Independent stirs up New Jersey governor contest
* New Jersey one of only two statewide U.S. races
* Voters discontent with traditional choices, experts say
* Observers say not a referendum on Obama
(Updates with Obama quotes from Camden, New Jersey)
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Nov 2 (Reuters) - An independent candidate stressing New Jersey's economic woes is attracting surprising voter support in the governor's race, which features an unpopular Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger with ties to former President George W. Bush.
The independent, Chris Daggett, is a former federal environmental official who is not expected to win Tuesday's election for governor in New Jersey, which backed President Barack Obama in 2008, but he could affect who does.
Daggett said at a campaign appearance this week he has found unhappy voters across New Jersey, the nation's most densely populated state.
"It's a lousy economy. It's a stimulus package that hasn't stimulated. It is jobs that are lost. It is homes foreclosed," Daggett told Reuters. "It's all added up to this anger that is really widespread and, I think, national in scope."
Governor Jon Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs chief executive, is running for a second term and only last week pulled ahead in polls against Republican Chris Christie, a former U.S. Attorney appointed by Bush.
In his third campaign visit to New Jersey on Corzine's behalf, Obama talked on Sunday about the importance of creating more jobs as the U.S. economy begins to turn around.
He told a crowd of about 5,000 people in Camden that Corzine was "not going to rest until not only is Wall Street doing well, but Main Street is doing well, and businesses are hiring again."
"We are two days away ... from making sure that New Jersey has the kind of quality leadership it deserves," Obama said.
He sought to defend Corzine's record by telling the crowd that Bush and his Republican allies in Congress were to blame for the nationwide recession.
LOCAL ISSUES
"Listening to Jon's opponent, you would think that New Jersey was the only state that's having a tough time right now," Obama said. "He doesn't seem to mention that we're coming out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And guess what, that crisis didn't start under Jon's watch." Continued...
