In the summer, when the governor and Democrats were spatting over a constitutional amendment to create a property-tax cap, a pro-Christie shadow group with a secret donor list mailed fliers into House Speaker Sheila Oliver's Essex County district and Senate President Stephen Sweeney's Gloucester County district. The fliers, sponsored by Reform Jersey Now, asked voters to pressure the legislative leaders into scheduling a vote.
"If that is what we experienced on something as simple as a bill, that was an indication to me to what length this governor and his Reform New Jersey apparatus will go to," Oliver said. "I think they will invest that same level of energy in the elections."
Christie has battled with the Senate and Assembly over finances, women's health issues, and a tax on wealthy individuals. Through most of those battles - cutting money for women's health services was an exception - Republican legislators have been a bloc of support for the governor.
And, often, Christie has gotten his way with Democrats on issues such as the budget, property taxes, and pensions. But he has had to compromise. He got a lowered municipal budget cap, but he didn't get that constitutional amendment.
After newly elected Democrat Linda Greenstein is sworn in to fill an unexpired Senate term, there will be 24 Democrats and 16 Republicans in the Senate, and 47 Democrats and 33 Republicans in the Assembly.
The first step to winning the legislative races will be redrawing the 40 districts in which voters select one senator and two Assembly members. The districts are drawn every decade based on new U.S. Census Bureau figures.
"The map is going to define a lot of the races," said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D., Union).
That is because maps can be drawn to give one party an advantage.
"Most districts overwhelmingly favor one party or another," Rider University political scientist Ben Dworkin said. That leaves a handful that may be competitive.
