So much for the “war on women”: Chris Christie, who has vetoed state government funding for Planned Parenthood five times, won women by twelve points in the New Jersey gubernatorial race.

According to the exit polls, Christie won 55 percent of women, while his Democrat opponent Barbara Buono won 43 percent. And Christie’s significantly improved his standing since 2009: That year, he won only 45 percent of female voters.


In contrast, Ken Cuccinelli, another pro-life Republican, won a mere 42 percent of women, while his Democrat opponent Terry McAuliffe won 50 percent, according to the exit polls.

McAuliffe was well-funded (Buono certainly wasn’t), and he used that funding to run plenty ads painting Cuccinelli as an extremist on abortion. (As a Virginia resident, I haven’t been able to watch shows on Hulu the past week or two without seeing a McAuliffe ad slamming Cuccinelli on abortion it seems.) But Christie’s won shows it’s completely possible for a pro-life candidate to win in a blue state — and to even win women by a double-digit margin.