzine said. "Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Governor, it has been the high honor of my life."
"He's not getting the credit that he deserves. He's done a great job," DiVincenzo said of Corzine. "I told him that. I hope he goes out and enjoys himself."
Staff writers Susan K. Livio and David Giambusso contributed to this report.
