Clinton and Corzine: Getty ImagesWhile some exit polls suggested otherwise, NBC News and Fox News project Hillary Clinton the winner of the New Jersey Democratic Primary.

It should be noted that CNN has not called the state's Democratic race.

McCain in New Jersey: Photo by Getty ImagesSeveral television networks have declared John McCain the winner of the New Jersey Republican primary by a sizable margin.

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie
CONGRESS COULD ISSUE SUBPOENAS, HOLD HEARINGS

In a direct communication with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee requested details of federal monitor contracts negotiated by New Jersey's United States Attorney, Christopher J. Christie, and said that if documents are not turned over to them quickly, they could issue subpoenas to obtain them, according to a source with knowledge of the Judiciary panels actions.

And House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says he is likely to hold hearings on the need for federal oversight of deferred prosecution agreements.

Christie, a leading candidate for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, awarded former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft a federal monitor contract worth up to $52 million over the next eighteen months, and has given out lucrative contracts to several other politically connected lawyers, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported today that the Justice Department is conducting an internal review of deferred prosecution agreements, though a spokesman for the department said the Justice Department has been having ongoing discussions about the selection of federal monitors for several months and was not prompted by reports of Christie's deal with Ashcroft, according to Peter A. Carr, a spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington. "There is no inquiry into that selection. Likewise, the consideration of guidance was not prompted by the actions of any U.S. Attorney," Carr said in a statement released today.

In a letter to Mukasey, Conyers chastised the Justice Department for failing to respond to letters from at least two Congressmen,and said that a report in today's New York Times "reinforces a concern over the lack of real oversight and transparency of deferred prosecution agreements."

"These agreements, which directly affect billions of dollars in corporate business as well as the livelihoods of millions of Americans employed by these corporations, have been completely shielded from review by either the Legislative or Judicial branches of the government," Conyers wrote in a letter also signed by Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey.

Gov. Jon Corzine's job approval ratings continue to go down and voters are split, 44%-43%, on whether he should be re-elected in 2009, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Corzine has a 46%-43% approval rating, down from 49%-40% in September, and 48%-39% in July. Among New Jersey voters, 41% say they would vote for Corzine, and 31% say they would back an unnamed Republican candidate.

“Midway in his first term, voters are lukewarm about Gov. Jon Corzine and give his performance a mediocre rating. Most just think things have stayed about the same since he took over in Trenton,” said Clay Richards, the Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac polling institute.

Diane Allen won't run for CongressState Sen. Diane Allen says she will not be a candidate for Jim Saxton’s open House seat next year.

“Now is not the time in my life that I feel prepared to again fight a Democrat opponent as well as a rogue faction of the Burlington County Republican Party simultaneously,” Allen said .

The two leading Republican candidates for Mike Ferguson's House seat have declined to run, with Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick saying this morning that he will not be a candidate for Congress in 2008.

State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr. announced yesterday that he would not run, citing his election less than two weeks ago as the new Senate Minority Leader.

"I spent a sleepless night last night thinking about this. The question is, 'Do you give up the leadership role you've developed in your own state?' I didn't want to make the call. It's logical to move up. But right now, the answer to that question is no," said Bramnick, who was elected Assembly Minority Whip earlier this year.