A fierce fight for governor of NJ

TRENTON, N.J. (WABC) -- Voters in New Jersey, a state battered by high taxes and scarred by government corruption, had their pick in a tight governor's race Tuesday

Governor Jon Corzine faces a strong challenge from Republican Chris Christie, who has campaigned on a platform of smaller government but has been criticized for ethical lapses.

The race was a tossup heading into Election Day.

In Parsippany, Christie thanked volunteers at a phone bank. Early this morning, he cast his vote at a firehouse in Mendham with his wife and 4 children.

Governor Jon Corzine voted at the Elks Lodge in his hometown of Hoboken, while Independent Chris Daggett voted at a retirement community in Basking Ridge with his wife and two daughters.

It's the end of an exhausting campaign and a race still too tight to call.

So many people are struggling this year and they've been disappointed by both parties and they are looking for an alternative and I think now the voting in the hands of the independents," Daggett said.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the country. There has been corruption. Unemployment is heading toward 10 percent. Both Governor Corzine and Christie say they can fix all of that.

"We need to spend less to tax less. That is the only way to cut property taxes and that's exactly what I'm gonna do," Christie said.

In the end, it will be up to those who live here. People like Debbie Revette, who says if things don't change soon, she might not live here much longer.

"I don't want my future to look like this. If things don't change soon, I'm gonna move," Revette said.

New Jersey voters haven't elected a Republican statewide in a dozen years, and a Christie victory would sting the president heading into next year's midterm elections. Obama carried New Jersey by 15 percentage points last year with 2.2 million votes, about the total number expected to be cast Tuesday.

The president made the case for Corzine over the weekend, urging 11,000 supporters in Newark to show the commitment to the incumbent they showed Obama last year. But many voters are disenchanted with Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs CEO who failed to deliver property tax relief to the middle-class.

He froze property taxes for senior citizens and provided rebates for low-income residents, but taxes remain stubbornly high - averaging $7,045 per household.

Christie has been criticized for remaining vague about how he would solve the state's chronic financial problems. There were also revelations that he lent money to a subordinate and failed to report the loan.

Corzine and Christie have crisscrossed the state in recent days, making a final appeal for votes. The biggest unknown is whether Daggett supporters will stick with the long shot or vote for their second choice.

The polls are open until 8 p.m.

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