In the end, the Shore turned the tide.

Republican Christopher J. Christie racked up gigantic margins in Monmouth and Ocean Counties on his way to victory over Gov. Corzine last night, and kept the race closer than usual in urban Democratic strongholds. The results made Christie the first Republican since 1997 to win a statewide race in New Jersey.

Riding a message of change and lower taxes, Christie won the two Shore counties by nearly 135,000 votes combined, more than accounting for his roughly 100,000-vote margin statewide.

In a race that most insiders said would come down to who could better stir up his supporters, GOP State Chairman Jay Webber said his party had its "best, most sophisticated grassroots campaign" ever.

"This was our year," said Webber, a Republican assemblyman.

He said the GOP made 2.3 million phone calls during the campaign, including 500,000 last weekend.

The effort helped turn independent voters heavily for Christie, a key to any GOP candidate trying to win in a state where registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans.

Even in Gloucester County, where Democrats hold a 2-1 registration advantage over Republicans, Christie won.

Richard Melino, a 60-year-old Republican volunteer from Woodbury, said the Gloucester County team made thousands of calls this week. He said the volunteers provided a personal touch that robo-calls could not.

While most voters in New Jersey told pollsters they were focused on state tax and economic issues, Republicans were already casting the Christie win and a GOP victory in Virginia's governor's race as a sign of their party's resurgence.

President Obama lent his personal prestige to the Corzine campaign, coming to New Jersey three times on the governor's behalf, including two stops last weekend. And Corzine repeatedly tried to tie himself to the president, saying his reelection would help Obama's progress in Washington.

"Chris Christie's victory is a clear sign that Republicans can win in any state next year," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, which backed Christie.

Many of the issues at the center of this race, though - most prominently New Jersey's chronically high property taxes and Corzine's inability to connect with the public - were specific to this state.

Christie had been criticized for providing few specifics about how he would cut income taxes and still balance a dreary state budget. But exit polls showed that his broad message of change after eight years of Democratic governors helped put him over the top.

"Tomorrow, we begin to take back New Jersey," Christie said in his acceptance speech just before 11:30 last night.

Exit polls showed that 38 percent of voters said the top quality they were looking for was the ability to "bring change," said Monmouth University poll director Patrick Murray.

"That's how you get change - by putting in the other party," Murray said while analyzing the race on NJN.

Among independent voters, 58 percent of whom went for Christie, the top issues were corruption and property taxes.

Both played to Christie's strengths and, to some extent, Corzine's weaknesses. Christie had just come off a run as U.S. attorney filled with corruption prosecutions and high-profile news coverage in all corners of the state.

Democrats, meanwhile, were damaged by the sensational corruption and money-laundering arrests last summer that netted 44 politicians and rabbis.

And the governor had failed to deliver on some of his biggest promises on property taxes, settling instead for several incremental measures.

Democrats have traditionally rode huge margins in urban areas to statewide wins. But Corzine failed to score sizable enough wins in the Democratic counties that carried him in 2005. He won Hudson and Essex Counties, for example, but his margins shrunk.

And Bergen County, a bellwether, went for Corzine but barely - despite the governor's running with Loretta Weinberg, a popular senator from the county.

Republicans began the year hopeful, hungry, and focused.

Corzine, already unpopular, faced added trouble as the national recession took a bite out of virtually all incumbents.

He was the only governor seeking reelection this year amid the nation's economic turmoil.

Corzine's campaign fought back with sharp attacks, and he managed to close on Christie. But Corzine did not improve his own standing among voters.

Christie piled on the governor, but slipped in the polls as he refused to deliver a vision of how he would be better, other than to offer bromides about cutting taxes and spending.

In short, the public was ready to turn against Corzine, but there were questions about whether Christie had closed the deal. The results yesterday showed that he had.

Contact staff writer Jonathan Tamari at 609-989-9016 or jtamari@phillynews.com.

Staff writer Rita Giordano contributed to this article.