TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie suffered a rare set of defeats in the New Jersey Legislature this week as a bill that would have allowed him to profit from a book deal while in office was declared dead and another that would roll back legal notices in newspapers stalled in the state Assembly.

Political experts say the governor's really bad Monday ranks high on his list of political setbacks in Trenton, suggesting it showed Republican Christie may be losing his once vise-like grip on GOP lawmakers.

"Here was a governor who managed to get 60 Democrats to endorse him, a governor who would not -- could not -- be overridden in terms of his vetoes, but is now suffering legislative defeats," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University.

Matt Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, noted that while Democrats appeared unified, Republicans were deserting the governor as he sought to strong-arm votes in the Assembly.

"He had people defecting on the Republican side. So I don't know how you spin this other than a crushing defeat," Hale said. "His sixth-place finish in (the Republican presidential primary in) New Hampshire was pretty bone-crushing, but I don't remember anything in New Jersey that is as big a defeat as these two losses."

Krista Jenkins, director of Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Poll, said Christie lost some political juice at home when it became clear he wouldn't be joining the Trump administration after months of speculation.

"The defeat in the Legislature has to be seen in the larger context of a governor lacking any position in the Trump administration," Jenkins said. "No one wants to work with him because there's no larger upside. In the past, they might have because they might get something from him. That's simply gone. He's a different person in a different place now."

There's also the political reality that Christie, who is suffering from low poll numbers, is entering his last year, when governors become lame ducks and watch others wage campaigns to replace them.

"He can walk through the budget with a slash-and-burn attitude, and can go out with tremendously low approval ratings," said Hale. "But anything that he cuts is presumably a one year decision. Whomever comes in next, can turn those things around."

One prominent Republican privately said much is being made of this because Christie has lost so few times in Trenton, noting that while the governor fought hard for these bills, they weren't signature issues that will make or break him.

Others stress stressed that Christie still holds what's considered the most powerful governorship in the nation, and can still act unilaterally on many things, even with legislative dissent.

"Christie's not irrelevant," said Ben Dworkin, director of The Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "Even at 19 percent approval he's still the governor of New Jersey. That said, as a lame duck governor at 19 percent (approval), you're as weak as you're ever going to be."

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.