By Melissa Hayes and John Reitmeyer – NorthJersey.comr

He’s enacted a cap on local property tax hikes. Placed a ceiling on raises for public employees who seek arbitration. And he’s pushing a new income tax credit tied to property taxes.

But Governor Christie, according to recent polls, remains vulnerable when it comes to the state’s high property tax bills, which rose again to a record high in 2012.

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By Robert Weiner and Nakia Gladden – The Star-Ledger

The media have fixated on painting Christie as a bipartisan politician. While he has been rightly bipartisan concerning Sandy relief and recovery — which could help him in a presidential race — his overall record is staunchly conservative.

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By Elise Young & Terrence Dopp – Bloomberg

Republican Governor Chris Christie, who shrugged off the $24 million cost of special New Jersey elections he called to replace deceased U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, kept a tighter purse May 9 in vetoing early voting.

The Democratic-sponsored proposal he killed last month would’ve let residents start casting ballots at polling places 14 days before an election. In his veto message, Christie called the measure “hasty, counterproductive” and, at a cost of $25 million, too burdensome for taxpayers. Now voters will spend almost that much to pick a successor to Lautenberg.

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By Chris Gentilviso – The Huffington Post

A pricetag of nearly $24 million was not enough to stop Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) from calling a special election on Tuesday to fill the seat of deceased Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D).

Nearly one month ago, Christie held different feelings on similar taxpayer costs related to early voting.

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