Is NJ’s Special US Senate Election Legal? [AUDIO]

The New Jersey Supreme Court must now decide whether Gov. Chris Christie has the legal right to call a special election in October to elect a replacement for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who passed away a few weeks ago.

Government officials and lawyers representing Democrats have presented their final arguments before the Justices.

Christie is predicting the Supreme Court will uphold an Appeals Court ruling and decide the October 16 election should be permitted.

"My understanding is the folks arguing against this are saying I had no right to call a special election - you can't have it both ways, because holding a special election on November 5th would in fact be a special Senate election, so you can't say I don't have the right to do it on October 16th but I do have the right to do it on November 5th," said Christie.

He adds, "If they say I don't have the right to hold a special election then their problem is going to be - November of 2014 - so they (the democrats) might have just outsmarted themselves, who knows."

Critics said it's outrageous that the governor wants to spend an extra $12 million to hold an election three weeks before the November general election.  They suggest he doesn't want to have Newark Mayor Cory Booker's name on the ballot in November, because it could take potential votes away from Christie.

The governor insisted he simply wants to hold an election as quickly as possible, to give the people of New Jersey a choice in who they send to Washington to represent them.