Is the Democratic candidate for Governor mocking Governor Christie for being overweight?

In a new web video, State Senator Barbara Buono criticizes the Governor’s Shore promotion campaign, saying, "I don't know about you, but seeing Chris Christie frolicking on the beach is not going to drive me to go to the shore."

During an appearance this morning in Newark, Governor Christie said he found it disappointing “that someone running for Governor would make derisive comments about someone’s physical appearance.  I think it’s really beneath the office that she’s seeking.”

Christie also accused Buono of using the same kind of tactic that former Governor Corzine tried during the race for Governor four years ago when he suggested that Christie was trying to “throw his weight around.”

“I’ll put up with it now, it won’t change the way I feel about myself and about lots of other people who I represent in this state who faced a similar challenge I have in trying to control their  weight and be in better shape,” said the Governor.

Buono denied taking aim at Christie's size. Her campaign said she was questioning the effectiveness of tourism-promotion commercials featuring the governor and his family that ran all summer in an effort to bring visitors back to the Jersey Shore, parts of which were devastated by last fall's Superstorm Sandy.

After struggling with being overweight for years, Christie is noticeably slimmer now than he was six months ago, after undergoing gastric band surgery.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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