New Jersey 2013

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It almost certainly won't be Booker for a whole host of reasons and that means a huge advantage for Christie already.  There aren't any exciting Democrats to take the positive vote, all they can hope for is someone they can make Christie look more bad than.  That'll be easier than it was with Corzine by default.  I'd expect an apparently underwhelming win from Christie, meaning a huge one by New Jersey standards.  If it really will be a South Jersey candidate against him, I'd expect a little shifting with a tiny swing to Christie by virtue of a North Jersey swing holding more weight than a South Jersey one.

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Christie - 42%
Booker - 42%

According to PPP

Booker has a ridiculous 46%-16% favorable-unfavorable rating.

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First, let me express my deep condolences for being a Pulaski Skyway driver.  That's the last thing I'd want to identify with.

I think you're right in pointing out Christie's Essex-Hudson standing.  For a Republican he's in uncharted territory there.  What I'm suspecting is that he's becoming the North Jersey guy of choice and 2013 will be a North-South battle.  That's always been prominent in intra-party leadership balance, but now it seems like Christie could be throwing things out of whack between parties.  Like Mr. Moderate said, he's got strong ties in Essex County.  That includes Booker and his main supporters.  I can't find any polls separating it by region, but I'm sure Christie is doing unusually well in the urban North and that would likely only increase come election time due to his ties.  I really doubt he can be defeated in 2013, especially without Booker running.  Obviously a lot will change between now and then, but if Christie's stockpiling of North Jersey allies indicates anything, he's sitting pretty already.  That combined with the low turnout there in 2009 could put the Democrats in an awkward position not being able to take 100,000+ margins out of Essex/Hudson for granted.  We'll see, 2013 will be very interesting regardless.