Christie touts career as prosecutor in radio ad

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher J. Christie launched his radio ad campaign yesterday with a 60-second biographical spot that highlights his career as U.S. attorney.

In it, Christie describes himself as a candidate "with a conservative plan to defend the middle class," an appeal to GOP primary voters, who tend to be more conservative than general-election voters.

Bill Stepien, Christie's campaign manager, said the campaign had purchased air time on talk-radio stations from New York to Philadelphia, but declined to say how much. Steve Lonegan, the other major candidate in the June 2 Republican primary, has run radio ads since the end of January with a variety of messages, most designed to appeal to conservative Republicans.

Both men have spent much of their time in the early days of the campaign raising money. Christie has raised $1.6 million; Lonegan has raised $873,000.- Cynthia Burton