Corruption scandal bad news for N.J. gov.

TRENTON, N.J., July 25 (UPI) -- A Democratic political consultant says the latest corruption scandal in New Jersey gives a boost to the Republican candidate for governor, Chris Christie.

The FBI arrested 44 people Thursday, including three Democratic mayors and two assemblymen, one from each party. The roundup also snared five Sephardic Jewish rabbis from New Jersey and New York.

Gov. Jon Corzine demanded and got the resignation of his commissioner of community affairs after the FBI raided the official's home and office. The commissioner, Joseph Doria, a former mayor of Bayonne and majority leader of the state assembly, has not been charged.

"Christie doesn't even have to talk about public corruption -- public corruption is what people are going to see, hear about and hear more about for the next month at least," political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who is based in New York and has worked on New Jersey campaigns, told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

"The politics of it benefit the insurgent. The incumbent will, unfortunately, have to explain to the taxpayers how this happened in a state he said he would change."