Governor Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney held up New Jersey as a national example Wednesday while appearing together at a groudbreaking at Rowan University in Glassboro.
Though Christie, a Republican, and Sweeney, a Democrat, are both running for re-election they talked of working together to get things done in contrast to the ongoing, politics-driven shutdown of the federal government.
“That doesn’t happen here because me and Steve and (Assembly) Speaker Sheila Oliver won’t let it happen,” Christie said.
“Even when we’re angry with each other, we don’t let it stop us from talking to each other,” he said.
Sweeney, D-Gloucester, called what’s going on in Washington, D.C. right now “embarrassing.”
The $1.3 higher education package that’s funding the upgrades at Rowan came together because “Democrats and Republicans, in a very bipartisan way, put the people first,” he said.
“This is when government works,” he said.
While most applauded, there were about 15 students who attempted to protest Christie’s appearance, but their signs were confiscated and they were moved off of a field facing the groundbreaking site. Afterward, the students — whose signs criticized higher education funding cuts, property tax increases and women’s health care funding cuts — said they were told to move to a “free-speech zone” roughly 150 yards away.

With the federal government saddled in a politics-driven shutdown, U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker called for compromise and cooperation during a speech Tuesday at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison.
Billed as a lecture on college affordability, Booker, the Democratic mayor of Newark, instead spent about 20 minutes touting the sucess of putting differences aside to get things done before getting to the topic of tuition.
“We out here in the rest of this country . . . Have to get a little frustrated,” he said.
“My politics in my city are tough,” Booker said, citing work with employee unions as an example. “But we found ways to overcome challenges in the worst economy of my lifetime.”
He also touted how he’s worked with Governor Christie, a Republican who has found ways to work wirh Democrats who control the state Legislature on some issues.
“We find ways to work together and move the state forward,” Booker said.
Not once did he mention GOP opponent Steve Lonegan, but Booker frequently contrasted himself with Lonegan, a conservative firebrand and fomer mayor of Bogota.
Though many expected the special election scheduled for Oct. 16 to fill the seat of the late Frank Lautenberg would be a landslide, polls show the contest is closer. A Monmouth University poll out Tuesday morning had Booker leading Lonegan by 13 points.
During his speech, Booker took some time to highlight where Lonegan stands on a host of issues, including abortion, health care, and the shutdown itself.
Booker told group of college students the election is about “clear decisions.”
“We should have leaders go down to Washington, not as partisans, but as Americans,” he said.