New Jersey's most highly-circulated newspaper, The Newark Star-Ledger, said on Sunday that it regrets endorsing Chris Christie in his last campaign for governor.
A piece penned by Tom Moran, the editor of the paper's editorial page, says the Star-Ledger "blew" its endorsement of Christie for governor in October.
The admission came weeks after Christie's administration was accused of orchestrating a massive traffic jam in Fort Lee, N.J., as political retribution, and of threatening to withhold Hurricane Sandy funds in order to get support for a project.
Earlier this month, the attorney for David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official, told the New York Times that there is evidence that Christie knew about his administration's orders to close the traffic lanes. The FBI is also looking into Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer's allegations that Christie aides told her that she needed to support a real estate project backed by the administration "or we are not going to be able to help you" with Hurricane Sandy aid.
"Yes, we knew Christie was a bully," Moran wrote Sunday. "But we didn’t know his crew was crazy enough to put people’s lives at risk in Fort Lee as a means to pressure the mayor. We didn’t know he would use Hurricane Sandy aid as a political slush fund. And we certainly didn’t know that Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer was sitting on a credible charge of extortion by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno."
Moran acknowledged that the editorial board had had plenty of "hesitations" before endorsing Christie — the endorsement itself called Christie "overrated" — but reasoned that "voters have to push one button or the other, and we felt The Star-Ledger should belly up to the challenge and offer them our best advice."
Click over to the Star-Ledger for the full editorial.