New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said in no uncertain terms Friday that he will not be consolidating the special election to replace the late Senator Frank Lautenberg with the general November election.
"It's not happening," Christie bluntly told HuffPost Live host Jacob Soboroff at the Points of Light Conference on Volunteering And Service in Washington.
Christie said the New Jersey Supreme Court's upholding of his decision to hold the special election in October is "the end of the subject" and said that the decision to separate state elections from federal elections was a choice made by the framers of the New Jersey state constitution.
"I'm not changing my mind," he said.
Christie, who appeared at the conference to speak about the service performed in his state in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, has received some criticism for holding the special election in October -- at a cost of $24 million -- instead of consolidating the election with the November general election, during which he is up for reelection. Critics have argued that Christie may be trying to keep Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who is running to fill the Senate seat, off the November ballot, thereby energizing Democratic voters in both the gubernatorial and state legislative races.
Watch the full interview below:
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