and parcel of the policies and decisions that brought new jersey to the brink of catastrophe roberts said in a statement noting the taxes and fees she oversaw as budget chair thats her record which is why she isnt talking about it and why she isnt gaining traction buono wasnt the first choice for democrats they had held out hope that newark mayor cory booker would run against christie 50 but he decided to pursue a us senate bid instead buono says she would have run whether booker got in despite the increasingly nasty race buono says she still has time to increase her name recognition and gain in the polls calling christies high polling numbers artificially inflated in the aftermath of sandy saying thats a good thing that people came together and helped one another to rebuild after sandy as ive been out on the trail as they say and talking to voters every time i meet people it just seems as though my message is resonating my vision for new jersey to restore the promise and the hope that really was what new jersey was all about when i was growing up buono said as i get out there and increasingly connect with voters in a very grassroots campaign that gap will close buono explained of polls and gap in name recognition this governor has made the wrong decisions to bring back the new jersey that i grew up in besides the polling disparity there is a big fundraising difference as well christie has raised 65 million to buonos 23 million which includes more than 1 million in privately raised funds and then the rest in state matching funds buono said she will be competitive financially but noted that having the same amount of money doesnt always matter in new jersey chris christie was outspent threetoone by gov corzine and we saw how far that went buono said this governor does have a national persona hes spent a lot of time outside of new jersey for three years crisscrossing back and forth in pursuit of really his national ambitions and so the fact that he is known on a wider a broader scale than just in new jersey has focused national interest on the campaign buono has been endorsed by and getting help from national liberal groups like democracy for america and emilys list as well as the democratic governors association and the democratic national committee although most wont comment on how much money they are willing to dump into the uphill battle its clear that its not just about this race and they are looking toward 2016 dfa howard deans liberal pac officially backed buono last week and although it has no plans to put money behind the endorsement it says the official backing is more about activating our boots on the ground in the state emilys list known for backing female candidates who support abortion rights is helping to draw attention to the race as well